The Basket Factory and Some Castles Too

Since we've moved here I keep hearing stories about this great basket factory in Dahn. I'd heard all about the great selection of baskets at great prices and that it is only a little over an hour away. Well, I've been wanting to go but never made the time to until a few weeks ago. Becca and I hopped in the Dragon and started driving. What a surprise to find that the factory was actually only a half hour away (I think the hour away thing was from the base, not from our house out here in the country)! I also discovered that we've driven by the turn that takes you to Dahn at least six times in the past and never even realized it. Like the chocolate museum I was a little disappointed that there really wasn't an actual working factory, instead this was just a store. A really great store but I didn't learn a thing about how baskets are made. The store itself had much more than baskets, even though there was a huge selection of baskets. Laundry baskets, bread baskets, dog and cat beds, pretty much anything you can make out of wicker was available there. But there was also other stuff as well - candles, table linens, garden gnomes, purses, flip flops, ribbons, gift wrap, small furniture, kids toys and blankets, really just all kinds of stuff.

Becca got a really cute baby blanket, but it's very girly so I hope she's having a girl and not a boy! She also found a little side table/dresser thing with basket drawers. It wasn't too big or heavy and we were able to make a custom box from two different boxes to ship it back to Utah for her. I found a basket with a brown and white fabric liner that I am loving for carrying all my Primary stuff to and from church. I also got a garden gnome for Jared's gnome collection that I gave him for Father's Day. I found some really cute wrapping paper that Emily and I used this week to cover the inside of her bookcase and her bulletin board. I really, really liked the basket factory; I liked it some much that we went back later that week when my Mom and Dad could come along!

I've decided that I really like Dahn. For starters, the basket factory is there and it was the kind of place that I was happy to visit twice in one week. Secondly, it's just a beautiful town. There's a little river winding along the road as you drive into town. I hear the pool there is amazing with a waterslide that starts inside, goes outside, and ends up back inside! That would be a fun place to take the kids. Third, just above the town are the ruins of three castles that were carved right out of the sandstone cliffs. Together they are called the Altdahn castles, but they are named separately Altdahn, Grafendahn, and Tanstein.

Two of the remaining castle towers. We climbed up an old metal ladder to the top of the one in the foreground.

The Altdahn Castles - from R to L - Altdahn, Grafendahn, and Tanstein

All three castles are very close together and really are just ruins today. Some parts of the castles are still intact; a couple of towers and staircases, and the westernmost castle tower is being rebuilt/repaired. You can climb and explore all over them and while we were there it seemed kind of silly to me that they built three separate castles so close together. What I've learned is that the land was given to one family but after disputes and splits within the family the second and then third castles were built. After a fight I like some distance, but I guess they didn't have the option of moving too far away.

It was a beautiful day when we visited the castles and as we were exploring the area we could hear a herd of sheep or cows from down in the valley. They were making so much noise and it was echoing all around us. We couldn't actually see the animals but during our time at the castles they had moved from the west to the east side of the valley so we guessed that they were being moved on a truck somewhere and were not happy about it? I took this picture of Becca sititng in one of the castle windows overlooking the valley, it was so gorgeous I think it almost looks as if she was photoshopped in, don't you?

On the way home we stopped to pick strawberries at a pick your own berries field. I love strawberries, and these ones were soooo good. Just juicy enough and very, very sweet. While we were picking it started to rain a little, not too much, but just enough to cool us down. It was just what I needed after a day spent climbing over castle walls and up stairs and ladders and then driving home in a car without AC! Becca and I turned all those berries into delicious freezer jam the next day and I made some bread to go with it because, well, you just need fresh bread with homemade jam.