Hello Everyone,
I have made it across the mountains and into Eastern Washington and it feels like I’ve landed in another country. While the west of the state is covered in evergreens, this side has a lot more deciduous trees and they are popping with fall colors at the moment. The towns are few and far between and the landscape is more wild west than coastal. I’m liking the change of pace and scenery. Daylight Saving Time has ended and it’s getting dark before 5pm which is always a challenge, but I’m happy it is light earlier and I’m not waking up in the dark. And I turned 50 this past week which I’m actually pretty okay with. It’s hard to believe in some respects, but I feel like I’ve lived several lifetimes in the last half century which is a good way to be. It hasn’t been a super-busy week, but let’s get into what I’ve been doing since I wrote last.
When I flew back into Seattle last week, I had decided to treat myself to a night at another of the delightful McMenamins properties I’ve been so fond of these last few months. This one was created in the old Anderson School in Bothell, just 15 minutes from Seattle, and it was amazing. The rooms were beautiful and the hallways were decorated with old photos and newly created paintings of the school, students and staff. There was a great little tiki bar above the old school swimming pool, another bar with a lovely fireplace in the old administrative building and a large bar in the old woodshop. I enjoyed a few beers and just wandering around the property and exploring. That night there was a fascinating program presented by local teacher Branda Anderson on women who had been a part of the resistance in Europe during World War II and had later relocated to the Pacific Northwest of America. It was very well done and well attended and I appreciated that her entire presentation including the question and answer period lasted about an hour. It was a nice program, a nice evening and a great way to spend the last night of my forties.
I enjoyed a relaxing start to my 50th birthday with a quiet morning and some local donuts. After check-out, I drove just down the road to St. Edward State Park on the shores of Lake Washington. This park is what used to be the St. Edward Seminary and I thought it was really cool. The old seminary buildings have been converted into an upscale (aka too-expensive-for-me) hotel and conference center, but I was still able to go in and wander and check out some old photos and lovely artwork. The grounds were pleasant to walk around as well and there were some great informative signs to get a feel for what it was like in its seminary days. From there I made a quick stop at the Taylor Oyster Farm for a dozen fresh oysters and then I made a beeline for Bellingham in an attempt to get there before it started raining. I did beat the rain to town, but it would rain pretty steadily for the next three days while I was there. I enjoyed a nice stroll around the Fairhaven neighborhood and then some great live music from three different bands at the Temple Bar. It was nice to not be working on my birthday for a change and I really enjoyed my quiet day.
It rained pretty much all day on Thursday, so I spent the day trying to stay dry. I got some work done at the library and then had a nice long visit to the local history museum which is situated in the beautiful old Victorian city hall building. The museum had a nice film about the history of the building, a great logging display, a fun exhibit on a local TV personality from the early days of television and an incredible collection of taxidermied birds. I think my favorite fact was that when city hall was built, they didn’t have enough money for clocks, so they put up painted clock faces instead and it was 7:00 in Bellingham for many years. I’m glad they didn’t tear down the building when they built a new city hall and have kept it and maintained it as a lovely museum. My ticket also included admission to the nearby art museum which also had some interesting displays including three paintings on loan from the National Gallery in Washington D.C. which felt like a little taste of home.
The rain let up briefly on Friday morning and I took the opportunity to visit the small Whatcom Falls Park just outside of town. The waterfall itself was quite lovely and I had a nice long walk around the little lake above the falls. The rains came back in the afternoon and I felt sorry for the little trick-or-treaters who were trying to enjoy their Halloween. Thankfully my Halloween plans did not involve anything outside. My night started with a nice little party with a DJ at the Kulshan Brewery’s Roosevelt Taproom. Then I headed back downtown to the Aslan Depot for their Halloween party. I really enjoy Halloween and it was nice to have a cool place to spend the evening and enjoy the festivities.
