Who needs plans?

I am a planner.

Often for me, planning for a little weekend trip, or date night adventure with my wife, is just as much fun as the execution of said plan...especially when things start going south in the execution of that plan.  I spend hours on yelp, figuring out what restaurant looks the best, which travel path between points of interest is the most effective, and sometimes going as far as trying to figure out how much time I think we will spend at each stop.
So yeah...I'm not just a planner, I'm a freak. 

I'm better than I used to be.  For the first few years of our marriage, my wife used to refer to me as her 'Time Nazi'...and not always in a sweet way.  I was forever tapping my watch and my foot waiting for her to get ready in the morning, and got flat-out pouty if I saw my schedule slipping.

This weekend, The Plan had called for swinging up to Leavenworth Friday evening to wander around and look at how pretty the town was after dark with all the lights on.  We would then go back to Wenatchee for sleep, before heading back up to Leavenworth on Saturday to hit the shops, and see how cute the town was with the sun up, and then bailing before it got dark and the crowds congregated for the Christmas Tree Lighting, since we would have seen it glowing the night before, with smaller crowds.

Ready? Break!

The plan started out good...as previously stated, Leavenworth was every bit as pretty as I hoped it would be.  There were two things I hadn't planned on though: First, I was unaware that Wenatchee, and the town of Cashmere would have so much to offer...several antique stores, a few wineries, a cider mill, a candy factory, and an all around pleasant atmosphere.  Second...we were not prepared at all for what kind of crowds we would face in Leavenworth on Saturday.

Friday, it had taken us about half-an-hour to get from Wenatchee to Leavenworth, and find a parking spot.  Saturday, it took us 20 minutes to do the last mile and a half into town, where were found out that any parking spot was going to cost us $10.  Ten bucks to wander around in shops full of tourist stuff?  The free parking around the antique stores, wine tasting rooms, the cider mill and candy factory seemed pretty inviting after that...so, we punted.  Good Bye Leavenworth, Hello Cashmere.

It was a good day either way.  The kids were GREAT at the antique stores, and had a great time trying the samples at the candy factory.  Liberty Orchards has been in business since 1920, and is best known for producing Aplets and Cotlets.  Aplets and  Cotlets are a candy made with fresh apples and apricots(although they now make them with all kinds of fruits) and pieces of nut in them, then lightly covered in powdered sugar.  It's the kind of thing usually sold at a 'Made in Washington' store, and shunned by the people that actually live in the state...but, they were pretty darn good.  Proving my weakness, my wife and I convinced ourselves to pick up two cases of their little sample size boxes(buying it buy the case was a good deal) to send out with Christmas presents.

The tasting room at the Cashmere Cider Mill was neat.  The girls loved it(although neither was blown away by the Apple-Lavender Cider).  Just like at a Winery Tasting Room, I was weak, weak, weak.  We walked out of there with two bottles of Cider...their Spiced and their Heirloom.  We had a sample of the Heirloom...I can't begin to describe it...I've never tasted an apple flavor that pure before.  You pay for what you get though...two bottles of cider were over 30 bucks...I've had moments of weakness at Wineries that cost me less than that...

It was a good, good day, and a good, good weekend. 

I only thought about work 3 or 4 times...