Since we live in Seattle, every now and again we try to explore some more of our wonderful Washington surrounding, which is not as easy as in Munich, where Vienna, Paris and Zurich are only 4 hours away and everything in Germany a maximum of 8 hours . Here are the exciting things like larger cities, canyons, large Natl Park every far away, so going there for just 1-2 days is usually not worth it.

There are a few destinations within our reach of 4 hours driving time (that is when our pain threshold is reached in travelling with an infant), that we are happy to report we visited so far: 
- 3 times to Vancouver BC in the north (3.5 hrs.) 
- 1 times on Orcas Island NW (3 hours + 1 hour car ferry + 30 min car...) 
- In the Olympic Mountains / Port Townsend in the West (45 min ferry. + 2.5 hours. Vehicles), 
- In Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast in the South West (3.5 hrs.) 
- 3 times in Leavenworth, the Bavarian village in the mountains in the east  (3 1/4 hrs.) 
- In Victoria BC in the northwest (with Clipper Ferry about 4 hrs.) 
- In North Bend at the foot of Mount Si in the east (45 min.) - 

and our trip this weekend and the furthest destination in the East: 
- Lake Chelan (eng Deep Notch.) In 3.5 hours. 

On Lake Chelan, we rented a cabin / cottage on a hill at the end of a brown valley with "very high" risk of forest fires, which was rented to us by Uncle Tim. The cottage had a fun rustic pebble stone floor and a cozy hot tub in front with great views over the valley. After spending nearly 2 full days in hot tub we were soaked like water bodies. We also hiked around and ate lot of fruits, brought from Trader Joe and the various fruit stands along the way. The Eastern Washington is famously known for its orchards: apples, pears, peaches, apricots, plums, nectarines, pluots (Pflaumenaprikose) and wine. So also stopped at the Lake Chelan Winery and sat in their vineyard. It was very idyllic. 

On the way back to Seattle, the temperature was much colder - 30 degrees in Lake Chelan to 20 degrees in Seattle - and plenty of water came from the sky when we crossed Seattle's city limits. In was a wild contrast to Lake Chelan dry desert steppe bushes next to the road and wild fires just 45 miles away. Our host said the forest fire would always provide so gorgeous sunset, but we wouldn't have to worry, the fires are under control. It smelled just anywhere after BBQ, but we just got used to it. 

All in all it was a very nice trip - and great to take a break from the cloudy and drizzly weather - just 3.5 hours away. :-)

Picture Gallery

Just came back from Germany where I made a few observations realizing that we settled in Seattle for a while now: 

- In the cupboard I find things that expired in 2006 
- In Germany I now feel stupid standing at the cash register when I need a couple of seconds til I notice I have to bag my groceries myself - and I even forgot to put plastic bags on the conveyor belt in time. 
People gave me the looks 'What is wrong with you!'
- I throw - with only a moment's hesitation - batteries in the trash (really hard to admit)
- A life without a microwave is no good life 
- The German traffic lights are sometimes really hard to see (on same site of road)
- Ice water served in every US restaurant has only a slightly chlorine flavor (in the beginning I couldn't drink it at all, was like drinking pool water)
- You really need a coin to get a shopping cart, really? WTF!
- Television without DVR is not good entertainment
- Food shopping in Germany is super cheap (10 items for under 10 Euros - 10 things cost at least $ 30 in Seattle.) 
- Tipping is an entirely different story, 20% in Seattle - 1 or 2 euros or rounding up to the full Euro. If we give 20 % to a German waiter they start a happy dance, it's unheard of.
- The German McDonalds has really great deals and specials and everything tastes pretty good (for a fast food chain) - in the USA it's all the same most weeks (no 'Los Wochos') and everything tastes cheap and bland
- Pretzels, Krusti Semmeln and the local bread selection would really be nice - after all, we have now found a baker who can bake great croissants (Bakery Nouveau)
-  drinking in the beer garden without a brown bag hiding your alcoholic beverage (preferably Radler)
- A waste disposal in the sink is a pretty practical thing
- And also our ice maker and water filter in the refrigerator 
- Shopping is definitely more fun in Germany 
- Americans are friendlier in general (yes, I know it's mainly objective, but no one will bitch at you in a store, for sure), more childcentric than the Germans. Timmy had a real culture shock during his first shopping trip  when no one in the store paid any attention to him. In America at least 3 people per shopping trip flirt and chat with him.

Not all is well in the new world - but not all is too bad in Germany either. 

Many greetings from over here 
Tini