Life With My Little Kraut: Oktoberfest on the Olympic Peninsula

For the last five years, we’ve been going to Leavenworth for Oktoberfest every fall. I love this tradition and how it’s evolved from crazy rides in the RV to a family event that involves quality family/friends time, a beautiful drive through the cascades, good food, German beer, a stop at Kris Kringle, a two-story shop with nothing but Christmas ornaments, a walk down by the river, Lederhosen, Dirndl, and a delicious breakfast on Sunday mornings before we head back home.

We usually go on last of the three weekends of Oktoberfest which typically falls on my birthday, and I’ve loved celebrating my birthday in Leavenworth over the last few years. No need to make plans, and my friends are already with me anyway. When I realized that we had booked an apartment in Leavenworth again for this year and that I would be celebrating my 30th birthday there, I wasn’t sure I liked the idea. I love Oktoberfest and our tradition, but I thought something else, maybe a bit more fancy and grown up would have been nice this year. I wasn’t against Oktoberfest, but felt cheated out of the option of coming up with something completely new and different for my big birthday. So I complained about it for a second, then got over it, and started to get excited for our annual tradition. Tony’s sisters Traci and Annie were planning to join us and we were going to have additional German support (my friend Bettina). I knew it was going to be great.
Traci and Annie had arrived a day early and took Noah to go shopping Friday morning on their way to Leavenworth where we were planning to meet up again. I got work done at home, and was all packed and ready to go at 2pm. I was just waiting for Tony to come home so we could pick up Bettina from the train station and start our weekend adventure. I knew something was off when Tony came home and Bettina got out of the car as well. He had already picked her up, and I didn’t even know they had each other’s phone numbers. I was suspicious, but let it happen, it was my birthday weekend after all, so maybe they did have a lunch planned with everyone before we headed over to Leavenworth or so. So we packed up the car and got on the road. I was ready for the big weekend, and super excited, until after about five minutes, we took a wrong turn. Instead of heading east on Highway 2, we were getting on I-5 South. Fantastic. I knew. One big conspiracy and everyone was in on it except for me.

This is where we ended up going

I don’t do well with surprises. I love planning things out in my head in advance and don’t particularly like feeling out of control and not knowing what is going on. Especially when I’m the only one who’s clueless. It didn’t make it better that I had no idea where Noah was. I knew he was safe with Tony’s sisters, but didn’t know where they actually were. I started texting friends and try to get some information, but no one gave anything away. So I tried my sisters – I didn’t expect them to know anything and give me helpful clues, but I was looking for some emotional support like “yes, surprises do suck!” but all I got was: “Ooooh how exciting, just let it happen and relax!” Thanks. Not helpful. At all.

So I was still clueless on where we were headed and convinced were just making a detour to get fancy lunch (Tony insisted we were still going to Oktoberfest). Until we got to Edmonds and in line to get on the Ferry. There was no turning back. Though I may still be celebrating Oktoberfest, I was clearly not going to Leavenworth. I was in for an even bigger surprise than I had imagined.

At least now I knew something. I knew where we weren’t going. And I knew we were on our way to the Olympic Peninsula. I started to imagine a cute little cabin somewhere in the woods with a fireplace, wine, surrounded by nature. Okay, that didn’t sound so bad, and actually pretty close to how I would have chosen to celebrate my birthday anyway.

When we finally arrived at the house Tony had rented for the weekend, I was mind blown. The two story house was beautiful, big, and right by the water. Because it was so grey and foggy I didn’t realize how beautiful the location was until the next day. Most of my friends were already there, others that I didn’t expect to see in Leavenworth showed up later. Overwhelmed, exhausted, and happy, I started to look around for Noah. I could not believe it when he came out of another room WITH MY MOM! (This part is a bit of a blur, apologies if my recollection of events isn’t 100% accurate). I was supposed to pick her up from the airport on Monday after Oktoberfest and her being there was really the icing on the cake, the cherry on top. I’m so impressed with what Tony had all thought of and that he managed to arrange everything without raising the slightest suspicion. Also, now I knew why I hadn’t got the support I was looking for from my sisters – they were in on it too!

It turned out to be the perfect weekend. Great company, delicious food (people took turns being responsible for meals and I didn’t have to do anything), plenty of drinks, a hot tub, the beach, sunshine, a perfect view from the deck, seals in the water, lovely birthday presents, amazing birthday cakes, and just lots of love and happiness. What a great husband, family and friends I have! Thanks to everyone who made it so special!