Washington 2017 Blat
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I haven't toured in a while. In fact after taking trips in the Westfield nearly every other year from 2005-2012, I haven't done so much as a full day blat in nearly 5 years. That had to change, so this week I retraced a small part of PNW2007 that Slomove organized in...yep, 2007, and the WA portion of the Monterey Car Week or Bust trips I did with friends in 2010 and 2012.
Day 1
We (the Westfield and I) headed out Monday morning towards Packwood via Mt. St. Helens. Although I've lived in the Seattle area for over 20 years, I was in uncharted territory after just 45 minutes of driving, which was somewhat surprising to me. Aside from the military convoy travelling at less than 35 mph in a 55mph zone with no passing options for miles, and road construction that lead to a you-can't-get-there-from-here moment, day 1 was largely uneventful.
My hope was to drive to Windy Ridge, the viewpoint for Mt. St. Helens, before settling in for the evening in Packwood The 25 miles leading to that morbidly beautiful vista is a notably stellar road, but sadly the last 15 miles were closed due to snow...at the end of June...after a heat wave. (sigh) To be honest though, the road conditions were pretty poor over the stretch leading up to the closure, so not as much fun as the flowing turns promised. Between VW Beetle sized dips and broken pavement, there was simply no way to keep up a decent pace while avoiding bouncing off into the trees. Still fun though, and beautiful scenery.
Arriving in Packwood, I immediately flashed back to PNW2007. It wasn’t as hot, and there were fewer hooligans on the road (this time I was the sole se7en) but the hotel was the same. Upon check in, I was told it had new owners who had made a number of recent improvements. The room and lobby looked largely the same, but when walking back from dinner that evening, I did see a "No Shooting Zone" sign in front of the hotel. I don't recall that last time, so perhaps this is one of the improvements of which she spoke
Day 2
I'm sitting on the deck of my hotel room, overlooking the Methow River in Winthrop, WA. The beer buzz from my 4:30pm lunch is still strong, as is the wind whipping through the trees overhanging the river. As I reflect on Day 2, I'm reminded that one of the unexpected benefits of touring is finding a surprisingly great meal, coffee, or locally brewed beer in the middle of freakin' nowhere. My day started in Packwood where I had a very good 20oz. quad Americano with a cheddar, bacon scone fresh from the oven ( one of the benefits of standing outside before they unlock the door in the morning). It ended with...well, I'm getting there. Just be patient.
I decided to overnight in Packwood since it would enable me to drive to Mt. Rainier before the perfect families with their 2.3 children packed into Sport Utility Vehicles who think that matching the speed on a caution sign before a corner means they are living life on the edge. The drive up to Rainier was spectacular. Cold, yes. Hell, there was still snow on the side of the road, but the scenery and corners were fantastic. Unlike the trip to Windy Ridge, the pavement was in pretty good shape. Not perfect, mind you, but the occasional whoop dee doos were easy to spot and did not impede progress. Fortune smiled on the way up with no moving pylons ahead, so I decided to drive the Westfield like I stole it to the Paradise Inn, then stop frequently on the return trip for photo opportunities.
During one of my first stops, two Chinese women excitedly approached the car and asked in broken English "Picture, car?" Sure, knock yourselves out. I proceeded to the edge of the road where I planned to take my pictures and took a few of the tourists as they photographed the car. Their male travelling companion then approached me and also asked in broken English "Car...picture...please?" I thought that was a bit odd given I had just told the women it was okay, but appreciated his formality in asking permission. "Yes" I responded. "Go for it." After snapping a few photos of the mountain, I turned to see one of the women doing an awkward butt drop entry into my car! WTF?? Apparently the guy wasn’t asking if he could take photos, but rather, if he could take photos of his girlfriend/wife/significant other/friend with benefits IN my car. Crap!
Rather than spark an international incident (the Chinese have nukes, right?) I calmly raced to the car and pantomimed to stay in place as I explained how to exit the car. The pantomiming become a little more frenetic as she reached for the top of the windscreen to pull herself out.
