Okay, our fantastic weekend in Leavenworth, Washington:
Snipped a fair amount - not because it is not interesting! Just saving space 
7) And all this brings me to the best story of the weekend. So, while we were filling out our registration paperwork on Saturday I commented to Sheryl that Ben would just love the pen she was using. (Ben is a fanatic for pens - he already has 5 fountain pens that he can give the history of). Michele - one of the owners - commented that she just loves pens too. She said she has a nice fountain pen that she has never been able to get to work right for her. She asked if we would ask Ben for a recommendation for a new one. I texted him and he sent me PARAGRAPHS of recommendations and links to what he would recommend. She was tickled to get the recommendations and immediately tracked down Gary (they've been married 49 years) to tell him to put it on her Christmas list.
Fast forward to the next morning, breakfast time. Michele came to our table with a little box and said, "This is a little awkward, because I don't know if it's a present for your son - if it's broken it's not much of a present, but if he can get it to work I would like him to have the pen that I have had trouble with." We assured her he would be absolutely delighted with it and she was happy as can be to think of a young person (he's 18) who loves pens and handwriting getting her pen and trying to make it work.
We brought it home to him and, as predicted, he was over the moon. The reason it was so exciting? It's a Mont Blanc fountain pen - the value of the pen was somewhat more than we paid for the lodging and breakfast for the entire weekend. He spent hours cleaning it and tinkering with it and got it working perfectly and we have an extremely happy boy now. His first writing project with the new pen was to write a thank-you letter to Michele.
So - to conclude a long story - it was an amazing weekend. If/when we go back to Leavenworth, you can bet we won't even consider anywhere but the Pension Anna for our lodging.