Saturday morning I said goodbye to the coast for the last time this year. It was a nice, long, three month journey from the San Francisco Bay Area all the way north to Bellingham, but it was time for me to turn inland and start heading east again. My first stop was to visit my old friend Fitz and his family down in Stanwood. Fitz was a tour guide with my company for several years in the earlier part of my career and I hadn’t seen him in about five years. He had moved houses since then and they are preparing to move again, this time to Colorado. Fitz and his wife, Jen, have a seven year old son who was just two the last time I saw him. He has grown into quite a soccer player and we went to watch two of his games, one on Saturday and another on Sunday. I’ve seen a lot of kid’s soccer in my life, but these are apparently some of the top rated teams in the state and it really showed. Outside of that, we spent most of the weekend talking about old times and catching up. It was nice to see them and I look forward to catching them again, after their move, in Colorado.
I took off Monday morning and headed just north to Sedro-Wooley and then east on Highway 20 into the hills. The road followed the beautiful Skagit River all the way into the mountains. I made a stop in Newhalem which is still a functioning company town run by Seattle City Lights Company which operates the Skagit Hydroelectric Project. It was quiet when I was there and I enjoyed the fall colors of the trees, an old train which used to run through the mountains and the beautiful Ladder Falls behind the old powerhouse. From there it was up and into North Cascades National Park which is full of viewpoints and waterfalls. I stopped to take a few photos along the way and soon started to see snow in the trees. By the time I got to the high passes on the road, there were two feet of snow on the ground and more coming down from the sky. I definitely wasn’t expecting that much snow on my drive, but I know the road will be closed in a couple of weeks which makes more sense having seen it. Thankfully the roads weren’t at all slippery and I carefully made my way down the other side of the mountains and on into slightly warmer weather. I stopped for the night in Winthrop, a favorite little town of mine on the east side of the mountains. Winthrop is a tiny old mining community which was reimagined many years ago to pay tribute to its old west roots. It’s just kitchy enough to catch your eye and pull you in for a while without being too over-the-top. There’s a neat old bank, some cool little stores and bars and a great little brewery in an old red schoolhouse. I enjoyed a couple of fresh-hopped beers and a stroll around town before spending a quiet night in the town park just outside of downtown. The temperature hovered just above freezing all night, but I was warm and toasty in my little van.
I spent yesterday morning having another wander around Winthrop which included a visit to their wonderful history museum. Much of the museum is outside and therefore accessible at any time of day, which I think is excellent. It houses some of the town’s original buildings and a great assortment of old mining and ranching tools, cars, wagons and other artifacts of the region’s history. From there I dropped down to the small town of Twisp for a wander and then headed up and over the Loup Loup Pass and then on into the town of Okanogan. This drive was lovely as it passed by huge stands of larch trees which are one of the only deciduous conifers in the United States (in other words a tree with needles instead of leaves, but they change color and fall off this time of year). They are a striking orange-yellow and a little bit of sunlight poked through the clouds to light them up for me along my drive. I headed straight for the library as I wanted to work on this post while it was open, but had a little drive around town in the evening. I went to see the movie Regretting You at the tiny Omak Theater just up the road. It was far-fetched and predictable but not terrible and on $5 Tuesday it was a fine rainy night activity.
Today has been rainy, rainy, rainy. I made my way north to Oroville which is a cute little town right near the Canadian border. I had planned on doing some things around here, but the rain is relentless so I’ve just tucked into the library to edit some photos and catch up on some other things. I haven’t seen much of the town yet, but the drive up the Okanogan River was pretty and the library is excellent.
Tomorrow’s weather is supposed to be clear so I will head further east and plan on spending a couple of days exploring the northeast corner of Washington before heading on to Spokane. I’ll be in Spokane for the weekend and then make a nice loop through the center part of the state. I have been reading up on where the next couple of weeks will take me and I’m looking forward to cool small towns, pretty natural areas and hopefully some nice fresh apples. It’s definitely cold out here and the days are short so I need to make the best use of the days that I can. I’ve done a lot of dallying these last few months as I made my way up the coast, but I’m ready to kick it into high gear before winter closes in on this part of the world. I hope you’re all doing well out there and you’re definitely invited back next week to see what Eastern Washington has had to offer. Have a great week and thank you, as always, for reading.
-Mike
Snow on the Highway