Many years ago, our friend group was interested in doing some sort of weekend getaway or girl's weekend. Due to schedules, money and time we were not able to do it back then. The bachelorette party trip to the Oregon coast was the shove we needed. We had such a great time and all agreed that we needed to do it every year.
We started the conversations early on when and where we wanted to go this year. We threw around several locations and ultimately settled on Leavenworth because it was about halfway between Olympia and Spokane. We looked at Airbnb's and Vrbo's and found a place to rent for the weekend. Our girl's weekend was shaping up to be awesome!
We came up with activities, our menu for the weekend and made time for wandering around town geocaching and playing Pokémon Go. We were all set for a fun weekend in Leavenworth the weekend after Mother's Day. As we got closer to that weekend, Lindsay decided not to go with us.
I put in my leave for that Friday and Erika didn't want to drive so I told her we were leaving at a certain time to head on over. She was okay with whatever I had planned as long as she didn't have to drive. There was a possibility (depended on rain) that the Hwy 18/I-90 interchange would be backed up during that weekend due to construction. They were making a diamond intersection out of it to relieve the daily congestion. I was hoping it wouldn't be that bad. There was another way around through Hobart into Issaquah if it did get bad.
I packed up most of my stuff the night before just so I didn't have to do hardly anything the next morning. Ben got up and went to work and told me to have fun with my girls. I got up around the same time I get up to go to work to finish packing up my stuff into the Escape. I texted Erika that I was on my way, and she said she was ready to go.
We left her house around 8 and stopped at Fred Meyers to get a few things including coffee from Starbucks and we needed ice for our cooler. On the way to the freeway, I stopped at the Arco on Martin Way to get gas and Erika had forgotten some snacks at the Fred Meyer, so she went inside to get a couple snacks at the gas station. We got onto I-5 and drove towards Highway 18 off of I05 because I wasn't paying attention and missed the 510 exit.
Traffic wasn't bad at all and was pretty smooth all the way up to Tiger Summit and then as we started to descend, that's when the traffic came to a halt. I was super annoyed and Erika played her game until her batteries died. We suffered through but finally made it to the on ramp of I-90 east after about a half hour delay. I haven't been through this part of Hwy 18 in months. They've gotten pretty far and I hope the next time we drive through it will almost be done.
I texted our group thread letting them know where we were. Nicole, Celeste and Megan were on I-5 deciding to drive through Seattle to get onto Hwy 2. I told them good luck with that. and Fitzy was going to work for a bit and then leave just before noon from Spokane to drive west on Hwy 2. Fitzy had a less of a trafficky drive. Erika and I made it to the top of the pass and was sad to see there was absolutely no snowpack on or near the summit. We were probably going to have a summer with a lot of fires. We also got to witness some stupid driving as well.
We got to Cle Elum, and I took Erika to get lunch at the Cottage Cafe and to get out of the Escape for a bit. We checked in with everyone again. The girls were in Gold Bar and Fitzy was finishing up laundry and packing up. Erika and I sat in a booth and ordered a couple burgers and fries - they were delicious. Our waitress was nice, so we tipped her well. We paid, used the restroom and got on the road again. We took the US 97 spur and got stuck behind some slow people.
We got to the Walmart and wandered inside for a little bit. We texted the girls to find out if they needed anything extra that they didn't pack. We got a couple of breakfast items, more drinks and for the life of us tried to find Starry for Celeste. Apparently stores in Central and Eastern Washington did not carry Starry. We paid for our stuff and then headed west towards Leavenworth. The girls had just arrived and were wondering around downtown doing Pokémon Go. Erika and I arrived in town and found the house we were going to stay in (but we were too early to check in) and parked on the street nearby...of course it cost money to park on the street. Lame. We grabbed what we needed and met up with the girls at the clock tower. We walked around with them while they caught critters they needed. I did an Adventure Lab with murals.
When we got to the other side of town, we made our way down to the Wenatchee River along the road, I told the group I needed to grab a geocache that was down there. The past two times I've been in Leavenworth I've had to DNF it because it was missing. This time, Blackbird Boulevard (GC76WM1) was there! I made my way down to the rock retaining wall and it was a fake rock. My friends that that was pretty cool. I got my name on it, took a photo and put it back. We continued on back up to the main road.
We all decided we needed a drink at Icicle Brewing while we waited for Fitzy to arrive to town and for 4 o'clock to arrive so we could go check in to our dwelling for the weekend. I had the Amber ale and Nicole, and I sat on the ski swing. Megan ordered a fancy charcuterie platter for us to share because she needed a snack. We finished our drinks and food and then walked the couple blocks to the house. It was now 4 and we could start bringing stuff into the house and get settled in. On one of my trips out to the car, I saw Fitzy drive by in her red car. She turned around and found a spot to park in the driveway. She said she wasn't sure if we were meeting at the house or somewhere else in town. I suppose we probably should have checked in with her when we were walking to the house.
Everyone finished up unloading our stuff and setting up the kitchen. We spent some time putting stuff in the fridge and Celeste made some deviled eggs while we hung out and chatted. The last time we were all together was at Megan's house last fall, so we had a lot to catch up on. We ate some of the eggs and Nicole said, it's Goosechase time!" We all squealed with joy!
We had a great time the last time we played. Nicole had made 100 questions, and we were split up into two teams. Since it was an odd amount, with Nicole being at the computer running the game, Erika and I were on a team and Megan, Fitzy and Celeste were on the other - just like at the bachelorette party. Our team names were the Butt Hoagies and the Bratwurst Bitches, I know, we're pretty classy.
For the next 45 minutes or so, we were all in and out the house, using random items as props for our tasks, taking funny pictures and goofy videos. There was a lot of laughing and Nicole was giggling at the table monitoring our hilarious antics. Erika and I got a 2-minute head start since we were down a person. We ended up winning it again in the end! Muhahaha! So far, Erika and I are 2-0 with Goosechase.
We settled down and Nicole started getting the burrito bowls ready to go. We all helped out in the kitchen, getting the burrito innards made, rice reheated or the veggies cut up. We made quick work of dinner and ate together in the dining room. These are the times I wished some of our other friends lived closer, so we could hang out with them as well. Nicole's burrito bowls are amazing! I ended up having seconds after everything was said and done. We all pitched in to help clean up.
Then we started games. We played Besserwizzer, Poetry for Neanderthals and Just One. We laughed a lot and made so many fun game memories. It started getting late and a few of us went to bed before we started Just One. We finished up games just before midnight and then we all got ready for bed.
I shared a room and a bed with Erika. I don't think the house had AC - at least I don't remember learning it did, our room didn't have a fan, and we forgot to open the window - if it did have an opening window, for some cool air to circulate through. The bed was queen sized and both Erika and I got super-hot and sweaty. We both did not sleep very well because it was so warm. That, I am used to a king-sized bed with more room.
Next Adventure: Saturday: Girl's Weekend - Leavenworth
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