North to the Cascades! October 5-11

We have been asked by so many people we meet here in WA if we have driven Route 20 over the Northern Cascade Route...my sister, Emily, had told me it was the most beautiful drive in the state and one of her favorites while she lived here.  So, we decided we had to see it! We planned to stay a little longer in WA (can't seem to leave this state) as we had also made plans to doggie sit for the Bauers in a week, so we had a week to squeeze in the trip.

The Wednesday we left Puyallup for Mt Vernon was pouring rain almost all the way! It was not only Paul's real first drive on a busy interstate but in a downpour, quite the challenge. We try for the back roads as often as we can, fewer cars and trucks and more beautiful, of course.  But we wanted to get as far north as we could on that one day so I-5 was it. Our campsite for the night was at Bay View State Park along Padilla Bay, a beautiful and very quiet site.

Thursday morning we started our drive east along Route 20 over the Cascades.  The weather stayed cloudy but not as rainy as we climbed up over the beautiful mountain passes.  Came along the town of Concrete...a company town where all the buildings were constructed of...concrete. We were following the Skagit River a federally designated wild and scenic river, and it sure lived up to its name.

We reached the town of Marblemount and stopped along the river for our lunch.  This is the real beginning of the Cascades,  The American Alps. The day was cool, leaves falling everywhere. We took this one lane bridge to the Visitor Center





We were the only RV in the parking lot...a real sign of the coming of winter and fewer campers out along this road.

There were so many trailheads and hiking paths, but the day was slipping by so we kept on going to get over the passes.  There are 2 passes to cross and as we were almost at the top of the first 4000' climb we passed a UNICYCLE rider also climbing the road!!! We couldn't believe it.  He was followed by another bicyclist hauling their gear along. So amazing. I tried to get my camera out fast enough but missed the photo op. That would have been something. Plus we are learning that I can't just ask PK to pull over so I can take a quick shot like I'm used to...stopping (and getting us started again)  isn't always an easy task, plus it takes a lot of space for us to pull over.

We slowly reached the summit of Washington Pass at 5477' so proud of ourselves and the motorhome for having made the climb. The clouds were covering up many of the peaks but I did get a couple of photos of these amazing mountains. Many still are covered in snow at the higher elevations. Well, just when we thought the hardest part of the drive was over we came around a corner to start the descent and saw a very tight hairpin curve followed by a VERY steep decline ahead of us.  With no guardrails and a very severe drop on my side of the car we both held on and Paul started our slow downward drive, trying to keep the motorhome at a very slow 30 mph. Probably in hindsight we should have disconnected the car from the motorhome as it was an added force pushing us down the mountain...ah...so many things to learn. But, it all happened so quickly there was no place to pull over to disconnect.  We dropped down 3700' in such a short distance. Scarier than the climb to the top of the summit, for sure! Being native Californians really hasn't prepared us for life/travel in states where there is "real weather" and the terrain isn't at sea level. When we had internet later that day I looked up the pass and saw a photo taken at the curve last April. (The road is closed late October until summer each year)  The road was completely buried in snow with a recent avalanche deposited on top of it.  We've both decided we'll return to the Cascades another year but at an earlier time and camp west of the summits so we can enjoy the trials and beauty without the worry of the drive.  All but one of the campgrounds were already closed for the season.

Once down that frightening slope the terrain totally changes to a high desert landscape and we saw the SUN again!

We hadn't had sunglasses on for over a week but it felt good to dig them out. Our destination was the small western styled town of Winthrop. This side of the Cascades is farm land and cattle country so a western town was apropos and very cute. We drove through town to a state park 4 miles out, Pearrygin Lake. Windy, sunny and our campsite right on the lake. Perfect for us!  We often look for campsites without hookups as those often have few tent campers at this time of year and the prime sites are open, that's the best! That's how we found this lovely lake view. We sat at night looking at the moonlight over the lake and listening to crickets.

Friday morning we stopped to walk around the cute shops in Winthrop and had breakfast at the saloon. Along our walk I found a fully loaded blueberry bush

Our next destination: the Bavarian-styled town of Leavenworth. By 3:00 we were set up at Lincoln Rock State Park, another great Washington State Park long a river with large grassy sites and beautiful trees. Since we were only 20 miles from Leavenworth we drove in for dinner and a look around.

