Yakina - the view from our window

 The Yakima river from our hotel balcony in Yakima.  Mesmerizig and alive at times of different lights throughout the evening.  We went down a special road that follows the river but I don't know if any of my pictures came out!  We liked this a lot!

Counties Project - Kittitas

 

We continued our Counties tour to Kittitas County just over the Cascades via I 90.  Even though they are not that tall, they are dramatic.  Our destination was specifically Cle Elum.  A small town which I had previously disparaged.  But we had a darn good time there.  We went to the site of the Depot of the Milwaukee Road along with a lot of railroad artifacts.  Dennis walked around and looked at everything along with Bowen who's always up for whatever (upper picture).

Then I thought we would look at Lake Cle Elum.  To get there, you go through the town of Roslyn of Twin Peaks fame and a small town of Ronald.  We got to the lake and there was hardly any lake there!  The second picture shows a little of the lake but most of the lakebed was bare.  No water!  We looked at a campground and a boat launch which didn't go anywhere near the water.

We looked for a horse place but couldn't find it.

Then we had a meal at a Family Mexican Restaurant in Cle Elum.  Bowen was in the car and we were at some outside seating right near him.  Cheese enchiladas, we return to our roots.

 

Counties project - Central Whatcom County

 On Thursday, we continues with our counties project, this time Central Whatcom County.  If you want the best scenery in western Washington, you can't beat Chuckanut Drive (Route 11) an alternate to I-5  from Sedro Wooley to Bellingham.  It's got it all; attractive scenic farmland, going into forest with dramatic Sound views.  I've learned that north of Everett, there's not that many opportunities to see the Sailish Sea.  Not many parks, not many roads and the shoreline is privately held.  We went along the coast Marysville and north and didn't see much water except Kayak Point.  But you can enjoy the vistas along Chuckanut Drive.  Even Larrabee State Park on the north end.  I had forgotten about it; we had taken it before.  Top picture.

Passing through Bellingham, we investigated the towns of Everson, Lynden and Sumas (on the Canadian border).  We picnicked at the city park in Everson, small functional town and skirted the border at Sumas.  Lynden was the surprise, a lot of transportation and distribution facilities there;  they must handle a lot of transport from Canada.  I have seen "Lynden Transport" trucks over many years.

We started up the highway to Mount Baker.  We really should take a whole day to do that.  Did you know that new Prius do not come with a spare tire.  Just a repair kit which doesn't work very well.  I think Dennis didn't want to go up too many remote (out of cell phone range) without a spare tire.  Which has now arrived.  A picture of Dennis and Bowen looking at the north fork of the Nooksack River.  Kind of smoky (always those wildfires).

An open air ice cream spot in the little town of Glacier hit the spot.  Definitely an attraction.

Counties - Lake Whatcom

 

This past week, we went on another Counties jaunt.  We agree that Skagit County really has the scenery but there's not that many roads and, before you know it, you are in Whatcom County.

Our goal was Lake Whatcom.  We got there but the crazy secret is, if you come from the east (Hwy 9), it seems like you are in the middle of nowhere, poorly maintained gravel roads.  Drive around the (almost entirely privately held) lake and, boom, you're in Bellingham proper.

We found out there was a marina with picnic tables from the lady at the local store.  So we went down there we were right on the lake.  There was an unfenced dog area but we didn't quite trust Bowen enough.  But he liked it, he always likes it.  We went into Bellingham, stopped at a lovely park, Whatcom Falls.  Dennis and Bowen walked down to the falls.  I stayed behind but, now, I wish I had tried it.  Another stop at a Mexican grocery we'd seen before.  And at Lake Padden on the way back which my friend Marna had recommended.  We didn't stay there long but I could see there were a lot of things to do.

Long ride though.

Counties - Mountain Loop

I wanted to do a drive through the Cascades in eastern Snohomish county.  But I found that the Mountain Loop Highway to Darrington had a 17 mile unpaved stretch.  Dennis wouldn't go for that mainly because our (pretty new) Prius does not a spare tire (none of them do).  

So I modified the trip.  There are not that many roads through the mountains.  This route, though satisfying did NOT stay in Snohomish County, part of it is in Skagit County and even some in Whatcom County, the most northern.

We took Hwy 530 from Arlington all the way to Darrington, a very cute little mountain town.  Then up 530 until it ended at Hwy 20 where we went west.  I decided to do a little side trip to Baker Lake.  We had been to Mount Baker and seen lakes but had we been to Baker Lake?  Nope, new to us.  The vehicle in the lake is depositing baby fish.  Dennis and Bowen are both smiling.

