Rest Day in Winthrop, WA

Today has been a lazy day - sleeping in, doing laundry, and taking a ride to the top of a ridge outside of Winthrop, where a 5 star lodge is located – we were told this is the only 5 star accommodations in Washington State. The view of the valley was great.  



Main Street in Winthrop, WA



Roadster at Service Station in Winthrop

After a leisurely breakfast at the ‘Duck Brand Restaurant’, we walked around town – in and out of shops and went to a museum about the area. This town wants to represent a Western town. Cal was just waiting for Matt Dillion of the TV series Gunsmoke to walk out of the Marshall’s Office’!!  By about 10:30am the motorcycles began rolling into town.  All shapes and sizes of ‘hogs’ and all shapes and sizes of people, in all kinds of ‘get up’.  It was interesting to people watch! By noon we returned to the lodge and relaxed until about 3:30. 

Motorcycles at Sheri's in Winthrop, Washington

Yesterday after Cal rode the Passes, when he was 7 miles west of the town of Winthrop, I insisted he stop riding, or he would not be able to function today.  It had been down hill east of the Passes, but when he arrived in the valley the road leveled out so that he had to be peddling. I insisted he had ridden enough for the day! So around 3:00 we went to where he stopped yesterday, and he rode the last 7 miles into town. When he arrived in town we grabbed an ice cream cone and continued to ‘people watch’.  By 4:00 the town was quieting down - most of the motorcycles had left town.

Emporium General Store

Our lodge is near a river.  There is a little private patio outside our room, so I have spent time being mesmerized by the rushing water.  In fact the water has been rising the last several nights.  When the day is warm/hot on the mountains, there is more snow melt and by evening that water has arrived in this area, so the river rises.  As the evenings cool in the mountains, the snow stops melting so that by morning the river is lower.  It is interesting to watch.

Today the son of the owner of this lodge was in the mountains snowmobiling with his friends. They witnessed a huge avalanche.  They were far enough away that they were not affected, but they could feel the ground trembling. 

One last look at the Cascades from Winthrop

For any of you who are fans of the TV show, “Ice Road Truckers”. The other year several scenes were filmed on the Washington and Rainy Passes before the Passes were open to the public for driving. They purposely rolled a truck into the ditch and pulled it out again – the event was filmed for the show. Here you thought all the shows were in Canada or Alaska!!

Cal is ready to go again in the morning.  We are going to enjoy the bed tonight here in the lodge, as tomorrow night we will be camping again.  There are no motels in our destination town tomorrow.  Hopefully there will be cell phone service in the area so he can tether his Blackberry to the laptop again.