Fast forward a while and I was in Eastern Washington. For those not familiar with our glorious state, the Cascade Mountain Range divides it into two distinct parts: Western Washington which is lush, green, frequently rainy, and epically pretty, and Eastern Washington, which is..well, not. Okay, so it's not that bad in the Spring, but in the summer, it's hot, barren, and hot. But it's a necessary evil to reach the North Cascades Highway and the cool little town of Winthrop. After enduring a tachometer that suddenly started reading about 800rpm low (cured with a system reboot) and steering that was becoming a mildly unsettling issue, I made it to the hotel around 4pm. Just in time for lunch. And beer. Very, very good, locally brewed beer at the Old Schoolhouse Brewery. I'm not sure if the Rueben Sandwich was especially well made, or it was simply that I hadn't eaten anything since the scone at 7am, or the beer was especially strong, but that was a great end to a fantastic drive
Day 3
The final day was short and uneventful. I opted for an early start, forgoing coffee (this is a big deal for me) but figured I'd get home around 11am and could have a freshly brewed pot of Stumpjumper by 11:15am. Despite a 7am departure, I hit road construction before leaving town, but thankfully the rest of the drive was flagman free. Half the return drive was on Highway 20, A.K.A The North Cascades Highway. This drive is loved by tourists for the incredible scenery and revered by motorcyclists and car aficionados for the road that varies from high speed sweepers to fairly tight switchbacks.
The only downside that morning was the temperature. At that hour, and that altitude (close to 5500') the blistering heat of Eastern Washington from the day before was a distant memory, particularly for my freezing hands which were on the verge of losing all feeling. At its coldest, the road grew worryingly wet and the distant skies were ominously dark. Rain was not in the forecast, but it wasn’t clear if earlier showers were the cause of the wet roadways, or it was simply from overnight fog/low clouds. Regardless, my hands told me the temps were currently in the 30's. Given the wet corners were still in shadow from the mountain peaks, my paranoia kicked in as I began to wonder if black ice was hiding around each apex. A few brake tests showed things were relatively slippery, but not dangerous, so I dialed back the pace a bit until the sun soaked patches became the norm. Traffic remained light the rest of the way, and I was drinking coffee by 11:15 as planned.
Day 1
We (the Westfield and I) headed out Monday morning towards Packwood via Mt. St. Helens. Although I've lived in the Seattle area for over 20 years, I was in uncharted territory after just 45 minutes of driving, which was somewhat surprising to me. Aside from the military convoy travelling at less than 35 mph in a 55mph zone with no passing options for miles, and road construction that lead to a you-can't-get-there-from-here moment, day 1 was largely uneventful.
My hope was to drive to Windy Ridge, the viewpoint for Mt. St. Helens, before settling in for the evening in Packwood The 25 miles leading to that morbidly beautiful vista is a notably stellar road, but sadly the last 15 miles were closed due to snow...at the end of June...after a heat wave. (sigh) To be honest though, the road conditions were pretty poor over the stretch leading up to the closure, so not as much fun as the flowing turns promised. Between VW Beetle sized dips and broken pavement, there was simply no way to keep up a decent pace while avoiding bouncing off into the trees. Still fun though, and beautiful scenery.
Arriving in Packwood, I immediately flashed back to PNW2007. It wasn’t as hot, and there were fewer hooligans on the road (this time I was the sole se7en) but the hotel was the same. Upon check in, I was told it had new owners who had made a number of recent improvements. The room and lobby looked largely the same, but when walking back from dinner that evening, I did see a "No Shooting Zone" sign in front of the hotel. I don't recall that last time, so perhaps this is one of the improvements of which she spoke
Day 2
I'm sitting on the deck of my hotel room, overlooking the Methow River in Winthrop, WA. The beer buzz from my 4:30pm lunch is still strong, as is the wind whipping through the trees overhanging the river. As I reflect on Day 2, I'm reminded that one of the unexpected benefits of touring is finding a surprisingly great meal, coffee, or locally brewed beer in the middle of freakin' nowhere. My day started in Packwood where I had a very good 20oz. quad Americano with a cheddar, bacon scone fresh from the oven ( one of the benefits of standing outside before they unlock the door in the morning). It ended with...well, I'm getting there. Just be patient.
