LEAF Excursion: Ghost Towns for Halloween!

All weekend long, I tried to figure out an activity for today.  I was looking for a place that 1) that was within range of our LEAF, 2) got us out to see some wonderful fall colors, and 3) was fitting for a Daddy/Little Dudes Halloween excursion.

While reading the Seattle PI this morning, I read a piece from The Ghost Towns of Washington series about some parts of Concrete, WA being deserted and fantastically spooky in the most traditional ghost town sense!

I left with Sabrina and Charlie mid-morning, and set out for Burlington and a quick charge at the CHAdeMO station in the Outlet Shoppes' parking lot.  From Burlington, we enjoyed the colorful drive east on WA-20 into Concrete.

Lots of colors and large maple leaves today!

The concrete silos of Concrete are appropriate "Welcome..." monoliths for this town.

Concrete has a quaint little main drag with a welcoming bakery and a movie theatre advertising a free family movie night.  However, there is no avoiding that Concrete is, in fact, slowly becoming a ghost town with the ruins of concrete buildings left standing as indestructible remains of a former bustling industry decades ago.

From Concrete, we drove the small climb out of town to reach the southern shores of Lake Shannon. We soon came upon a large abandoned building where, more than 50 years ago, limestone was crushed from local quarries.  To say that this place scared the bejeebers out of me was the biggest Halloween understatement of my life!

Chainsaw massacre?!?  Not today, please.

The strange thing about this place is that it is completely accessible.  Even a five-year-old and two-year-old were able to run about whilst I freaked out.

Just as I was was rounding up Charlie to start getting the kids back into the LEAF, Sabrina snuck away.  Within a moment, she was back at the car reporting that she found a path that would allow us to go inside the basement of the building "safely".  I was instantly persuaded by my kindergartner (Which. Never. Happens.), and got Charlie back out to explore the bowels of the decrepit building.

Evidence of perhaps my all-time biggest "bad daddy" moment.

We explored the inside for about 15 minutes, in which time Sabrina convinced me that ghosts do exist.  It was an extremely stressful, and strangely delightful, experience.  I do not think, though, that I plan to go back any time soon!

Dad, let's get out of here!

Once we made it back into town, Sabrina spotted a small community playground.  I was on the same page in wanting to get us to a place of joy.  I thought that if I let the kids play, the nightmares that the three of us were likely to have may just be erased.

This was the picture that I sent to Tanya while we were gone :)