Esprit de l'escalier

Kyle took me on a sweet vacation for Memorial Day weekend. I’ve always wanted to see Leavenworth because the commercials made it look so beautiful and fun. So he booked us a room at this sweet little bed & breakfast lodge called the Mountain Home Lodge. We stayed in the Mountain View Room and it was absolutely amazing. I’m going to get Kyle to post photos soon because my words can’t do it justice.

The lodge was about 2 miles up in the hills outside Leavenworth. We had a sweeping view of the Cascades and the night we arrived we saw a huge elk just chillin’ in the fields! Rumor had it there was also a bear wandering around and I immediately made it my mission to see the bear. Although, Kyle kept trying to tell me that tracking down a bear wasn’t a good idea. But I told him it wasn’t like I was going to walk up and pet it. I just wanted to see it.

In the meantime, we relaxed, played games, went hiking and explored Leavenworth (the delightful Bavarian village). I’ve got to be honest though…I was slightly disappointed by the town…it felt really staged, kind of like Disneyland. It was too touristy. But we still enjoyed some amazing food and had a great time walking around, people watching.

The best meals we had all weekend were at the lodge. They have this top-notch, five-star, award-winning chef. The food was a-mazing! Three course meals, hors d’oeuvres and your choice of wines. Stunning scenery, cozy accommodations, (the room had music, super soft robes, bath sheets for the spa, port for two and amazing carpet) and we are definitely going to be visiting again.

We met a variety of people. One couple had just been married and were staying in one of the cabins. They didn’t see the bear. There was a couple celebrating their 66th wedding anniversary. They didn’t see the bear. Another couple was staying in the room above us and were there celebrating the boyfriend’s birthday. The girlfriend had purchased a special cake from a local bakery and brought it in the car all the way from Seattle without her boyfriend knowing. It was really sweet. They got to see the bear. I was jealous.

On the hike I saw two chipmunks, three lizards, a couple squirrels, a ton of birds (including hummingbirds which I used a bird guide provided by the lodge to identify as native to our region), an elk, two deer, four dogs, two cats and a woodpecker. But no bear. *sigh* I guess we’re just going to have to go back for another vacation! 🙂 Next time we are gonna go horseback riding too! (and maybe see the bear).