Way Up North

More and more and more of God’s beautiful world.





















We left the Chelan area and drove north and then west following what is called the Cascade Loop Scenic Highway. We left the apple grove valleys and made our first stop at (old west) Winthrop for lunch. It is in the Methow Valley and is entirely done in western frontier era, complete with wooden sidewalks.




We then headed to the section called North Cascades Highway and discovered that it wasn’t until 1972 that the modern road Hwy 20 traversed the North Cascades. We stopped at many places for pictures and I will include some below. The color of Lake Diablo was just astounding.


We finally got to our destination close to Glacier, Washington. And it was true; there is no cell reception or TV. The mountains are too tall. We stayed at a timeshare right off of the highway that goes up to the Mt. Baker ski area. There is only one road up that direction. We journeyed up there one day and saw all of the different mountains and the snow.
We didn’t do much hiking because my ankle is really acting up. We did walk on the trails early each morning. The Nooksack River was right out our patio door and we could not only view it but hear it running at all times.

We did hike for a couple of hours one afternoon on a trail by the Nooksack River.
Coleen’s cousins grew up in Deming, Washington which is only 24 miles from where we stayed. We took a drive through there down to Bellingham, then north to Lynden, by Sumas and back to the resort. We were only 2 miles from Canada. Coleen had been to Deming when she was 12 but did not remember that it is basically all farming areas specifically dairy. They also have berries.

One morning we got up early (4am) to drive to Anacortes and take the car ferry to Friday Harbor.




It is one of the San Juan Islands and has a National Park on it. It really was a fun day. The ferry trip took just over an hour and we spent the day driving around the island (a total of 50 miles). We got our park stamp and also got to see two lighthouses. We had delicious clam chowder at a little restaurant for lunch. We ate dinner at Charlie’s which was immediately after we disembarked at Anacortes before we drove back to the resort. We saw the fog come in and thought we would be driving for 2 hours in the fog. It was actually just a large fog over part of the water not on the land or on the entire harbor.

We played some games, read books and enjoyed the fireplace. We didn’t even get to the pool. I did go to a quilt store in Lynden. We went through the shops in Friday Harbor but didn’t find anything that we really needed. Not hearing the news we will play some catch-up this weekend, especially the outcome of Ike. We have family and friends in the Houston area and are keeping them in our thoughts and prayers.