Saturday, June 29, (cont'd)
This is Wenatchee Washington from the east side. This was a different approach to the city for us.
We used to go across the river on an old truss bridge and find ourselves in downtown Wenatchee. This was our mecca, the place where we came to do all of our shopping, doctoring, etc. One of my sisters had braces and we had to come to the dentist on a regular basis.
This Old Wenatchee Bridge originally took irrigation pipes across the river. It was the first bridge built south of Canada on the Columbia, in 1908. It became a pedestrian bridge later on and is now on the National Historic Trust Register.
However, now we cross the river upstream and bypass the town completely. This took me by surprise, so lucky for John I didn't make him go back through town. But, it's already been a full day and we
have to move on! The river looks docile behind Rock Island dam.
We pass through Cashmere, home to Aplets and Cotlets. I sold a lot of boxes of these as a Camp Fire Girl! It was always fun to go through the factory. There was a fruit stand here called "Tiny's" and Tiny has HUGE, 6'3" weighed about 400 pounds. And the Fruit stand was HUGE. How we loved stopped there for fresh apricots, berries of all kinds, grapes, pears, apples, etc. His forte was apple cider, and he sold thousands of gallons of it. He had little signs that said, "Tiny's Cashmere Washington" posted all over the state like Burma Shave signs, and lots of bumper stickers.
My Dad, a fan of Lawrence Welk, always called him "Big Tiny Little Junior" after a ragtime piano player on the Welk show. We always looked for Tiny, and he wasn't hard to spot!
This is a familiar site. This is how the apples come out of the fields - in these huge boxes. We made a lot of things (like furniture) out of apple boxes when I was a kid. Plus dynamite boxes that my father brought home. They were sturdy wood, tongue and groove, and made wonderful storage.
The Wenatchee River is raging - just above where it enters the Columbia.
The trusses of the bridge are seeing some high water marks.
Here we are in Leavenworth, a wonderful Swiss Alps themed "village" at the base of the Cascade Mountains. How we always loved to come here. Today's storm will keep us from exploring.
It almost looks like snow up ahead!
As we head toward Stevens Pass, we will follow the Icicle River, one of the most gorgeous rivers in the country. During the salmon runs, you can see the salmon leaping as they head upstream. It's a pretty spectacular sight! That's in the spring, though, and right now the river is raging!
As we drove along, the river ahead appeared to turn really white. It was the cold water colliding with the warmer air, creating this haze. I'd never seen anything like it. Is this Brigadoon?
We definitely had to stop to take these pictures! I can hardly wait to see John's.
Stevens Pass has always been gorgeous, and today is no different, even with the rain clouds. Crossing the pass is at 4601 ft elevation.
The Peshastin Pinnacles are up ahead.
Then, just like that, we are out of the mountains and definitely headed toward the coast. We crossed a narrow bridge near Gold Bar and had to wait for a truck coming the other direction with a fake horse in the back, hanging out over our lane. I was too surprised to take a picture! And I was busy also looking at the store that sold supplies to prospectors. And then, there is the town of Startup! Aptly named! And a real estate sign saying, "126 Beautiful Homes and Six Ugly Ones."
We crossed the Skykomish River and are now on Interstate 5, a rude awakening to be back in the middle of civilization!
There are log jams on the rivers, proof that this is still a vital industry to the area.
We can look back at the mountains we just passed through - awesome!
Commercial fishing boats, sail boats - it's a whole different world.
This is looking west toward the Olympic Mountains and the La Conner area. We are headed toward Bellingham, and with the daylight still in our favor, we will get in while it is still light.
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