We are spending the night in Osburn, Idaho in an old silver mining area. The town of Wallace, 4 miles away, was considered the silver capital in the 1880/1900's. The entire town is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and whole blocks in the business district have remained intact for a hundred or more years. When the state wanted to build a freeway through the town as the old road was becoming obsolete, the freeway had to be built above the town because of the Historic designation. The state also had to pay for the relocation of the original train depot and some of the restoration costs.

Lana Turner was born in Wallace and lived in the area until she was 6 years old.



Yep, that's an old bordello, which is now a museum. The brothel was in operation from 1895 until 1988....YES 1988!

Restored Northern Pacific Railroad Depot (now a museum). The depot is a two-story chateau styled brick and stucco structure. Upstairs the trainmaster and family lived.

An old silver mine structure in pretty good shape.

River Rafting

We floated one of the rivers near camp today. A company called "Float Leavenworth" provides tubes with backrests that are very comfortable and tubes for dogs. Yes, they encourage you to float-with-your-dog! So all four of us signed up and off we went. For paddles we used frisbies. Total float time was 3 hours.

This is not how a dog is supposed to "float" the river but Sasha jumped off her tube and started pulling Chris down the river.

Chris got Sasha back on her tube and a few whacks with the frisbie, she settled down.

Are we having fun yet Sasha?

Anne & Jasper

Jasper enjoying the ride

Sasha charmed everyone on the bus back to where we started the raft trip. A little girl insisted she sit in the seat next to the window....and she did.

Someone has gone to a great deal of work with this landscaping.

Today was a kick-back day. Cleaned the trailer....the carpeting gets constantly dirty from 2 Labradors and 2 Adults tracking in pine needles and dirt. In the afternoon we took the dogs swimming to the river. The water felt so good. Forgot my camera so no pictures.

During our trip I've been taking pictures of old barns, houses and buildings. It is amazing how many of these structures are still standing and many of them are right next to a new home.

THE IRON GOAT TRAIL:
The story of the Iron Goat began over 100 years ago when a crossing was needed through the Cascades at Stevens Pass which helped open the Pacific Northwest to settlement and trade. The original route over the pass consisted of a set of switchbacks cut into the mountainside. The switchbacks were an engineering triumph but they had serious disadvantages. The old Cascade Tunnel, completed in 1900, bypassed the switchbacks. Several snowsheds were added for safety. Trains were often stopped for days in winter storms.

In 1910, snowslides delayed two trains at the town of Wellington just a short distance from a tunnel. An avalanchbe crashed down, sweeping both trains off the tracks into the river. Nearly 100 lives were lost. After this tragedy, the tunnel was removed and a snowshed was installed.

As rail traffic increased, a new Cascade tunnel was completed in 1929. This eight-mile tunnel is still in use today by the BNSF.

All Concrete Snowshed - two track. This is the spot of the 1910 disaster.



View of Snowshed from the freeway

Concrete back wall of snowshed - the top and front was made of lumber.

Iron Goat Interpretive Site

Old Cascade Tunnel (unsafe to enter)built in the early 1900's ~ no longer used.

Fish measuring station along one of the rivers. Some of the salmon are weighed, measured, tagged and given some kind of shot and then sent along their way. They are caught in a large tank, which is then brought to the surface. There were some quite large.

Took a drive along the Columbia River from Winatachee to Chelan, Washington. Numerous orchards of apples and pears and fruit stands everywhere.

A variety of packing crates along the orchards. The newer ones are plastic.

Our camp squirrel teased the dogs unmercifully this morning. Don't know what the sound is called that squirrel's make but this little critter made the sound constantly at the dogs. It would come down almost to the ground then scamper back up the tree.

The dogs were so dirty from rolling in the dirt; so we took them to one of the river's and Chris gave them a soap bath.

Two very tired Labrador's after chasing squirrels and playing in the river.

A few pictures of the Thousand Trails camp near Leavenworth, Washington. A very nice facility. Our camp is near the pond.

Creek and meadow

Adult lodge and meadow in front

Family lodge and swimming pool

Went on a nature hike that ended up being 2 1/2 miles long. There were 2 flumes on the trail to divert the water along an irrigation canal. Of course, the dogs had to test the water.

Colorful beer wagon and music in the park in Leavenworth

This is apple and pear country with orchards dotting the countryside. Numerous fruit stands/buildings not only selling fresh fruit but jams, jellies, wine plus all kinds of cooking items.

More pictures of Leavenworth:

Leavenworth, Washington

The story of Leavenworth is a testament to the determination of the human spirit. The odds of a dying timber and rail town successfully converting itself into an alpine Bavarian village are pretty slim. Nonetheless, the townspeople of Leavenworth found a way to do it. This is their story...

The History of Leavenworth
Leavenworth was settled by pioneers in search of gold, furs and fertile farmland. The Leavenworth area was soon bustling with settlers. By 1890, the original town was built. But it wasn’t until the end of the century when the town began to blossom with the arrival of the rail line. The Great Northern Railway Company’s tracks through Leavenworth brought with them opportunities for work, commerce and a new economy.

A sawmill and a healthy logging industry eventually fell apart, however, when the Great Northern Railway Company pulled out of Leavenworth. The re-routing of the railroad and the subsequent closure of the sawmill sadly converted the town from a bustling, thriving hub of commerce into a hollow, empty community. For more than thirty years, Leavenworth lived on the brink of extinction.

But in the early 1960’s, everything changed. In a last-chance effort to turn their town around, the leaders of the community decided to change Leavenworth’s appearance, hoping to bring tourism into the area. Using the beautiful backdrop of the surrounding Alpine hills to their advantage, the town agreed to remodel their hamlet in the form of a Bavarian village.

Hoping to create more than a mere facelift, the entire community rallied to create the illusion of Bavaria in the middle of Washington state. Besides the complete renovation of the downtown area, community members worked to begin a series of festivals to attract people. And it worked!! Since the change to a Bavarian motif, Leavenworth has become a pillar of the tourism industry in the Pacific Northwest. Today, more than a million tourists come to Leavenworth each year, each visitor finding their own individual love affair with the community. The story is a landmark case of the human spirit: Not only did the people of Leavenworth survive their most critical hour, but they endured.






Why does he look so happy? Maybe it's the German beer!