Back along Highway 9 which cuts in at Sedro Wooley.  We had been to softball games at Janicki fields but not seen the old downtown before.  Which we encountered after making a wrong turn.  We stopped at Bryant General Store and bought more Agua Fresca; pretty warm.

We picnicked in Darrington, very pleasant spot behind the temporary library.  Forested landscape with soaring hills around the town.

Maybe the surprise was Baker Lake, heard of it but never seen it.

Bowen (the large dog) loves to come on these trips.  Loves to be included.  Good in the car except when he rests his large head on Dennis' shoulder.  Willing to be on the leash.  I'm still worried about leaving him in the car.

Counties - Snohomish county near Puget Sound

 

We decided to continue with Snohomish County, this time concentrating on the parts near Puget Sound (or Sailish Sea).  There's not much development near the Sound in the county.  A few parks, not even really not that many vistas.  Even the two pictures I selected do not show the Sound itself.  Maybe I should concentrate on that in a future post. We'll have some ferry rides, for sure.

We went on a weekday this time.  Entered Snohomish County through Woodway (mansions) drove through Edmonds and stopped at a park I never heard of (Southwest County Park).  Dennis and Bowen took a walk up in the woods, pictured (Dennis encountered some nettles).  We went further and stopped at Meadowdale Park (another walk) mostly through steep heavily wooded areas still above the Sound.  Continued to Mukilteo, veered off right before the ferry, saw Japanese Gulch dog park.  Stopped for lunch in Forest Park in Everett.  Then through the Tulalip Reservation west of Marysville and Kayak Point.  All the way to Stanwood which is near the northern edge of the county.  Stanwood was a treat, we weren't expecting such a cute little town.  And the ghost town of Florence.

One of the biggest treats was Pioneer Highway running from Stanwood towards Arlington.  What a beautiful ride through misty green hills dotted with dairy farms.  Then into Arlington (also a legit well developed little town).  Then went for I-5 and Smokey Point (Oh, that's where the development is including a huge Amazon Fulfillment Center)

Unexpected strong points: Stanwood, Pioneer Highway

What's missing: Puget Sound!

Counties project - Snohomish Hwy 2

 

We continue our counties project.  This time we're starting work on Snohomish County which is just to the north of us.  We decide to go via one of our favorite routes,  Highway 2 which goes over the Cascades along the Skykomish River.  All the way to Wenatchee and beyond.  Originally developed for the railroad, a lot of rail action there.  Little towns have amusing names  Sultan, Startup, Gold Bar, Index.  The top of the hill is Skykomish; it is back in King County but Dennis wanted to check what had been going there and we found a cute garden gauge railroad we'll have to go on.

Our favorite town is Index, off the road a nuke,  We've been in this spot before, on a little street in Index right up by the mighty river.  Dennis with Bowen who LOVES to come.  With that characteristic western Cascades mist.

On the way back, we remembered why we shouldn't go on Sunday, really heavy traffic on two lane Hwy 2, people coming back from eastern Washington.

I'm working on maps.  I should also a map to show where these counties are....

Counties project - Thurston

I love maps and I love counties.  So interesting that our states are divided into these counties.  How did they get that way?  What distinguishes them?  Shouldn't I go visit them?

Wish I could figure out MyMaps for this project?  Maybe I could ask some of my geography buddies...

So, in the spirit of appreciating our own space, realizing that we don't always recognize the beauty of our own state (or other), I wanted to explore counties.  Why not start with Washington?

It's summertime, we have some time, we have a pretty new hybrid car, we could take the large dog with us.

So I started with Thurston County, It was a ways away.  Olympia is located there.  We're in King County which seems too hard to start out with.  Pierce County is south of us and Thurston is south of there.  

So we gave it a shot.  I kinda skipped much of Olympia. and went south to the rural parts.

Most memorable surprise not on the agenda:  Tumwater Falls Park.  Pictured top.  Hard to believe it's wedged between between I-5 and the derelict Tumwater brewery

Place I might have wanted to stop for a bit but didn't: Millersylvania State Park.  Nice area with a picnic table.  By a lake.

Saddest town: Oakville.  Technically just across the border in Grays Harbor County.  Still has some logging.  We did get an ice cream bar at Harry's Grocery

Most surprising town: Yelm.  Pretty good size, lots of commercial activity.  On the way to Rainier but not far from JBLM (Joint Base Lewis McCord).  Lower picture taken of Mount Rainier from Yelm.

Wrong turn confusion: I thought a special spot on the map labeled Capital Mall was where the government buildings were (we've been there before).  But, surprise!  It was just a shopping mall.

We didn't do the interaction with the South Sound.  Maybe on the way to July 4 at Harstine Island; we'll go by there.

Next up: Snohomish County just north of us.  But soon, really soon, like Thurston, just to get there would be quite a trek.