TEXAS GYPSY GOES TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

In the morning we were off for the Cascade Mountains and the town of Leavenworth. As we drove along through the mountains, we were amazed at how much water there wass in the state. Everywhere you look you find rivers, lakes, ponds, creeks, and pools of water -- all clean and fresh and bubbling. Behind the water rise the snow-capped mountains making every turn of the road something from a picture postcard.

We had been told that the road from Seattle to Leavenworth drove through the Cascade Mountains and that we would drive through some picturesque countryside, but nothing prepared me for the natural beauty that was our constant companion on the two and a half hour drive. Around every turn we found a scene that was even prettier than the last. The snow-capped mountains, the towering trees, and the ever present bodies of water made the drive an absolutely delightful experience.

Although we could have paused every five minutes to take pictures and soak in the scenery, we limited our stops to two. The first was at a roadside restaurant that was located on the banks of a lake. The highway ran through a valley between high mountains, and alongside the road the blue waters of a lake created a scene of such perfect harmony we had to stop and contemplate it.

The most incredible thing was that this wasn't a single spot that people flocked to in order to see its beauty. No, this was just a bend in the road, a small restaurant for passersby to have a bite to eat next to a small lake--nothing spectacular, just one of many.

No one else even seemed to notice as they drove by. And little wonder because everything we saw at that point was just what we had seen around the previous corner, or up the last hill.   It is so strange to think that beauty like that may lack admirers simply because it isn't rare in that part of the world.

In any case, after a few moments of silent appreciation of nature, we continued on our way until we reached Deception Falls. Now last August we were in Canada, and several times we stopped to view a waterfall. In all but one case the falls was hardly worth the effort it took to reach it by way of a walkway through the woods. My husband was sure that Deception Falls would be more of the same.

I just knew it was different because, according to the guide book, it was located on two sides of the road. Somehow I expected a waterfall dropping down from a high ledge on either side while the highway went through the center in such a way as the Iguassu Falls in South America fall on opposite sides of a river. In this case, I was badly mistaken.

We parked the car in the designated spot and walked through a short path in the woods without a sighting of the waterfalls. Finally, we heard the unmistakable sound of thundering water, and a couple hundred feet later we reached a bridge that stretched acrossed a river that was crashing white water on one side, and an almost calm stream on the other. It seemed to calm somehow under the bridge and it's riotous descent calmed enough to make the river look peaceful. Perhaps the river bed widened at that point. I'm not sure.

We continued on past the bridge until we reached a cement staircase on the left side of the river. At the top of the stairs we found a walkway alongside the river that crossed under the highway bridge. When we reached the other side we found ourselves at a vantage point facing the crashing white foam that obliterated all sight of the water.

From under the bridge we were able to climb to higher points that offered incredible views of the torment of water that crashed around us. The sight struck awe into the beholder for the sheer magnificence of the power of that water.

We headed back to the car by way of a staircase we found just beyond the first bridge. It would have been much shorter to go down that staircase directly from the parking lot, arriving at the point where the water began to force itself under the bridge, but the surprise we felt at the discovery of that pounding torrent while walking through the woods would have been missing.

After we left Deception Falls, we drove another forty minutes through the mountains before we went around a final curve in the road and in front of us, like an erstwhile Brigadoon, the town of Leavenworth materialized. The incongruous vision of a quaint little village that looked as if it belonged along the Romantichstrasse in Germany in the center of the Cascade Mountains made me feel as if we had transcended a time and space continuam. During our entre stay there I felt as if I had to tiptoe around to avoid its disappearing in front of our very eyes.

Sometime back in the 1960's a new motel decorated in Bavarian style opened in the sleepy little town of Leavenworth. The townspeople noticed that travelers driving through on State Highway 12 from Spokane bagan stopping for the night more often at the German motel than at any other place in town. In fact, the flower trimmed, white and brown building had more visitors than the rest of the town businesses put together. Leavenworth's movers and shakers studied the situation and discovered that it wasn't the amenities the motel provided, or the comfort available in its rooms, but the atmosphere provided by the hanging flower baskets and the charming brown wood decorations on the exterior of the motel that attracted the tourists.

Within a very short time other, older structures in the downtown area began making changes in their outward appearance, sprouting their own touches of Bavaria. Soon the tourists began arriving, and they haven't stopped. Today in the summer the multitude of Leavenworth's Bavarian style motels and Bed and Breakfast places hang out NO VACANCY signs even on a week day.

