a trip to idaho

Last week we went to Moscow to see Trav's parents during my fall break. While there, we took a tour of central Washington (also known as the barren wasteland) where Trav spent his early years. It's actually not that bad; I'm just more accustomed to farmland being green with fields interspersed with hedge-rows of trees rather than dry brown sage brush. Then we spent 2 days in Leavenworth, WA, a small "Bavarian" village on the east side of the Cascades. Although very touristy and rather kitschy, it was still pretty fun. Here's a picture of the main street:

My favorite part were all the signs. In order to give things a more "German" feel, the locals added German words to most of their store names. However, they didn't always bother to check to see if the words were grammatically correct. Or even German. Two of my favorites:

We also stopped at a candy factory in Cashmere, WA where they make a very strange and sometimes tasty treat called aplets and cotlets. They're kind of like Turkish delight, except not as nasty. Millions of pounds of candies are made each year in a building smaller than most houses by a staff of about 20. All hand packaged, even. They're a Zirker family favorite for Christmas...and a bit of an acquired taste.

Trav did his best to eat as many free samples as he could. He said it was all in the name of settling the family dispute about which are better: aplets or cotlets. I vote cotlets.