Out West Adventure: Part 2--Roslyn, WA

Thu. June 20: HAPPY 4^th ANNIVERSARY, KEN AND JEN!! Since we got back so late the night before we hadn’t gotten much done to leave. But we still managed to be on the road by 9:30. It was a gray, drizzly day and we never saw it much above 65°, and as we climbed higher it got much cooler. Because a bridge had collapsed on I5 at Mount Vernon we decided not to go north and through North Cascades National Park from the west (with a possible side trip over to Whidbey Island, which we had considered). Instead we took I90 east through the Snoqualmie passes and took a side trip about 30 miles east of there to visit Roslyn, WA, aka Cicely, Alaska in the 1990’s TV show, Northern Exposure, which we had been watching over the course of our trip. It was drizzly, windy and 46° as we got pictures of the Roslyn Café mural, the KBHR store front radio set (which they have kept intact), the blue Northern Mining building with Joel Fleishman, MD stenciled in the front window, and finally Holling Van Couer’s corner bar, The Brick. That 1889 bar and grill is the longest continually operating tavern in the state of Washington. It looked pretty much the same on the outside but very different on the inside. Still, it was fun to have a burger there and look around. 

Chris's Radio Booth and home of Minnifield Communications

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One view of Main Street

The Brick

Joel's medical office (now a Gift Shop)

Cold and windy out in front of The Brick

Another view of Main Street

Back on the road we headed up US97 along the Columbia River valley and then US20 Methow River valley, through the heart of the Washington apple and cherry growing areas before we drove through Winthrop, which with its boardwalk sidewalks and wooden building fronts looks like the quintessential old Wild West town. It was only 20 miles from there to the US National Forest Klipchuck campground that is a favorite of Dan and Heidi, and Lou and Janice Oien. There were only about 4 sites taken as we found a deep site above but right on Early Winters Creek, which we can clearly hear rushing down the steep hill from us. The campground is more than a mile from the road, deep in the woods. We set-up quickly and hiked up to pay for the site and then took the trail down to the river, where we watched a sleek mink scurry along the opposite bank. As we wrote and planned for tomorrow, and then made a canned chicken and rice concoction for dinner, the drizzle ceased and the sky brightened a bit for the evening.

Campsite at Klipchuck Gampground

Early Winters Creek 

Sweet Peas bought at the Pike Market in Seattle brighten the camper