Over the weekend, we trucked out to Wenatchee to visit Thom and Katie. Although they’d already been to our new house twice, we still hadn’t been to their almost-a-year-old “new” house. The architecture of their house is definitely unique: a mix of modern (roughly ten years old) and an old farmhouse (right around a century old).
In true form, Thom and Katie took us on a hike into the hills behind their house. It was a beautiful day– a little chilly, but in mid-November you expect that.
Julian showed off his parkour skills at the trailhead:
We missed the height of the fall colors, but the trees were still pretty.
The hike took us through a gorgeous golden meadow.
Sefton alternated between running up the trail to catch up to Noni (aka Julian), and being carried in a backpack or on shoulders. To a two-year-old, there’s always something to point at in excitement.
At the summit, we had a commanding view of the entire Wenatchee Valley. I can see why Thom loves this area.
Although we couldn’t (quite) see their house behind the ridges, we could see the entire city spread beneath us.
Julian took some great photos. And I took one of him taking one of me.
Julian installed some retro game emulator, and we had a grand time playing Tetris and Mario Bros (the ones from the early 90’s). Katie fired up Mario Kart, which is somewhat of a disappointment after playing the updated Wii version.
On Saturday we went up to Leavenworth, which is a fun little town whose theme is “Bavarian”, to the point where all the businesses are required by statute to use certain German-looking script fonts. Even the Subway has this font, rather than its usual logo. The town was decked out for the holidays, and the lights were pretty cool.
Also, we found a shark hat and a giant bear. What a great city!
We hiked along Icicle Creek, which is a pretty hike that heads up into the Enchantments. It was, in fact, the same trail Thom and Katie came down after their wedding. I managed to get a nice shot of the creek:
And a few fall colors, for good measure.
On Sunday went on a ten-mile bike ride across the Columbia and Wenatchee Rivers. It was a ton of fun, and the trail was populated by other bikers and walkers out to enjoy the nice weather. Sefton was in heaven, because not only did we ride (and walk) across bridges…
… but we rode a 10-gauge mini railroad! What two-year-old wouldn’t love that? Thom, on the other hand, appeared to be underwhelmed by the train. (Pepper is having fun in the back with the caboose guy.)
We loved the weekend and can totally understand why Thom and Katie decided to make Wenatchee their new home.