We drove through Bridgeport, where my parents were home missionaries early in their marriage. The place looks like it could use a new missionary. It was an extremely rough looking little town. We were desperate to use the restroom and eat lunch but every place was filled with rough looking characters who stared at us as we drove through town. So we kept right on moving as we didn't feel welcome there.
We stopped in Brewster, my birth place, for lunch. The faces looked more friendly there so we felt safe to stop and eat at the McDonald's there.
From Brewster we traveled on up through Twisp and on to Winthrop. It is a busy little Western Town that is complete with Old West store fronts and boardwalks. We passed on through there so we could pick the kids up on time at camp a few minutes out of town.
We arrived at Camp Hope just as everyone was loaded up and ready to roll on out. The kids showed us around the camp a little bit and we were the last ones to leave the camp.
We back tracked through Winthrop to our motel, The Winthrop Inn. It was a comfortable place with a small room for four people. We ate dinner out of the cooler and then went back into Winthrop to do the tourist thing. We shopped at some stores that were still open but didn't buy a thing. Took a ton of pictures instead. Those are the best souvenirs because they are inexpensive and don't have to take up space or be dusted all the time.
Our favorite shop Winthrop was the hat shop. We saw all kinds of hats there and kept picking up hats and saying, "That hat looks just like Brenda Taylor. Here's one looks just like Karen Rathbun. Here's a hat for you S!" and so on....
We got up on Sunday morning and started over the North Cascades Pass. What is a three hour drive to Mt. Vernon from Winthrop, we turned into a six hour drive. We stopped several times after switch backs in the road to look back over where we had just come and take pictures. We had to stop and take pictures of the kids in their tank tops or shirt sleeves standing in a snow bank. And S got some great photos of motorcyclists speeding up the mountain with the background all a whir.
We took a break above Diablo Dam to take in the scenery and get more pictures. We were disappointed that there were no chipmunks. As a child I remember going there and the chipmunks would come sit at your feet and beg. This time there was not one chipmunk in sight. I was sad because I wanted S to be able to get some pictures of them and experience that.
After our break at Diable Dam we dropped down to Newhalem where we had a picnic lunch and then took a short hike across the suspension foot bridge through the woods to one of the power houses. Rick and N had a good time dancing a jig on the bridge, trying to make it bounce or rock. It's a pretty sturdy bridge held up by heavy cables, so they were not very successful in making a lot of movement. The dog that came across after us made more movement then them.
Rockport State Park was next on our trip. We were anxious to show the kids where we enjoyed camping with our trailer and maybe hike the trail we enjoyed so much. Sadly we were very disappointed. The road to the camp sites was blocked off with a sign that said, "Campground Closed to protect our visitors and the environment." The only area that was open was a small picnic area and we weren't sure if the bathrooms were open as the buildings looked unkempt and in disrepair. They had signs up that said, "15 Minute Parking". We wondered how anyone could have a picnic in fifteen minutes. It was a big disappointment.
We passed a number of other towns on our way down to the Skagit Valley including, Concrete, Hamilton, and others. We also passed by Cape Horn which is known to have witch covens. I once knew the chaplain for the Sheriff's dept. in Skagit County and he said they had a lot of trouble with the witches around Cape Horn. Also troublesome to the Skagit County Sheriff were the Tar Heels that had stills up in the hills where they could make their own hard liquor. Skagit has them to thank for importing the opossum, common road kill in Skagit County. Of course we couldn't go there without seeing at least one dead opossum on the road.
We were amazed at all the commercial development as we came into Sedro Woolley. It was once a sleepy town of Rednecks when we lived there. You weren't anyone unless you owned a pickup truck with a gun on the gun rack, a dog and had stuff covered with blue tarps around your property or had a blue tarp for a roof. Now it has all grown up and gotten citified .
We took the kids to see the first home that we bought and lived in for five years. We drove down Main St. and saw some of the murals on the buildings. I pointed out several that Fred S. had painted. I worked with his wife at the egg farm (that no longer exists) and knew him. They were nice people but fairly rough around the edges. They both smoked like chimneys and it wasn't uncommon to get your ears burned by a string of swear words in every other sentence.
Fred had painted a number of murals for the town of Sedro Woolley that depicted old fashioned photographs from long ago and showed what the town was like in the early days. The paintings he did were so faded with time it was hard to make them out. Fred got mad after he painted the murals because the city of Sedro Woolley had agreed to pay him a certain fee for doing them and then after he got done they went back on their word and paid him less than what was agreed upon. So he didn't bother to tell them that he did not put the final sealant coat over the murals since they didn't honor their end of the deal. So the faded murals leave testimony to the fact that he got them back.
