In pure Dylabby fashion, we had a very informal plan to head east to see the Painted Hills, John Day Fossil Beds, John Day River, and desert time, but then as we were packing up the car that morning, we changed our plans and decided to head north to Colchuck Lake in Washington. More chance for seeing the Northern Lights? Autumn colors? Less chance of rattlesnakes biting our dogs? Those were a few of the random reasons that were thrown out there.
We booked a hotel on the drive up for Wenatchee, WA near Leavenworth-- Leavenworth was crazy expensive, later to find out the Oktoberfest reason why. And booking camping in Washington is not fun. If anyone has tips that don’t involve having to book 6months (or even a month) in advance or having to do a whole lottery to get a permit, please let us last-minute travelers know. We did get a good stop in Leavenworth for some German beers, people watching, and a beautiful river walk right in town, and a lovely sunset dinner view.
The next morning, we started up the dirt road to Colchuck quickly to spot a dreadful sign: "No dogs allowed on Colchuck trails." Cue some major disappointment and frustration. I was mad at myself for missing the "No dogs" on AllTrails. I was mad at AllTrails for burying that important information in a weird hashtag section. I was mad at Dylan for persuading me to change my Eastern Oregon plans. I was mad at Washington for having so many no-dog hikes… But Dylan held it together and saved the day, taking us to another trail that also welcomed us with a "no dogs" sign, but we didn't care at that point and just risked it. This hike started out pretty good and quickly turned magical with yellow larches, coral something-or-others, occasional bursts of reds-- phenomenal scenes.
We enjoyed letting Hobie lead the way on this hike, slowing our pace, and taking a lovely break by a river. The boys always love a mid-hike splash and frolic. Toulouse kept us entertained with his funny habit of biting at the water, like full-on chomps. Pretty goofy.
Hobie also had us laughing at the end, when we were only about 5 minutes to the end and he plopped right down and let three strangers know that he was just done. Simply didn’t wanna walk any farther. We personified him sharing that his cruel parents keep making him do these hikes and all he wants is to chill and scope out all our neighborhood's tasty treats these days.
After the hike, we thought about camping somewhere, staying in Seattle for a night, or pitching a tent in a friend's yard, but in the end, we decided to just head home along the scenic Route 2, where we saw even more stunning fluorescent fall colors.
I will get to Eastern Oregon and enjoy those stars and wilderness one day. But for now, despite (and because of) these bloopers, it was a memorable trip.
Oh for Washington birthdays rounds 1 and 2
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