I decided to overnight in Packwood since it would enable me to drive to Mt. Rainier before the perfect families with their 2.3 children packed into Sport Utility Vehicles who think that matching the speed on a caution sign before a corner means they are living life on the edge. The drive up to Rainier was spectacular. Cold, yes. Hell, there was still snow on the side of the road, but the scenery and corners were fantastic. Unlike the trip to Windy Ridge, the pavement was in pretty good shape. Not perfect, mind you, but the occasional whoop dee doos were easy to spot and did not impede progress. Fortune smiled on the way up with no moving pylons ahead, so I decided to drive the Westfield like I stole it to the Paradise Inn, then stop frequently on the return trip for photo opportunities.
During one of my first stops, two Chinese women excitedly approached the car and asked in broken English "Picture, car?" Sure, knock yourselves out. I proceeded to the edge of the road where I planned to take my pictures and took a few of the tourists as they photographed the car. Their male travelling companion then approached me and also asked in broken English "Car...picture...please?" I thought that was a bit odd given I had just told the women it was okay, but appreciated his formality in asking permission. "Yes" I responded. "Go for it." After snapping a few photos of the mountain, I turned to see one of the women doing an awkward butt drop entry into my car! WTF?? Apparently the guy wasn’t asking if he could take photos, but rather, if he could take photos of his girlfriend/wife/significant other/friend with benefits IN my car. Crap!
Rather than spark an international incident (the Chinese have nukes, right?) I calmly raced to the car and pantomimed to stay in place as I explained how to exit the car. The pantomiming become a little more frenetic as she reached for the top of the windscreen to pull herself out.
Fast forward a while and I was in Eastern Washington. For those not familiar with our glorious state, the Cascade Mountain Range divides it into two distinct parts: Western Washington which is lush, green, frequently rainy, and epically pretty, and Eastern Washington, which is..well, not. Okay, so it's not that bad in the Spring, but in the summer, it's hot, barren, and hot. But it's a necessary evil to reach the North Cascades Highway and the cool little town of Winthrop. After enduring a tachometer that suddenly started reading about 800rpm low (cured with a system reboot) and steering that was becoming a mildly unsettling issue, I made it to the hotel around 4pm. Just in time for lunch. And beer. Very, very good, locally brewed beer at the Old Schoolhouse Brewery. I'm not sure if the Rueben Sandwich was especially well made, or it was simply that I hadn't eaten anything since the scone at 7am, or the beer was especially strong, but that was a great end to a fantastic drive
Day 3
The final day was short and uneventful. I opted for an early start, forgoing coffee (this is a big deal for me) but figured I'd get home around 11am and could have a freshly brewed pot of Stumpjumper by 11:15am. Despite a 7am departure, I hit road construction before leaving town, but thankfully the rest of the drive was flagman free. Half the return drive was on Highway 20, A.K.A The North Cascades Highway. This drive is loved by tourists for the incredible scenery and revered by motorcyclists and car aficionados for the road that varies from high speed sweepers to fairly tight switchbacks.
The only downside that morning was the temperature. At that hour, and that altitude (close to 5500') the blistering heat of Eastern Washington from the day before was a distant memory, particularly for my freezing hands which were on the verge of losing all feeling. At its coldest, the road grew worryingly wet and the distant skies were ominously dark. Rain was not in the forecast, but it wasn’t clear if earlier showers were the cause of the wet roadways, or it was simply from overnight fog/low clouds. Regardless, my hands told me the temps were currently in the 30's. Given the wet corners were still in shadow from the mountain peaks, my paranoia kicked in as I began to wonder if black ice was hiding around each apex. A few brake tests showed things were relatively slippery, but not dangerous, so I dialed back the pace a bit until the sun soaked patches became the norm. Traffic remained light the rest of the way, and I was drinking coffee by 11:15 as planned.
