Day Trip to Leavenworth!!! (German Christmas Village)

NOTE : I created a Discord community with a channel named "12-20-leavenworth" to facilitate communication for this specific event, since the meetup app doesn't always work well. You can join here:

https://discord.gg/KHk2JFTu

Celebrate the holidays with us on a magical journey to the Leavenworth Christmas Festival! Nestled in the heart of the Cascade Mountains, this quaint Bavarian-style village transforms into a winter wonderland during the holiday season, offering a festive experience like no other! The air filled with the sound of Christmas carols and the aroma of festive foods and drinks. At night, the village is illuminated with enchanting lights!

On our way to Leavenworth, we may stop at Stevens Pass, Lake Wenatchee, and/or Old Pipeline Bed Trailhead for short nature walks. In the village, we may do another nature walk at blackbird island, drink mulled wine, do a wine tasting, get lunch/dinner at a restaurant, shop for gifts, and explore the town (especially at night once the lights turn on). On our way back, we might grab milkshakes at the 59er Diner.

I may do some more research into other activities that we could do during the daylight hours, possibly on our way to Leavenworth. I may push the starting time of this meetup back a bit (but probably not the end time). If you have any ideas, please feel free to share them with me and/or the rest of the group!

The drive is approximately 2.5 hours each way.

If you are driving, please drink responsibly! We may do a wine tasting, in which case, the portions of wine are fairly small, but you may still need to pace yourself! If you are going to drink, I recommend eating lots of food throughout the day, starting with drinks early and not drinking the last couple of hours before you drive back, and/or spreading the drinks out over several hours! I will be bringing a BAC reader / breathalyzer device with sterile interchangeable nozzles if anyone has any doubts and wants to check their ability to drive. The roads leaving Leavenworth are heavily policed.

Please also be careful during the drive! The winding mountain roads can be slick due to snow, ice, or rain. Visibility can be poor, especially at night. Passing lanes appear and disappear abruptly.

Everything below relates to carpooling:

We'll meet at Caffe Umbria by the long narrow public parking lot along Westlake Ave at 9 AM and split into our carpools at around 9:15! Let us know before 9 AM if you are on your way. We generally wait 15 minutes for people to arrive. If you are arriving with your own car, be sure to park in a spot marked "ALL DAY" parking (in case you end up not driving)! Please coordinate carpools in the comments or better yet, the google doc!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z0hOTWVa2RiswdkUqc56F1e1UlmSqNX2EJxvGj7AX4k/edit?usp=sharing

Please post if you can drive or if you need a ride!

Riders are expected to (at a bare minimum) split the cost of gas (and parking if applicable) evenly between the driver and the other passengers, as well as a reasonable amount for projected wear and tear on the vehicle.

If you are going to arrange your carpool to meet somewhere OTHER THAN the Caffe Umbria on Lake Union, I suggest a park and ride such as Greenlake, Northgate, Eastgate, or Tukwila/SouthCenter. Passengers, please do not ask to be picked up at your home; drivers, please don't offer to do so. It usually creates problems and makes the timing and logistics much more complicated, since people often aren't ready on time, cancel last minute, or just plain don't show up. On the other hand, dropping people off at their home after the event is much easier.

I strongly discourage driving by yourself and meeting directly in Leavenworth unless you need to, especially if you haven't already been to one of our meetups before. People who drive themselves often arrive earlier or later than us, have trouble recognizing or finding us (Leavenworth is quite large and crowded), get lost / go to the wrong place, and/or get stressed out. Also, Leavenworth itself should have cell signal, but we will likely lose cell signal (and therefore the ability to communicate issues) periodically throughout the drive. I also encourage carpools since this will help people attend who don't own their own car and they can keep you company during the long drive! They can also help split the cost of parking and gas!

Photo is of Leavenworth, taken by Ashu Shah, found on Flickr.