WA State - The Loop August 19 - 26, 2016

Friday, August 19 - My son, Christopher, and I left Vancouver early Friday morning, heading north to Snoqualmie.  We stopped at 10:30 for breakfast/early lunch in Kelso.  The temperature gradually rose to 100 degrees!  The sun cooked my WaStatePks100 pass. 

Our goal for this trip is to finish finding 50+ of the WaStatePks100 caches/stamps as well as pick up a couple more WSHS 125 caches.  And to find at least one cache on DeLorme page 48 and any other pages we can pick up.

The Millersylvania WA State Park gift store keepers were short of quarters so I gave them eight quarters in exchange for two dollar bills.  I got a green WaStateParks backing and borrowed their stapler to straighten out my WA State Parks pass.  I brought along Markus Zusak's "The Book Thief" which I read during the trip.

We stopped for a light meal at Taco Bell in Tacoma at 4:30pm.  The traffic was so bad that we ended up heading cross country on Hwy 18.  As we traveled up the mountains on I-90 the temperature dropped dramatically from 95 to 72 degrees in less than a half hour.  We stopped at Olallie Washington State Park.  There was a brown bear warning posted on the signboard.  We spent way too much time trying to find the cache that I was not sure we could even open if we did find it.  Christopher figured out where the cache was located but was in too much pain to try.  I was wearing beige slacks which I would have stained climbing over logs to get to the cache. 

We got a room for the night at the Summit Inn at Snoqualmie Pass.  A very large fan sitting in the window was the air conditioning.  We walked over to Bobs Summit Chevron for snacks at 9:00.  We found two WSHS 125 caches.  Christopher found two WaStatePks100 caches.  We did not find the Olallie WaStatePks100 cache.  

Saturday, August 20 - Christopher and I attended "At the Summit-Breakfast Gathering" Event at our hotel.  Afterwards we drove to the Parking area for the 2016 Going Ape Mega Event.  Christopher hiked the Snoqualmie Tunnel. 

The Snoqualmie Tunnel is an abandoned railroad tunnel.  It is 2.3 miles long.  The tunnel now serves as part of a rail trail in Iron Horse State Park.  The trail is called the Iron Horse Trail.  It was closed in 2009 and reopened in mid-July 2011 after renovations to the walls, ceiling, and path were completed.  The tunnel was constructed from 1912-1914 by the Chicago, Milwaukie, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, also known as the Milwaukee Road, as part of its line from Seattle to Chicago.  In 1980 the Milwaukie Road abandoned its western lines.  Later, Washington state acquired the right-of-way for recreational use.  Today the tunnel is part of the Iron Horse State Park rails-to-trails project.  In early July 2011 the tunnel re-opened after 11 months of renovations that added a four-inch layer of concrete to the walls and ceiling, a reinforced structure, and a new and improved walking surface of crushed rock.

Christopher spent the whole day walking through the 2.3 miles long tunnel. It took him four hours to get to the other side of the tunnel, and another four hours to get back.  I walked over to the Event for awhile (I was the First to Sign the Event Log), watched cachers trying to open Mr. Gadget #2 caches (bird houses, puzzle boxes, etc.) and then sat in the shade with Mrs. Gadget #2, a volunteer stationed near the Iron Horse Trail leading to the tunnel.  Christopher came out of Snoqualmie Tunnel about 6:00pm.  We joined two cachers to look for the nearby Hyak cache.  It was located in a terrible location near a drainage ditch. The WaStatePks100 stamp was missing.  Deeply disappointing.

We had dinner at Pourhouse Bar & Grill in North Bend at 8:00.  We stayed the night at Sunset Motel in North Bend.  When I called the motel I was told there were No Vacancies.  I drove a couple blocks back to the motel.  Imagine my surprise to see a lit Vacancy sign.  I did not tell the man that he had just lied to me.  We had two separate bedrooms but Christopher had the attached bathroom. 

Sunday, August 21 - We had breakfast at the Twede's Cafe (Double R Diner) "Twin Peaks"  in the heart of downtown North Bend.  Fans of 1990-91 quirky TV sensation "Twin Peaks" still visit the show's "Double R Diner" for its cherry pie and damn fine cup of coffee. I had Cherry Pie with vanilla ice cream - no coffee.  Christopher had breakfast.  Visitors can buy a map at Twede's Café to the shooting locations, almost all of which are within a 10-minute drive of café, and easily recognizable.  I drove around to the shooting locations in North Bend and Snoqualmie many years ago.  The Packard Mill is gone unfortunately.  "Twin Peaks" has returned to television 25 years later and will be filming its third season. 

We traveled north.  I realized just north of Snoqualmie that Christopher did not have his walking stick in the back seat.  We traveled back to the Sunset Motel where I found it leaning against the front door frame of the motel room where housekeeping had put it. 

We traveled north and then east on Hwy 2.  We found two caches for DeLorme page 48 on an old, narrow road.  A tree had fallen across the road in the past putting huge dents in both guard rails at the cache site. While we were stopped for another cache a truck pulling a long RV trailer passed my car heading up the narrow winding twisty road.  What were they thinking?  Continuing on we saw them turning around using a narrow side road. 

Christopher's worst WaStatePks100 cache hike was WaStatePks100: Forks of the Sky - Index Town Wall.   Christopher actually had to wait for long, fast train, before he could continue down the trail. Given his bum knee and arthritis, this was a rough trail for him, especially the last 100 feet, starting with a large pile of rocks that he had to climb over. Seeing the close tunnel entrance was interesting, though.

