Wanderung 6

Pursuing Pioneer Pathways from the Potomac to the Pacific

June-August 2004

July 18 - Volksmarch in Leavenworth, Washington

The first thing I tested upon awakening was whether I could move my head or not, and fortunately I could. Not a lot, mind you, but at least enough that I could eat breakfast without yelping in pain every few seconds. I found I could also walk with just moderate aches and pains on the left side of my neck, so I decided to try the short version of the Volksmarch that they were having in Leavenworth, just down the road from us. I still had to avoid turning my head to the left or that muscle would make me instantly regret it, but I figured that I would just confine myself to looking at the scenery on the right side of the trail.

We signed up in the Grange building in the center of the town and walked out of town north to the ski area about 2.5 kilometers away. We were walking along a two-lane highway but since it was Sunday morning the traffic was non-existent and the walk was very pleasant. The neck ached on every step, which reduced my enjoyment somewhat, but I felt the deep flashing pains only rarely, so that was OK. We were impressed that many of the houses outside the town were built with a Swiss Chalet or Bavarian type of architectural style, and it really did remind me of some of the areas in southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland I had seen on our motorcycle tour in 1973. I was most impressed, however, by a barn built in the Swiss-Austrian style that had graceful lines, tongue and groove siding in some golden hued wood, and flowers around it. That had to take the "Prettiest Barn" award for this trip at least, and maybe for all time. Not a lot of farmers take the trouble to have pretty as well as functional barns, but this one certainly had.

The checkpoint was right at the edge of the ski area. The local theatre troupe presents the "Sound of Music" in a natural amphitheater there during the summer and other shows in town during the fall, so Leavenworth certainly seemed to have some active thespians. The ski area included Alpine or downhill skiing as well as cross-country skiing trails, and the 10 kilometer route followed some of those trails. As much as I would have liked to wander back into the hills and see them up close and personal, I didn't want to aggravate my neck to the point of spending the rest of the day in bed with an ice pack again, so we turned back there. A different route led us back into town and gave us the chance to walk completely down the main street. Monika particularly enjoyed a house that featured a painted townscape on its side with a church steeple complete with a clock that actually worked! Now those are Monika's kind of people.

Along the way back I chatted with a woman from Portland who had vacationed here often in the past. She said that this Bavarian village theme had become far more uniform in Leavenworth just in the last couple of years. Except for that big fruit warehouse in the middle of the town, every significant building has been decorated with trimming or wall murals that support the Bavarian style. Even McDonalds and Burger King have built their fast food joints in a chalet style that blended in quite well with the rest of the town. The Safeway where Monika bought my drugs was so well camouflaged in this Bavarian style that Monika first drove right past it before she recognized what it was and turned around. So my hat's off to whoever has coordinated this uniform architectural style; it really does work to make Leavenworth a distinctive and pretty town.

At the finish point we collected our patches; I was sorry that I hadn't been able to actually do more of the events that the local club had put on for the weekend conference. We also refueled the truck in preparation for the travel we had planned for the next day and then returned to our campsite for a relaxing day of not moving my head. The soreness and stiffness were slowly decreasing, so at least I was able to compose on my laptop in addition to editing Wanderung 5 and writing photo letters. Monika was selecting pictures for the last few days, reading a Campion mystery, and writing her set of photo letters. But when we started getting cross-eyed we turned in for the night and read the Asaro book a bit more before finally hitting the sack.

Copyright 2004 by Robert W. Holt and Elsbeth Monika Holt
Prolog Map Epilog
June 2004
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30
July 2004
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
August 2004
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31

Return to the Wanderungs Homepage.
Sign the Guestbook or Read the Guestbook.
Comments about this site? Email the Webmaster.
Contact Bob and Monika at bob_monika@hotmail.com.