After our weekend in Vantage Catherine and I had a weekend of R&R planned, courtesy of her Mom’s Christmas gift. With brand new all season, all weather tires on the Subaru, we followed a storm over Steven’s pass to once again enjoy the beauty of Leavenworth.

We arrived just in time for the afternoon Ice Festival events, including live ice carving and smooshing. The snow falling in town was picturesque and after grabbing some tea we hung out downtown for awhile.

That night we sampled some delicious Bavarian style meals, and then warmed up in our room with a fireplace. By the next morning there was over a foot of fresh snow downtown! Time for some adventures.

We drove up to Lake Wenatchee to hike around and soak up the views. Upon arriving we realized we haven’t yet mastered the Washington parks pass system. The snow truck driver turned out to be a park ranger who kindly explained that we needed both a Discover pass AND a sno-park day pass (a $20 value) just to park in the campground lot. Oh, and stay off all the cross-country trails. Luckily he was nice enough to explain to us, and we were under-geared for the unexpectedly deep snow anyway, so we went down the street, grabbed the required passes, since our Discover pass expired, and then were able to explore.

We stayed the night again in Leavenworth, where it was much quieter after the firework conclusion of the Ice Festival. Catherine and I enjoyed the local brews, and really had a chance to relax. On Monday morning, we headed home, and caught up with an incoming storm hitting the pass again, so we really got to put the Subaru through it’s paces, and it did great. It was nice to see fresh snow in Leavenworth, but we really need a lot more of it this winter!