We got some cookies at the Rest Stop at Nason Creek (MP 81) 18 miles west of Leavenworth.  The women were raising money for the Cashmere Museum.  We met one of the women again the next day when we stopped at the Cashmere Museum to use the rest room and purchase a couple Aplets & Cotlets bars.  We had artisan pizza for dinner at Idlewild Pizza in Leavenworth.  We stayed the night at Obertal Inn - my favorite place to stay in Leavenworth.  We found three caches - one was the delightful Meadowbrook Little Free Library in Snoqualmie and two caches for DeLorme page 48 on an old, narrow highway alongside Hwy 2.  Christopher found two WaStatePks100 caches.

Monday, August 22 - We had incredible breakfast at the Obertal Inn.  I walked over to the town plaza where I captured my photo with my iPhone for the Webcam cache.  I took Christopher's photo about 9:30am for the Webcam.  We traveled east on Hwy 2.   We stopped at the Cashmere Museum to use the rest room and purchase a couple Aplets & Cotlets bars.  We continued traveling east on Hwy 2 and then north along the west side of Lake Chelan on Hwy 97A.  We stopped at the Shell Station in Entiat for snacks and drinks at 1:00.  Lake Chelan is quite beautiful.  Smooth waters until we got to the white caps at the north end.  We were able to pick up DeLorme page 35. 

We cut across to the east side of the lake and traveled south on Hwy 97.  We had dinner at Hot Rod Cafe in Wenatchee at 7:15.  We stayed the night at Comfort Inn in Ellensburg.  Besides the Webcam cache, Christopher found three WaStatePks100 caches and a WSHS 125 cache.  I found the Webcam cache, an EarthCache, and the WSHS 125 cache. 

Tuesday, August 23 - Following breakfast at the Comfort Inn in Ellensburg we traveled west on I-90.  We stopped in Roslyn to photograph the "Northern Exposure" mural.  If I had done some research on the Internet we could have taken a tour of the shooting locations.  Roslyn is where the exteriors were filmed for the quirky 1990s TV series "Northern Exposure", set in fictional Cicely, Alaska. The concurrent use of nearby towns North Bend and Snoqualmie by the even-more-quirky series "Twin Peaks" created a brief Golden Age of television weirdness for towns in Washington State. Roslyn still offers a few places that Northern Exposure fans would recognize, such as the Roslyn's Cafe camel mural, Ruth-Anne's store, the KBHR radio station, and the weather-beaten vistas of Main Street from the show's opening credits. The best visual reminder of the show, the Roslyn's Cafe camel mural, is on the corner of Pennsylvania Ave. and 2nd St.  Hardcore fans will notice that the cafe mural has been restored to its original "Roslyn Cafe" after its modification, left for a time during the series' run to make it "Roslyn's Cafe."  

I found out after I returned home that you can visit the Roslyn Museum for a copy of the flyer including a map showing the location of many familiar shooting sites in Roslyn. You can also view the Ausburg clock created by the crew for one of the episodes and later donated to the museum. 

We ate a late lunch at Taco Time in North Bend.  We stayed the night at Comfort Inn in Marysville.  Christopher found four WaStatePks100 caches.  Bridle Trails was his second least favorite WaStatePks100 cache which he did mostly in the dark.

Wednesday, August 24 - After breakfast at the Comfort Inn in Marysville, we got gas in the car and purchased snacks and bottled water at Fred Meyer.  We traveled north to Bay View.  We took the Washington State Ferry from Anacortes to San Juan Island to find the WaStatePks100: Lime Kiln Point cache.  That was the most expensive WaStatePks100 cache at $70.35 for the ferry, $8.25 for Ferry Food, and $8.00 for hard ice cream in Friday Harbor.  It was frustrating to spend so little time on San Juan Island.  Christopher found two WaStatePks100 caches.  He was able to get DeLorme page 14.  We stayed the night at the Anacortes Inn.

Thursday, August 25 - I got up early so I had the Anacortes Inn continental breakfast on the front deck off the motel office.  Christopher got his breakfast later which he also ate on the front deck.  We stopped for snacks at Liberty Market in Oak Harbor at noon.  I photographed the Admiralty Head Lighthouse.  I called 511 and made reservations for the 9:10 ferry.  We were not able to get on the 7:30 ferry.  We had dinner at Keystone Cafe while waiting for the ferry.  Since I made reservations for the 9:10 ferry we were not stranded on Whidbey Island.  We stayed the night in the Tides Inn in Port Townsend in Room #20.  Richard Gere slept at the Tides Inn in nearby Room #10 during the filming of "Officer and a Gentlemen".  I sat on the wraparound deck for awhile in the evening.  Christopher found four WaStatePks100 caches.

Friday, August 26 (Heading home!) - After breakfast, I sat on the wraparound deck of Room #20 watching the long boats, the Washington State Ferry, and the small fishing boats.  I found the cache outside Room #10 where Richard Gere stayed during the film of an "Officer and a Gentleman".  Christopher had a late breakfast.  We headed south along the west side of Puget Sound.  We had lunch at Gear Head Deli.  Fort Flager was a very long drive from Port Townsend but well worth it.  Triton Cove was a quick find.  Christopher found four WaStatePks100 caches.  We arrived home about 9:00pm. 

We found three Benchmarks during the trip: Yelm Water Tower (SC1547), Benchmark at Ferry Terminal (TR0363, and Marrowstone Light House Chimney at Fort Flager (TR1567).   We saw a smokestack at Monroe but evidently was not a Benchmark. I discovered one trackable "Mumford the Mummy" (CBRENP) at the 2016 Going Ape Event.