 Octoberfest was in full swing when we got there so we found a wonderful restaurant, Andreas Keller, for Bavarian goulash with Octoberfest beers.  Such a darling restaurant in a beer cellar setting,

 live accordion music and more lederhosen and dirndl dresses than I've seen in a very long time.

As we left the little village we came around a corner to see beautiful fireworks shooting off in the sky! We stopped to check it out and learned it was Homecoming for the Cascade High School Kodiaks; well...we just had to stay and watch the end of the game with them all.  Such fun to be at a Friday night high school game, though not much fun for their opponents...the final score was 61-0!

 More fireworks when the game was over then home we headed as the gate to the park is locked at 10PM, we had a curfew we had to meet.



We spent Saturday back in Leavenworth

which was changed in the mid 1960s into a Bavarian themed town to revitalize the once booming town of railroad and lumber industry. It sure has worked for them. During the month of October more than 30,000 people come for the celebrations and fun of Octoberfest. We watched the little parade at noon then found a wonderful bier garden for bratwurst and beers.

I wanted to see a couple other things in the area so we left about 2:00 for a tour of the Applet Candy Store in nearby Cashmere, but nothing was in production so, no tour. Just some tasty fruit candies. From there we drove to Wenatchee to visit the Ohme Gardens high on a barren hill overlooking the city.



Well, about 100 years ago the hillside was barren, but it isn't today! Over  a span of 42 years the Ohme family designed pathways and planted evergreen trees, shrubs and ground covers to transform the hillside into a 9 acre alpine garden originally intended as a private family retreat.

 Water was hauled up in buckets, paths carved in the hillside and ponds added...all done by hand beginning in the 1930s.  It was a beautiful way to spend the rest of the afternoon; enjoying the lovely gardens created by someone else. Since PK and I have done our own share of major garden construction we so appreciated the amount of work it took to create this beauty.

Full moon that evening so we sat outside for a campfire, the best part of the day.

It's always fun if we can pull over for Historical markers and lookout points...this one we saw in time for PK to slow us down and make the turn into the parking lot.

 We were looking across the river to the Gingko Petrified Forest Park, the first known samples of petrified gingko, which just happens to be my Mom's favorite tree.

Sunday we drove further south to visit our nephew, Charles, who is attending Central Washington University in Ellensburg, WA.

 We had such a fun afternoon with him touring the beautifully designed campus and then a driving tour around town to check it all out.

 A short visit but fun to know where he now lives. We left Charles about 4 to begin our return trip west and find a campsite for the night. Back into the foothills of the Cascades we found Lake Easton State Park.

The last day of our Cascade Loop Tour was a wet one. Driving back roads off I-90 we found the little town of Carnation...loved the name! We needed a break and pulled into a little county park, which just happened to also have camping available, so we stayed! Too much driving these last few days we just needed to get out and enjoy a walk.  What an amazing campground, Tolt-MacDonald County Park. We walked across the suspension bridge over the Snoqualmie River

to check out the yurts and walk in campsites and the river full of salmon! They looked like you could just put a net in the river and catch a bucket full.  Beautiful.  

While we were riding our bikes to get some groceries we found a new opportunity for PK, his own, already named business. Now all he needs is some inventory; perhaps all the stuff we have in our storage units?

I loved riding all around town in between the little showers that were falling.

Now we're back in the lovely Bauer homestead taking care of the doggies for a week and time for us to begin planning our next couple of months.  From the looks of things, we better start heading south before winter comes on here in the northwest. It has truly been wonderful!

Favorite sign this week:

               If you know me well, you know how much I am not and never will be much of a TV person, so I loved this sign!!!!  It just reminds me that there's so much more to life to enjoy than sitting in front of a TV; I'll take a book, a walk, an old movie and time with friends over anything television can offer.

Keeping quiet these next 6 days, no travels, just walks with the 3 dogs, cooking in a real kitchen and enjoying a gorgeous home with the stunning view of Mt. Rainier.  Thanks to Kate and Paul Bauer for giving us a week to come back to a more normal life. Wonder how hard it will be to hit the road again next Wednesday. And our biggest congratulations to Tony and Anna Evans on the adoption of their darling little Zora. Looking forward to a visit back in SLOtown to meet this sweetie.