Jul 16, 2012 - Winthrop, WA

We took Route 20, the North Cascade Scenic Byway, out of Anacortes. It is a beautiful road. However, be forewarned there is no gasoline available between Marblemount and Mazama, a distance of 70 mile, and few grocery stores. So fill your tank and bring your lunch. Also, the highway at Milepost 134, just west of the Cascade Crest, is closed by mid-November due to heavy snows and doesn’t open again until April. Three historic hydroelectric power plants and dams on the Skagit River generate 25 percent of Seattle’s electricity. Ross Lake on the...

Oct 9, 2011 - Day #32, 10-9-11

Day #32, 10-9-11 This morning started at 7am. The (1950’s converted Greyhound Bus) rig next to us started his engine, which sounded like a big-rig. He ran it for power and…. as he apparently didn’t have a generator. I got up and made the coffee and Bridget’s breakfast. We were headed for Winthrop Washington, which is the most northern town we will hit before heading for the west coast. We had some breakfast pastries and coffee for breakfast and I took a shower, topping off the grey water tank. After we cleaned up the rig, I retracted the...

Sep 18, 2011 - Sunday, Winthrop, WA (219 miles) - Winthrop/N. Cascades KOA

Leaving Idaho and entering Washington, we drove through Spokane, which is larger and more spread out than we had expected. Passing Lake Roosevelt, we entered the Grand Coulee Dam Area and the “mighty” Columbia River. Since we spent time here 12 years ago, we only stopped for a few pictures. The area supplies power to several adjoining states. North through the Colville Indian Reservation the terrain really changed from the drives across Montana and Idaho. We entered a very dry and dessert terrain with little vegetation. After entering the...

Aug 29, 2011 - The 13-Hour Vacation

We awoke early to an absolutely gorgeous day on Sunday. We had been talking about driving north to take a look at a piece of property located a few miles outside Sedro-Woolley, WA, and this seemed a perfect day to go for a drive. This beautiful 1/4-acre lot is set up perfectly for an RV. Full-hook-ups, a little shed plumbed for a washer and dryer. Beautifully landscaped. Even though we're not really looking for property, the idea of a home-base in the Pacific Northwest is always in the back of our minds. What drew us to this little gem is...

Jul 9, 2011 - Loving the Cascades

Drove through the highest areas of the Cascades today and stopped to walk a couple trails and take photos. The scenery in these mountains is more spectacular than the Rockies, Tetons, Smokies, et al. Still some snow near the roads in the higher elevation but the weather was warm and we needed no jackets. I hated leaving this area, it is my kind of terrain. Stayed tonight in a family park near a lake --quite pretty.

Sep 7, 2010 - Winthrop, WA

Saturday Sunday Monday and Tuesday Saturday we did some sightseeing in Vancouver, mostly at Stanley Park, a bit like Central Park in New York. We walked several parts of the park and drove the rest. Far too much to do in a single day, but that was all we had. Sunday we took a Ferry from Vancouver to Vancouver Island. In Victoria, we had a great day, particularly at Butchart Gardens. What a place, the pictures do not really tell the story. While at the gardens, Jean purchased a bag of flower seeds, which will play in to our Tuesdays day of...

Aug 18, 2010 - Our Dam Visit

We sort of ended up at Grand Coulee by default. When we were trying to decide where to go from Spokane, there were several options, but we chose the one that took us northwest from Spokane, toward the North Cascades, which had been highly recommended by our friends Linda Davey and Steven Dempsey, who have been through there several times. We couldn’t drive all the way through the Cascades in one day (although we know Linda would have, and then some!) and Ian sort of wanted to see Grand Coulee Dam. Also, we had been urged to see Dry Falls,...

Jul 31, 2010 - Winthrop / Twisp ,Wa July 31 - Aug 1 , 2010

July 31 Headed out in sunny skies and encountered rain just south of Bellingham .So much for a clean truck and trailer . Made the turnoff at Sedro Wooley for Highway 20 to cross the cascades .It's been about 20 years since we took this road and forgot it is a slow go but very scenic .Stopped at the Washington pass to check the views and found that we have never stopped there before . Super views and very cold as the rain storm that we found back in Bellingham had been tagging along with us . Pulled into Winthrop and that storm really...

Sep 13, 2009 - North Cascades: Winthrop

Winthrop, WA Pearrygin Lake SP Sept. 10-11, 2009 By the time we pulled out of the Skagit County park in Rockport, the skies had cleared. It was a beautiful day. We headed east on SR 20, the North Cascade Highway. We soon entered the small town of Marblemount. There a sign welcomed us to “The North Cascades, the American Alps.” The highway follows the Skagit River for quite awhile. The section of the river from Rockport (milepost 100), up to Newhalem (milepost 120) has been designated a Wild and Scenic River. From December – February, bald...

Jul 20, 2009 - North Cascades

We are set up in a KOA campground in Winthrop, WA, we will be here the rest of this week. Next week we are heading for the Pacific coast for a week, we are going to Grayland WA. It was a beautiful trip over the North Cascade on highway 20, we took our time and stopped to take some beautiful photos. There were a lot of very steep grades which slowed me down some but the motorhome did fine. There was one guy that had to have his truck and trailer towed in, he had about a 36" trailer, the transmission went out on his Ford diesel truck. They...

Sep 16, 2008 - Winthrop, WA - Visiting Our Friend Marie

(Ron Writing) We left Wenatchee this morning heading north on US-Alt 97 which runs along the west side of the Columbia River. It’s not marked as a scenic route on our AAA map but it should be! Most of the time the highway is very close to the river and allows great views of the canyon walls, the river, the orchards, and vineyards near the river. The highway also goes through Chelan at the south end of Lake Chelan. This is a very nice town and the lake itself is beautiful. A little north of Chelan we stopped for lunch at a park by Wells Dam....

Aug 23, 2008 - Back in the Lower 48

After a fantastic Alaskan Adventure, we finally made it back to the lower 48 on Saturday. After waiting about an hour at the border crossing in Sumas we crossed back into the US with no problems. We immediately stopped at a bordertown restaurant for lunch and to spend the remaining Canadian money that we were holding. We were pleasantly surprised to see that diesel fuel was over $1.00 cheaper than in Canada and Alaska. After a beautiful drive through the Northern Cascade Mountains we arrived at the Pearrygin Lake State Park for a few days....