Over the years, the tiny community has formulated rules defining its Bavarianness. Today, no structure may be built that does not confine itself to being a vision of old Bavaria. King Ludwig II himself would be proud.

The new town is more Bavarian than the original towns it is trying to copy.

Even gas stations and supermarkets must utilize the Bavarian theme in their construction, and they seem to do so with abandon.

To say only that the town fathers succeeded in converting their nondescript town into a fantasy village would be as much of an understatement as it would be to say that Houston is warm in the summer.

And it is also important to add that their creation is as well made as a Disney version would be. The town, nestled as it is among the Cascade Mountain peaks, is one of the most delightful man-made sights around. Window boxes jammed with red and yellow flowers adorn each sill.

Suspended from the ubiquitous building overhangs and street lamps, baskets of multi-colored blooms sway gently in the breeze perfuming the town with their delicate scent.

A Bavarian style Maypole stands in the center of town square near the delightful gazebo that seems to know just how beautiful it looks posing as it does in the shadow of the mountains.

The Maypole is a custom that began during the end of the Middle Ages in Germany. Except for the clergy, people were illiterate, and as towns came into being, the tradespeople wanted a way to inform the traveler of which trades were represented in a town. The outline of a shoe signified the town had a shoemaker, a loaf of bread meant a baker, and so on. Today's strip shopping centers have their own version of a Maypole in the signs where they list the names of the resident stores.

Even an alley in Leavenworth will be decorated with flowers and murals so that aside from merely fulfilling its purpose as a passageway between buildings, it serves to further beautify the town.

The shop owners have even thought to apease the shoppers' husbands by placing attractive benches in front ofthe shops all along the street.

Along highway 12 is a string of gaily decorated motels, any of which provide the amenities most tourists desire, but there is only one motel, The Obhertal Inn, that is located right inside the downtown shopping area.

In fact from the motel's parking lot one is able to enter directly into the Leavenworth Mall, a one-story building filled with lovely shops selling a high qaulity merchandise of the typeone expects in a place this touristy.

The buildings on Front Street in town, house more of the same. There is the ubiquitous year-round Christmas store, in this case named Kris Kringle. It happens to carry a large selection of Department 56 porcelain houses and accessories.

There is also a Nutcracker Museum with the largest collection of nutcrackers I have ever seen in one place. One two story building has converted itself into a tourist mall. It is on the second floor of this building that one can have t-shirts stamped to order.

The town is blessed with a multitude of German style restaurants, one of which, Cafe Mozart on Front Street, serves delicious Bavarian style dinners and German wine in the refined atmosphere of white linen table clothes and stemmed glassware.

While browsing among the shops, I noticed the similarity between their merchandise and that which I found last August in Frankenmuth, Michigan. When I mentioned this to the proprietor of a store, he peppered me with questions as to what Frankenmuth was like. He said that many times German style tourist merchandise such as magnets and knick knacks had arrived bearing the name Frankenmuth. Truly curious as to what the Michigan town was like, he was delighted when I told him, that although Frankenmuth was larger and just as beautiful, Leavenworth was more charming and quaint.

The Oberthal Inn has two special suites with fireplaces, kitchens, and private covered parking. Because we had reserved a room for only one night, and the suite was reserved for a week starting the night after we left, we were upgraded to the large room on the third floor. As we walked up, we passed a hot tub on the second floor. From our room we had such wonderful mountain views in three directions it truly made me sorry that we couldn't stay longer. To the left, over the flowerbox, we could see mountains.

In front of the hotel was a beautiful Bavarian style home that had been turned into a crafts shop.

To the right we had a beautiful view of the Cascade Mountains that are truly appreciated by people who live in such flat country as East Texas.

As we pulled out of Leavenworth the next morning, I didn't want to look back, but I was afraid that would. You see, I preferred pretending that the whole town, like Brigadoon, would disappear for another hundred years, or at least until I wanted to go there again. Luckily I was so involved in watching street signs and reading the map that I didn't remember to turn around until we were far from town so my fantasy is alive and I can pretend that the town was only there for me.

Outside of Leavenworth, on the way to Mount Rainier, we passed through more of the beautiful mountain scenery we had so admired on our way from Seattle. It was so surprising when, almost without a hint, the mountains disappeared, and suddenly the land grew flat.