After we left Sedro Woolley we drove down the road a pace to Burlington and showed the kids our second apartment that we lived in. It was a townhouse. It looked much like it did when we lived there.
On to Mt. Vernon and Jamba Juice, one of our favorite places to go for a smoothie. Peanut Butter Mood is our all time favorite smoothie there. After we finished there we went to our old neighborhood in hopes of visiting our neighbor lady, Virginia, but sadly, she was not at home, so we left her a note. We took a look at our old house on Carmel Ave. It is the same color as we left it 12 years ago. The fence is broken and they took out the shrubs by front of the house. N noticed they took down the basket ball hoop too. Other than that it is much the same.I was hoping to see my old friend Jan who had lived just up the street from us there and had moved before we moved. I got to talk to her on the phone for a few minutes, but they had just gotten back from a trip to Pullman and were too tired for company. But it was so nice to hear her voice and visit again.
Mt. Vernon is so busy and has grown so much! We found our motel and did the kid's laundry that was dirty from camp. The kids and I went and relaxed in the hot tub for a while before bed.
Next morning we caught the Anacortes Ferry to Friday Harbor. It was a beautiful day to be sailing through the San Juan Islands. One of the kid's friends from camp came and met us at the terminal and rode the ferry to Friday Harbor with us. Our object was to just ride over and back for the fun of being on the ferry, so we were only in Friday Harbor long enough to look at a few shops and then get back on the boat. It was such a relaxing time.
We gave Nick D. a ride home to Oak Harbor. It was little farther than we had planned on going since we had to back track to get back to the freeway, but the kids appreciated getting to spend the time together and meeting his mom and seeing their beautiful home with a view of the water.
We stopped at Mexico Cafe in Mt. Vernon for dinner. We enjoyed eating there when we used to live there. Unfortunately, Rick's belly didn't handle the food like it used too and he got a bit of a bellyache from it.
We came into Monroe a bit later in the evening than we originally planned since we had the extra detour to Oak Harbor, but we had some time to relax before bed. I walked over to the Staples store to browse for a few minutes.
Next morning I came down to breakfast and here was a man and a lady eating and at first glance I thought it was my friend Debbie and her husband from Lewiston! The lady wore her hair the same way, looked like her and even had a shirt on like she would wear! The man from the back looked like my friend's husband.
Later I saw them getting on the elevator and I remarked how much she looked like my friend Debbie. She replied in a British accent, "Oh really? My name is Debbie!"
We left Monroe and drove through Duvall and came to Carnation Farms Road where we turned and went up to Camp Gilead where I spent many happy childhood times. As adults Rick and I went to Family Camp there and up until S was about eleven years old we went to Family Camp each year. Distance, diets and sleep issues finally put an end to our trips to Family Camp. Those were happy times.
S spent about two hours or a little less taking photos all around camp (I did too) and remembering all the good times had there. All was quiet there except for the sound of a backhoe and some workers putting in a new water system. All the camps are done for the summer unless they have some rental camps coming later. It was strange walking around there without the sound of children playing gutter ball, or the dinner bell ringing or the chapel bell clanging that it was time for chapel. The canoe pond was quiet except for the ripples the water striders made or the occasional fish that jumped. The rhythmic sound of paddles on the pond couldn't be heard as the paddles sat motionless on shore with the life jackets. It was just a bit too quiet as I could only imagine the activities and sounds in my head as I walked from place to place.
Heading on down the highway we came to Snoqualmie. Here we stopped at the Snoqualmie Candy Factory that is owned and operated by my childhood friend Wes Sorstokke and his wife Sharon. It was so fun to sit down and catch up with each other after not seeing each other for 10 years. We swapped a few stories from our growing up years and had some good laughs. We ate at their shop and I spilled a large glass of water all over their floor and they had to mop it up. How embarrassing...but Wes took it in good humor and teased me about it.
Before we left they stocked us up with sweet/salty popcorn, caramel popcorn, peanut butter fudge and salt water taffy. They make the best around and sell it all over the state. Check out their website...they do mail orders.
We headed home over the Snoqualmie Pass. I drove from just before Ellensburg to TriCities where we ate dinner. Then Rick drove to Dayton where we traded again I drove the rest of the way home. I didn't mind driving too much. I had my Kindle set up with an ear phone in my ear so it could read to me. So I got in several hours worth of "reading" that way.
Home was a blessed sight around 8pm when we drove in and my pillow and bed were an even more welcome sight! There is no place like home.
I will add more photos to this later when I have a chance to get some off of S's camera. So stay tuned!
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