Piling into the car and driving for four hours, over the mountains, to Lake Chelan every summer is a strong childhood memory. The always rotating tapes of the Chipmunks, Pat Benatar, Willie Nelson, & Eddy Rabbit played while my brother and I had to have an ice chest placed between us in the back seat so that we wouldn't poke each other. Somehow our magic slates just didn't occupy us the whole time. When Sayer was born, we started up the tradition again of having a mini summer vacation in Lake Chelan with all of our families together. We just got back yesterday from a long weekend there and I wanted to document and share the nostalgia.
The first year, we actually stayed in one of the same exact rooms that we stayed in 36 years ago! Nothing had really changed except the painting above the couch was a little more modern (not much though). Since then, we have been staying in a place just a few blocks away from our original hotel. However, Brian (my brother) and I snuck over and tripped through memory lane before the weekend was over. As you see, things don't change that much (these photos are actually taken in the same spots as the original photos).
The Lakeview Drive-In is still one of the first stops once we get to Chelan. Although, they don't serve the hotdogs in the little wiener dog paper packaging anymore, the experience is still how we remember it.
The next stop is The Variety Store (used to be Sprouse-Reitz) which looks exactly the same inside as it used to. The three most important purchases used to be, and still are : buckets, inflatable ball (or air mattress), and thongs.
The pool is also one of the first destinations. My glasses still sit on the little table next to the lounge chair... just the beverage has changed.
Renting a ski boat to tube or ski behind was something we used to do almost every year as well. This year, Brian was the only one that jumped in to be towed behind the boat. But we all went along for the ride. Sayer thought it was pretty darn cool to watch. We go off season now, so the water (and weather) isn't quite as warm as what we remember.
On our way home, we stopped at a little Bavarian inspired town called Leavenworth. It has changed a bit from the 70's and '80's, but not a lot. The whole trip sort of felt like we stepped into a time warp.
And there you have it- a peek into our weekend getaway. I love being able to share some of my childhood memories with Chris and Sayer while making new memories as a family. Do you have a traditional vacation spot?
This was so much fun to read Kristin! Love all the photos!
ReplyDeleteVacation spot - nope. We grew up by the sea, in a very touristic area - so it was everybody else that came there on vacation :) (or: our vacation spot was 300m from our house!)
Oh sweet sweet photo of you and Chris there! Aw... melt. Oh I so wish we had family vacation memories like you do and are still creating, now with Sayer! Sadly, we have never, not once ever, gone on a real family vacation when I was a kid. Maybe Niagara Falls for a weekend when I was 4. What with my parents having their own business, they never took summers off. At least, not with us. I truly feel we missed out. I love how you recreated the photos of yourself and your brother! Too cool! Plus he's wearing a KLT tee. Love it! That expression on Sayer's face says it all. It's soo good to see you continue the tradition and make family important. Great vacation!
ReplyDeletei love this post! as a kid we used to go on road trips every summer in our orange volkswagon bus! we would head to the grand canyon or lake tahoe! the destination was never the same but the memories of driving in the bus and doing puzzles on the floor... yes my parents would remove the middle seat so we could play on the floor while we drove! crazy. so this summer started our own family roadtrip tradition!
ReplyDeleteoh and those green shoes in the top photo next to the couch... i want them!!