Whidbey is the largest island in Puget Sound, it was discovered by Capt. George Vancouver who named the island after master sailer Joseph Whidbey, who proved it was an island not a peninsula by discovering Deception Pass. We took our bikes back down to Coupeville, there are several bike/pedestrian trails in the area. There is a string of geo caches along the Kettle/Rhododendron trails. We decided to just do a section that was flatter, the less hills the better for me. We started in the middle of the hill, I had to navigate the barrier poles then ride down the steep hill without falling. Success. We picked up 17 geo caches, they were all pretty easy to find. The trail had gentle hills that I was able to climb without getting off to push. The way back it was mostly downhill (good) but we were going into a headwind (bad). About 2/3 of the way back we had to start climbing. Gary must have sensed my apprehension, he suggested I wait while he went for the car to pick me up. I think I'd still be "pushing" if he hadn't. On our way back we stopped at the Chief's club for a beverage, it has a beautiful view of the base, runway and of course Puget Sound. Later we walked the trail about 4 miles r/t to see the Prowler memorial. The EA-6B jet had plaques honoring those that have been lost and those still flying.
Thur, Sept. 11, time to move on. It was such a beautiful morning we hated to leave, the sound was smooth as glass and it was very warm. Our first stop was the Burlington Costco to pick up a few things. It's always fun navigating a 40 ft. motorhome towing the Jeep through shopping center parking lots. It was early enough we found a roomy place to park. We took Hwy 20 through the North Cascade Pass, it runs from Burlington to Twisp, it has to be the most scenic drive in Washington State with it's craggy peaks and the greenest lakes I've ever seen. The many steep passes and sharp curves kept Gary on his toes. I did not realize it is a national park, we stopped at the visitor center near the top of a 5,500 ft. summit to get a better idea of the topography. There are many campgrounds and miles and miles of trails, the Pacific Crest trail runs through the park. On the downhill side we were going down a very steep downgrade with a 25mps switchback curve, about the middle of the curve there was a bicyclist stopped looking up. He must have been thinking, "You've got to be kidding me" There were several groups of riders heading up, they must be nuts. There are 270 archeological sites in the park that trace human presence for over 10,000 years. I keep asking myself "How do they know this stuff?" We'd love to spend more time in the area it is so beautiful.
We arrived in Winthrop about 5:00, having driven about 170 miles. We stayed at the Pine Near RV park, the strangest park we've ever been in. It is all irrigated, green grass, there are spaces but the only way you can tell is by the hook-ups placed amongst the grass. There is a big common area that we ultimately drove through on our way out. It made me nervous, it just seemed too soft for the big rigs to drive on. Across from the park was Shafer Museum, the Winthrop founder, Guy Waring. built for his wife. Waring and two of his friends from Harvard were the original residents of the town. The museum had quite a collection from pioneer women's dresses to farm and mining equipment. You could walk through the museum, down the stairs, into town. I have been looking for a pair of hiking boots, saw some in a window and tried several pair on, no luck they just didn't fit right. Later in the afternoon I walked to town to mail a letter and ran across another outdoor store on the other side of the street. Eureka, I found a pair! The bad news was I had to hike back up the hill to get my money. It was worth it, they fit great. We had lunch at the School House Brewery, right on the Methow (pronounced met how) river. We sat out on the deck and enjoyed good a good lunch, Gary said the beer was good.
Saturday, Sept. 13th Left for the kids house near Valley this morning managing to get across the grass without getting stuck, we stayed on hwy 20 towards Kettle Falls. We had another day of mountain passes, one was over 4400 ft and the other was about 5600 ft. We had lunch in the little town of Republic, once a major gold mining town as most of them were in the area. It also had a bit of a western theme but not quite as extreme as Winthrop. We had lunch at Freckles where they make everything from scratch including grinding their own burger. We shared a sandwich called the Sassy Pig, a pulled pork with jalapeno's on a delish Hawaiian bun. Kettle Falls used to be a falls before the completion of Grand Coulee dam in the 1930's and the reservoir Lake Roosevelt. It is so beautiful in this part of the country, lots of pine trees and rugged mountains. We got to the kids house about 3:00 about 200 miles through some beautiful countryside. Barbara tried out a new recipe for dinner, Chicken Parmesana, she said she had Hotza Motza on speed dial if it didn't turn out good. It was delish, no need for the frantic call.
Sunday, Sept. 14th, Barbara and I went into Spokane (about 40 miles) to work out, she dropped me off at Snap Fitness then went on to the Y. It is a good thing we did, in the afternoon we went to her sister and brother-in-law's house to celebrate Vincent's 49th birthday. They just moved back from San Diego (what were they thinking?) to Loon Lake about 15 miles or so away from the kids place. It's quite an interesting house, at the top is a garage with the upstairs being a 3 bedroom apartment, then you go down about 40 steps to the main house then another 45 or so down to the dock. It was a beautiful day on the lake, there were many water skiers and paddle boarders out in the late afternoon sun. We had steak and salmon with summer squash and twice baked mashed potatoes. Margaret, Barbara's mom is a great cook and all the girls followed suit. After birthday pie we were treated to Emily's (age 5) ballet dance.
Monday, Sept 15th, Stacy and Barbara were off to work and so were we, cleaning and doing laundry.
I made a quick run into Deer Park for a few groceries then fixed a pork loin dinner. Barbara made a nectarine cobbler, delish as everything she makes. After dinner we walked across the pasture to a treed area to see relics from the past. There was a 40 something Mercury on it's top and some sort of a plow hidden in the trees. Stacy wants to move the plow over to the house for a yard decoration but it more than likely will fall apart. Luci had a great time running through the pasture, running 50 mph back and forth, in and out of the creek. My new hiking shoes feel real good! We got back in time to watch the Eagles/Colts game, yea the Eagles won. Go Chip!
Tuesday, Sept. 16th, our last day here, I worked on the blog but kept getting interrupted, so it's taken me all day to finish. I ran into Spokane for some Aveda skin care, no luck I couldn't find any. After I got back Gary washed my car, it'll probably rain tomorrow. We are headed to Kennewick for a quick visit with Gerry and Mary before we head toward Hermiston. When I got back from Spokane I found Barbara in the kitchen canning apple pie filling. Women like her make women like me look real bad. Had a nice dinner and visit, it's always hard to leave.
TTFN,
Gary and Pam
Beautiful flowers at NAS Whidbey Island
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