It had always been the plan to come to Leavenworth on the way back to Vancouver but we (I) decided to keep it a surprise - an end of Summer gift to my family. It's been a quiet and largely unstructured summer and so I wanted to have a last hurrah....... you see that...... I wanted to give them a last hurrah.....
So we drove out of Portland on Route 84 that snakes across the "top" (north) of Oregon along the Columbia River.....and the children didn't even notice...... they read...... Allan and I enjoyed the views of the mighty Columbia and wondered when the kids would clue in.
We soon left the coastal lush green-ness and the sky cleared and the sun came out and the vegetation got drier and dustier. We crossed the Columbia and headed up a steep cut full of Wind Turbines (which I find kind of creepy to be honest) and onto the plateau where hundreds of small farms spread out into the distance where Mount Rainier loomed large. It was so pretty. The rest of the drive was over dry ridges and into lush, farmed valley's as we headed north on Route 97 through Yakima and up into Leavenworth.
Thing sort of unraveled a bit over lunch in Yakima.
The kids knew we were in Yakima but assumed we were just taking a scenic route home. When we hinted that might not be the case, David guessed Leavenworth immediately and Lindsay........ was......not pleased.
I did not realise that high schools sent out the class schedules for their students the week before school. I further did not realise that getting the schedule and finding out all your friends schedules is a BIG DEAL. And I had just delayed Lindsay from all this CRUCIAL information and time with friends to dissect it all. A fabulous resort and another couple of days vacation were nothing in comparison.
She was mad/sad and I felt bad........ I wanted everyone to be happy...... so I offered to call the school and find out...... but even that was not well received....... so Allan did a good Dad deed and emailed the Principal and asked if he could do us a HUGE holiday-saving favour and email the schedule to us.
We got in the car in Yakima and drove 90 minutes to Leavenworth with me praying the email would come and we could get the info. We pulled into the parking lot of the Starbucks in Leavenworth and pointed all i-devices at the building to get the free wifi. The schedule was there and we owe Mr. Kamide a bottle of wine!! Sadly the schedule was apparently less than desirable...... clearly today is NOT my day for family happy faces! Of course Allan tried to explain that the Grade 10's assessment of their teachers may not , in fact, be the full truth and that she owed it to the teachers she got to give them a chance and to go in with a good attitude....... this may have to be repeated when the teenager is in a better frame of mind.
So we headed up to the Sleeping Lady Resort with me feeling a bit down but I must say the warm breezes and lovely swim and free wifi to chat to friends about the disastrous class schedule (as far as Lindsay and her friends are concerned) and we have a somewhat more cheerful teenager and I am not feeling quite as foolish as I was earlier. Where is the manual for raising a teenager anyway?????
David, on the other hand, was welcomed with a Happy Birthday card at the resort and they just delivered an incredible plate of desserts to him!! How nice -how hard to believe I was pregnant with him 12 years ago......how time flies!
Off to have pizza and a glass of wine at the Grotto and make plans for the birthday day tomorrow - the kids want to go horse riding and to the town and I just want to lie in the sun at the pool - a compromise will have to be found!
A little taste of Portland photos.....
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| View from our suite |
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| City of Bridges |
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| Through the Wardrobe |
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| Al squared |
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| Food carts |
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| Milkshake Heaven |
I'm so glad Mr Kamide was able to help you out! And I'm glad the milkshakes met your expectations ;) We love Leavenworth too but have only been in the winter so we'll have to try a summer visit!
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