It was raining again today and although we have had a few days of rain overall we have been very lucky and it has stopped mid-morning and hasn't interfered with any of our plans.
Our initial plan was to stay at Concrete for another day but considering the weather and learning that the road into the North Cascades National Park is only opened for about 40miles we decided to change our itinerary and head to Leavenworth after driving into the Park a short distance to have a look and for Jordan to play in some snow. This change in plans also means Paul will have a shorter distance to drive to Spokane tomorrow.
The rain cleared shortly after heading off and once again America is showing us her magnificent countryside. Within a very short time we had come across Jordan's most favourite thing for the whole trip, yep you guessed it, SNOW!! Jordan told us his wish had come true because wished and believed for snow everywhere. I was also quite amazed to see winery's just below the snowline as I thought it would be way too cold for them at that altitude but obviously not.
We stopped at Diablo Lake and once again finding a magnificent outlook for our traditional lunch with a view but before we could have lunch we had to have a play in the snow with Jordan throwing snowballs at mummy and daddy. I just can't believe how much Jordan LOVES the snow and doesn't care if you throw snowballs at him, in fact the more you throw at him the more fun it is for him because he just loves falling over in the snow and it is a good excuse to do so. It is such a joy to watch him having so much fun and giggling so much.
During lunch we made a game of who could remember the most "lunch with a view" places we had been to and I have to say I had forgotten some of them but we had a bit of fun trying to remember them all and I do think we got them all between the three of us. We really have seen some amazing places with such a variety of landscapes over the past couple of weeks.
After lunch we headed back to Burlington to the McDonalds with the huge playground to book our accommodation for the night and to give Jordan another opportunity to run off some energy before the drive ahead of us.
Well the drive ahead certainly gave us another "NEW" experience and not one we would care to do again given the choice. We had to drive over a mountain pass to get to Leavenworth and as we started up the pass it started to rain which quickly turned to sleet. I made a comment to Paul about it and next thing we knew it was snowing which then got thicker and thicker and heavier. As if that wasn't enough it then started coming in horizontally and everywhere we looked it was white. With 30km still to go it was gradually getting darker which concerned Paul a bit but he was doing a fantastic job and all the other cars and trucks that were coming from the other direction didn't have chains on so that was encouraging.
Jordan told us he had wished for snow everywhere but not a blizzard like we were having. Well luckily it wasn't a blizzard but his wish for snow everywhere certainly had come true.
At the highest point we got up to an altitude of 4,700ft!!
Coming into Leavenworth I saw quite a few Xmas displays of lights which were lovely and then when we arrived in Leavenworth itself was such a treat as there were lights everywhere, it was gorgeous. As well as the lights, the buildings were all painted and it looked like a real Xmas Village.
After enjoying the lights and looking around a little, we headed off to the KOA as it really was getting quite late by this stage. It wasn't long before we were all set up in our Kamp site and ready for bed.
Paul did an amazing job in driving us through the mountain pass in conditions that he was not comfortable with littleown driving a 30ft RV through but it was an amazing experience! I think we will have to stop Jordan from wishing for snow everywhere!!!
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