There was no driving 70 anywhere yesterday. I drove to Winthrop, there was not any traffic moving above 50. Lots of 30-35. Each pass took an extra hour. Conditions were nasty…I feared for my safety several times

I drive over to Winthrop once a month via I-90 then Blewett Pass. I never use highway 2…it’s an accident waiting to happen. I have to say I mostly see overturned semis more than car spin outs. They should know better. Just this last few days Blewett was closed for 2 overturned semis. I’ve seen a huge crane have to show up and get a big semi off its side. The worst thing is returning to SEA, once you start down from the summit, the trucks, in the far left lane start making up time and drive fast and like complete maniacs. It can be so dangerous in winter conditions.

Second this… they’re out there pounding the roads too. Just as hard on the infrastructure.

How did you get that shot? Drone?

Pizza in Freeland and Coupeville visit.

I lived in Virginia and Maryland for work, couldn’t wait to get back too!

It’s not about the car…traction tires rated for snow and hopefully, would be nice if 4x4 drive. You won’t need chains if you have traction tires but put them in the car just in case. There could be a lot of snow or no snow. I drive over to Winthrop once a month. Last year in early January I-90 was closed for 4 days due to 2 18 inches of snow in 24 hours. Be ready for anything! I always drive I-90, Blewett pass. Highway 2 is mostly 2 laner and dangerous, many fatal car accidents there.

Passport works as well

Winthrop in the Mountains region has a pocket region of Central Puget.

This is correct, I-5 just past Tacoma is a deathly molasses in winter slog….never fails to disappoint for the last few times I’ve done the drive. Bring some audiobooks or podcasts to catch up on.

I forgot to add the bakeries! Winthrop has the Rocking Horse Bakery on the Main Street, down by the outdoor store which is awesome. Twisp has the Cinnamon Twist Bakery on Glover Street next to the natural foods store, Glover Street Market. But the true best treat is the sea salt baguette at the Mazama store. Their sandwiches are very good too.

If you are going in the summer, take 20 thru the park and down into Mazama. Stop at the Mazama store and get the sea salt baguette…you won’t regret it. They also do coffee drinks and good iced chai. Continue on to Winthrop, have lunch/ dinner at the School House Brewery in Winthrop or the Highway 20 Pizza. Next town in Twisp, the Twisp Pub has a really good selection of beer form all over the area. Winthrop has the most places to sleep from a hostel to camping, Pine Near in Winthrop has teepees and Pearrygin Lake has rvs , but you need reservations for that. The swimming in Pearrygin Lake is really good too. There a really good coffee place in Twisp, the Blue Star…it’s just outside Twisp. Also, take my word for it, stop in Hank’s Grocery store in Twisp… it’s an experience…look up as you shop the aisles. Hanks has the best prices for food and gas of all the towns, so wait till you get there for gas, especially. You can take the back roads and see the Grand Coulee Dam. Taking that route will get you to Spokane. After Spokane is Cour d’Alene, big, big lake, kinda touristy but that lake is impressive. Get ready for crossing the Idaho panhandle. It’s a lot uphill and twisty/windy. Just as you come to the MT boarder is the 100,000 Silver Dollar Saloon. Go inside and see the silver dollars but don’t eat the food…truly horrible. You can go either the back roads way to Flathead Lake, there is a hot springs that way or you can take the highway to Missoula and go north from there to Flathead and Glacier. I prefer the back roads to Flathead. Have a great time…it’s a special part of the world.

Make sure you have really warm stuff to sleep in, it’s very cold now.

I split my time between 2 houses. I feed my hummers in SEA when I’m there. My neighbor feeds year around. My hummers, at both houses are smart enough to know when I’m home! Maybe the presence of my dogs in the yard. The feeders are empty when I get back, I fill them up and the birds are back in 1 day. I’ve been doing this for years. Hummers always have more than one source of food to go to. They check in and get a reward of food. A crow comes also as soon as he sees the dogs in the yard.

I try to feed all winter. Bring the feeders in at night and put them out 1st thing in the morning.

There will be a lot of unhappy eastern WA voters.

There is a bear resemblance there😆

Snowshoeing! Cross country skiing. Look at the Wonderland trail at Paradise. There are some other trails up there for both. Husk and Cabin Creek, up at the Pass. Lots of back country nordic. Leavenworth, Chelan and Winthrop, the queen of groomed trails for Nordic. 100 miles of groomed trails. There is snowshoeing on the Winthrop town trail and in the Big Valley. There is fat tire bike riding. If you aren’t a Nordic skiier yet, visit on Winthrop, BackYard ski day for free ski rentals, treats at the Hockey Rink and a free ski lesson. January 27, 2023

I drove by there on Friday, the parking was on highway 20. I posted a picture. I was going to say, how did you get an un-peopled picture? It was smoky too….Diablo Lake was almost completely obscured. It is a fad right now… it will subside when the hoards discover something else. The larches are so pretty…hoping to go midweek later this month.

I was a server, no verticals.

Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine is really nice, not yoga. The Lodge at Snoqualmie, Snoqualmie pass, is nice too, not yoga

So nice to be gifted a beautiful picture of mountains on your return