Chelanigans (part 1)

European Reunion in Chelan, WA

Last summer my friends and I took a trip through Switzerland, Italy, and France with a busload of crazies... I mean, people... (read about it on my blog - which this is - so this blog, just earlier) and loved them. SO, we decided to make a trip to this small town of BIG personalities and see what it was all about.

I think I'm moving there ;)

Day 1 - SLC to Seattle

The plane takes off, a little low for my comfort, into a lightning storm. I watch the lightning strike over the Great Salt Lake and wonder if we’ll be hit soon. As those thoughts are going through my mind, I’m also noticing how low we are still flying and we seem to be struggling, but again, I’m not running this show – what do I know?! After we are lost in the gloomy clouds I relax and sit back with dad’s noise cancelling headphones keeping me company. It isn’t long until the turbulence kicks in. The plane is being tossed around like I’ve never experienced. It would drop suddenly over and over, and at times I was in the lap of the, not so hygiene-happy, guy next to me. I tried to remain calm, keeping my eyes closed and my fists clenched. I imagined my funeral.

I wondered who would come and what it would be like. Hopefully bright – no black allowed – short and sweet (who wants to sit there forever) and everyone would know I was in a beautiful place (fingers crossed). Then I realized my friends were on my same plane. Would we have a joint funeral? Would our other friends have to go to 5 different funerals? That would be tough on people. I figured my death would be pretty clean since I wouldn’t leave any kids without a mom or husband or anything. So I said my prayers and repented of anything I could think of, and made my peace. Then the skies calmed and I fell asleep, arriving safely over Seattle. I could have said safely in Seattle, but the landing was crazy wild! We skidded all over the runway, LITERALLY! Again I made close friends with my smelly neighbor as we swerved hard to the right. The announcement at the end “be careful, luggage may have shifted in the flight” was met with loud NO KIDDINGs and YOU THINK?!s (yes, I was one of those). We lived.

The shuttle took us right to the Holiday Inn Express (thanks Andy) and we entered our suite. It was sweet! A kitchen, front room with pullout couch, 2 queens and 2 TVs (in case Amy wanted to watch her own). The hallway was musty hot and a bit smelly, but the room was lovely. We set up camp, ordered pizza and drinks, and watched some TV. I forgot my jammies.

Amy, Ali, Amanda, steph and Sandra.

Breakfast was delicious; cheese omelets, toast, bagel, yogurt, juice, cinnamon roll, muffins, cereal… anything! YUM! Sandra and Ali went to pick up the rental car from a guy named Ali (Ali’s new best friend). He made them laugh, mocking their idea that 5 girls and girl luggage would fit in the Malibu, and talked them into an SUV. BRILLIANT! We fit perfectly and enjoyed the upgrade. Off to the market.

I helped Ali park in a stall made for compact cars!

The flowers were GORGEOUS and inexpensive (notice I didn’t say cheap… they weren’t cheap in anyway). We made mental notes to come back on our way out. We tasted all the fruit as we passed the samplers, tasted the bread and vinegar, the dried fruit, the pasta… who needs lunch after that?! We needed a sweatshirt for Ali, she is a sweatshirter when it comes to vacation. We found a shop on the corner where you pick out the item and then the design and they make it for you right there. I found some yoga pants (for my new jammies) and printed TEAM JACOB down the side – its not Forks or La Push, but I’m in the right state at least.

lucky pig.

As we walked back past our sampled areas, we purchased those delicious samples for our time at the lake house. Sandra and Amanda bought fish just to see the hot guys yell and throw them across the counter. A counter, mind you, that Sandra can’t even see the over… it is above her head! Then we stopped at the pasta place, the fruit stand, the vegetables, the delicious dried apples and the gorgeous bouquets of bright flowers. We would be fine dining in Chelan (of course, Sandra is with me, so it is always fine dining).

We ate lunch at a little soup, salad, and sandwich shop before hurrying back to our time limited parked car. (We were entertained by some street singers and people watching while we ate).

(I promise I did go on this trip, though there aren't many pictures to prove it!)

I love the laid back atmosphere. I love the fresh food and the fresh flowers. I love that it isn’t even expensive for quality stuff. Where is MY market in South Jordan? Where are MY fresh flowers every day?

The drive begins. Over the mountains and through the woods singing to our homemade mixed tapes (CDs), Glee, American Idol, and other favorites while watching the weather switch from gloomy clouds to sunshine to clouds to sunshine…

At one point I notices the fog and darkness and I KNEW that is where those vampires must live, it totally makes sense.

We were quick and efficient – Ali our driver and Sandra our GPS – and rolled into town right on time.

We slowly drove down the main street and found ACE Hardware, where the Kellys are known to be, and found a grocery store right away… the Safeway. These locals know we’re not from town and looked us up and down with warm smiles and nods. We raced around to pick up the few items Sandra assigned us and met at checkout, all with our adorable matching purses. Ali gave them to us as travel gifts – adorable. As we headed out to Manson (the town that houses our house) we saw this:

mmmm.

THE LAKE HOUSE – the Blair House (Sounds a bit creepy doesn't it?!)

We parked in the carport (made for several cars) and walked up the stone entrance to the house. The keypad opened on our first try and we now had access to our home for the weekend. It smelled like a grandma’s house, or a rental, which it is so no worries. Our rooms each had a theme.

Amanda got the brightly feathered room,

Amy, the Victorian master bedroom,

Ali, the animal wild room, and

Sandra and I shared the Nautical room (or the kid room – my bed had a plastic cover on the mattress…nice). We took a quick look around – pool table, foosball, pool, hot tub, and VIEW OF THE LAKE. Ahhh. It takes your breath away.