Alaska Cruise Travel Day
The first day of vacation is always the most exciting for me, even if it is a travel day. I guess that depends on perspective-some people don’t like waking up before the sun, flying to your destination, and the excitement of getting there aren’t always someone’s idea of a great day but they are to me. We were up at 3:00 AM, made the hour drive to the airport and through security for our 6:50 flight. Logan was surprisingly busy at 5:00 in the morning, the Delta baggage check line was longer than the security line. We had just enough time to get breakfast and coffee before boarding the plane.
Long distance flights are never fun, but those seven hours to Seattle dragged on. I was super excited to get us booked in the same row with a window seat, just to find out the “window” I had didn’t exist. It’s not a big deal but I was definitely caught trying to peek out the window of the person in front of me. Leaving SeaTac was remarkably easy, we Ubered to the Burien Enterprise to grab our rental car. We had originally booked an SUV with the intent of car camping, but they only had smaller cars and a very small SUV. It was interesting, Enterprise didn’t want to give us a Kia because they were being targeted in robberies around the city for the starter.
We left with the small SUV and headed for Starbucks while we decided where to go from there. Our options were Mt.Rainier National Park, Olympic National Park and Leavenworth. The weather played heavily into our decision, and Leavenworth won the battle with the best weather forecast. The two and a half hour drive was spectacular. I might be a little star struck seeing new landscapes for the first time but it truly was beautiful.
The drive should have taken two and a half hours but it ended up taking four because we made a pit stop at Snoqualmie Falls (upper and lower) to walk around and see the sights. We really took the day as it came, and picked out where we were going to stay the night as we were rolling into town. The prospect of rain and a much smaller car than we anticipated took car camping out of the line up. We booked the Sleeping Lady Resort on a whim and checked in right when we got to town. The resort is just on the outskirts of Leavenworth and absolutely blew my expectations out of the water. If we are able to I really hope that we will make it back there someday for a longer stay.
After getting settled into our room and walking the resort grounds we went into Leavenworth for dinner and drinks. We were exhausted but that was all the time we had to explore downtown before we head back in the morning. Our first stop was Rhein Haus for a giant pretzel and a couple beers. The back deck overlooks the main street with all of the shops and Bavarian style buildings. It really is a small town with just a few streets so walking the whole town didn’t take very long. Our very last stop in town was Icicle Brewing Company, they were doing live music outside and had a beautiful porch. Leavenworth would certainly be beautiful in the winter, but seeing it in the summer gives the town a fairytale vibe.
Our evening consisted of sitting in the hot tub and relaxing in our room. The Sleeping Lady Resort is without a doubt the best place around to stay in Leavenworth. I am so glad we ended up staying there. Tomorrow morning will go by fast I’m sure, we have to make it all the way back to Seattle first thing to board the ship.