I've been settling into Wenatchee. I am learning a ton very quickly at work and the size and beauty of the mountains amaze me everyday.

Got a cold on Thursday, so mostly laid low until today. I had some adventures in lodging. I had been staying at a wonderful bed & breakfast in Wenatchee that fulfilled its dual mandate (bed & breakfast) excellently. However, it (like every other hotel in Wenatchee) was booked up this weekend, so I headed north to Chelan for a new venue, the Apple Inn Motel.

The Apple Inn Motel was a nice place located in the town at the base of a deep man-made lake. However, it did not have a very good hot water heater. I only discovered this after I had filled a bath in order to try to knock out my cold. The water in the tub was room temperature, if not a little colder. So I looked around to see what I could use to make hot water to add to the tub to make it the sauna to sweat out the germs... it had bathroom sink facet, but it produced water that was just as cold... microwave, but no microwave-safe container... then my eye settled on the 4-cup coffeemaker.

I thought the coffeemaker would be the solution to my problem. However, turns out that 4 cups of heated water really does not do much to heat the tub. This is true even if you add 4 cups of hot water repeatedly. The tub water cools back to the original temperature by the time you make another 4 cups of hot water. So, I abandoned the effort and just consoled myself in college football and the linens of the king-size bed.

I felt much better this morning, so went to check out Lake Chelan. I found a great public beach on Willow Point on the north shore of the lake and skipped rocks for a good while, enjoying the sparkling sunshine and the gently lapping waves.

I drove back around the lake and headed south to Wenatchee, taking a back road through the mountains rather than returning along the Columbia River. The road was in pretty good condition, but took slow, careful driving to ensure that I did not bottom out my car. However, the coolness of a dust-covered car and the vistas from the mountain tops more than made up for the treacherous road:

I'm back in Wenatchee now and spent the evening reading Jack Ward Thomas' (a former Forest Service Chief) journals. He is describing the play between politics and science during the development of the Northwest Forest Plan. It is particularly interesting to read about the different reactions to the controversial issue given my experience in DC and my current location in areas covered by the plan.

I will hopefully find a place to live tomorrow. There is one apartment that I like, but it is a little big and a little far from downtown. I am looking at one more apartment that was built and is managed by the same folks. Hopefully that will fit me a bit better. If not, then the first place will end up suiting me just fine (it does boast a second bedroom for visitors.)