The Second Day

If it made sense to start recapping our recent trip to Seattle with the first day, it surely makes sense to continue on at some point with the second day of that vacation.  Of course that some point is the FAT Monday post for today.  The pictures will do much of the story telling for me, but I will try to fill in the points between and introduce them properly along the way.

We dragged ourselves out of bed fairly early, downed some coffee, inhaled some oatmeal with various personalized additions, and then headed toward the sun (which was mostly behind clouds) and two hours through the mountains to our first destination of the day.

Drving through the mountains

My entire life leading up to that day I had only associated Leavenworth with a prison, but by late morning I found a much more pleasant and bizarre image to link to that name.

Quite a beatiful day.

Coming down out of the mountains to this town is a really, really strange site though I have to imaging that it is even more so during the winter when some snow is accumulated on the buildings.  The place is authentic looking but theme park-ish at the same time and we certainly had quite a lot of fun during our time there.

Could not help myself

Touching the metal was quite hot

Restraining the beast

After the terrifying site of a cat on a leash we fled the town and headed back through the mountains to our afternoon destination.  We even found coffee along the way (what a surprise in the Seattle area) to help wake us all up a bit.

Much needed caffeine

It was my day to drive (after The Wife volunteered for the first day) so I was given the responsibility of the keys and the camera as we pulled into our first Woodinville destination.  Since the building was not open during our last visit, I wanted to be sure to stop by Januik/Novelty Hill to get a better look at the place this time.

Some of the outdoor area

Enjoying the first taste

Would not mind having a room like this at home.

Trying to utilize what time we had left in the afternoon, the next stop was at the Redhook Brewery since our arrival would mean only a few moments wait until the next tour started.  It is not so much a tour as it is (mostly) standing in a room listening to someone talk between beer samples, but for one dollar and a free glass at the end you will not get a better bang for your buck.  On this day we even got pint glasses instead of the typical small tasting glasses since they were waiting on a shipment of those.

See what fun you can have for a dollar . . .

Some of the building

Hanging out in the back

The extent of the tour

We had time to get to one more winery before the tasting hours passed, so we headed across the road to Chateau Ste. Michelle to make it our last stop of the afternoon.  The grounds and the building alone make this one worth a stop, though the good wine certainly is a great bonus.

Part of the approach

Another room I would not mind having

Since I was without wine and with a camera, Seattle Jeff and I wandered around a bit to pass the time while the wives finished their wine flights and before we headed the car back to Seattle.

Off the path a bit

The stage behind the tasting room

A little further off the path

It was a great day of fun and the weather was pretty much fantastic for all of the time we spent outside.  Upon our return to enjoy some dinner, the driver took the opportunity to rehydrate a bit.

Tasted so good

Appropriate considering our day

When everyone had full stomachs, we took advantage of the remaining daylight to head down to the beach as a proper way to end our day.  Who knew that our Seattle hosts were closer to the beach than we are in Florida?

Not a bad way to end a day

Seattle Jeff sampled these without getting sick

Until day three . . .