[Adapted from email sent 7:13 pm]

[Click here for Inland Northwest 2022, Part One]

Leavenworth: Day One

Left to right: me; my oldest sister Angel (she'll be 53 in 9 days); Stephanie, and my niece, Angel's third child, Britni (31)—Stephanie is Britni's best friend, incidentally the only person at this "Second Biannual Family Vacation" who was not related either by blood, or marriage, or romantic attachment. We're all taking apple whiskey shots provided by Angel, who pointedly put hers in a coffee mug even though she was still quite open about it being whiskey.

The huge, seven-bedroom house we all shared as a vacation rental in Leavenworth was the same one the rest of the family had used for what was then thought to be the "First Annual Family Vacation," two years ago to the week, in September 2020. I was the only one there this year who did not stay overnight last time, because it was fucking still 2020 and I was not about to stay inside with anyone outside of my own household at the time. (I still think it was nuts that the rest of them did, but whatever. There are people out there who think it was still nuts for us to do it now. For what it's worth, I did a home test both Friday before leaving Seattle and on Monday before heading to Leavenworth, as did both Dad and Sherri; Shobhit also tested before leaving Seattle for Leavenworth on Monday, and I even had extra tests available, as did others there.) Last time, I did drive out to Leavenworth for a day visit, just without spending time in the house except to go use the bathroom with a mask on.

Anyway! Doing this again only one year later proved prohibitively difficult, as most were not ready to plan as far ahead as was necessary to make this happen again in 2021, so last year the frequency was changed to every other year. This year everyone seemed to agree that the house was nicer and cleaner in 2020, probably easier for the owners and managers to pull off because at the time they were buffering at least 24 hours between rentals. They're not doing that anymore, and apparently they aren't keeping up maintenance very well either, because the room Shobhit and I were put in, the smallest in the house in fact, was also the single room with no working electricity: none of the lights worked, and none of the outlets worked. We got ahold of the management company, and they got some workers to come out—one guy first, who then called another guy in, and neither of them could get any of it to work. But, my other sister, Gina, found an extension cord, and I pulled in a standing lamp from the TV room area just outside our room, and we made it work.

Still, it was a little bit annoying. I personally paid over $400 for this—our share alone! We may be getting a partial refund for the inconvenience, and if we do it was promised to come to Shobhit and me. I can certainly live with that! In that case I guess I'll be grateful for the inconvenience.

Leavenworth: Day Two

I'll say this for the house location: you can't beat the view, here seen early-ish on Tuesday morning. That's the Wenatchee River, as seen from the backyard.

There's actually quite a few houses dotting the hillside on either side of the river. This house seems to have been built in a very strategic location, where none of the other houses can be seen. You feel like you're all by yourself out in the woods on the river flowing through the mountains.

Gina poses for me in her Tuesday outfit, which, amazingly, she just found at a thrift store in Vancouver, Washington only a couple weeks ago. The best part, which is hard to see here, i that just under the front collar is a tuft of chest hair.

A whole bunch of us took an outing late Tuesday afternoon to a place called Smallwoods Harvest, which had a quasi-pumpkin patch going on out front. It's a farmers market, petting zoo, and children's playground all in one. I loved their bathroom door, which could not be any cornier.

With several family members around, I said, "I have a strange request! Are there four people who will pose with me in that?" My niece, Britni (far right), said, "I want to! I was afraid to say anything." Maybe I should start offering lessons in shamelessness, because there is no reason to be afraid to do that. I mean, look how much fun this picture is!

Another gorgeous shot of the Wenatchee River and the mountains beyond—not even too horribly marred by the wildfire smoke that did mar the visit just a bit. This view is off the Highway 2 bridge over the river, across which took us straight into "Downtown" Leavenworth. To the right you can see the local wastewater treatment plant. Fun!

So there is literally a shop in Leavenworth called WooHoo Winery. Their theme seems to be obnoxious bachelorette parties.

It's my new favorite Christmas Tree ornament!

If you've never been to Leavenworth, Washington, the best way to describe it might be "entire town that is a theme park, without rides." It's all Bavarian themed, and attracts tourists year-round. It is also famous for its festiveness around Christmas, which might explain the year-round Christmas store there called Kris Kringl. Christmas is my favorite time of year, so this store was predictably my favorite. To my delight, they even had a section of sexy merman ornaments. (But no, I did not buy one. They cost $43! Too much! I did, however, buy this one, which was shockingly only $4.)

Exterior view of Riverside Lodge at dusk. Can you find Shobhit?

Leavenworth: Day Three

The Riverside Vacation Home properties, of which there are three right next to each other, all have access to a path down to a small sandy beach on the riverbank. This shot kind of looks like I am teaching my grandniece, Jaycee (12), how to throw a fishing line. But, it was literally the other way around.

As you might have expected, I didn't particularly get the hang of it.

Shobhit and I drove across the Highway 2 bridge into town, then parked at Enchantment Park, from which we walked trails through Blackbird Island, and then into the adjacent Waterfront Park, where we found a place to have a picnic lunch on the rocks directly across the Wenatchee River from the Riverside Lodge where we stayed.

My eldest niece, Brandi (37), told me later she stood in the window for a while flipping us off, but we never saw her. 🙁

The requisite family portrait: four generations.

Generation 1: Dad and Sherri; easy to spot—they're the two old people.
Generation 2: my sisters, one sister's wife, myself and my husband; easy to spot—we're the five middle-aged people.
Generation 3: four of my nieces and nephews, and their respective spouses or partners; easy to spot—they're the Millennials.
Generation 4: five of my grandnieces and grandnephews, a sixth of which was at the house but did not get into the shot because he was having a meltdown.