The Great Mikegration

Cover Photo: Hiking in Mount Rainier along the Paradise Trails system and the Skyline Trail;

Adventure Map Days 17-20;

Day 17: 07/21/22

• Got up at the Bush House Inn and loved that sweet scenery! Dressed and downstairs for some coffee and fresh scone and muffin. Nothing else was available at the time we were there although they were looking at putting a kitchen in later. There are no restaurants, quick stops, gas stations or anything else in the town.
• Backtracked just a few miles to stop at the Espresso Chalet of Index Village (It’s not in the town proper; about 4 or 5 miles away) for our vampire blood and werewolf blood lattes and a bigfoot cookie! Don’t forget the scenic Bigfoot pictures and such!!!! Great little stop and great coffee!! Check out those sweet pictures and the view from the Espresso Chalet! Yes, that cookie tasted GREAT! It was our traveling companion for many a mile before we broke down to scarf it for a snack.

• Drove down to Skykomish to check it out then back north to finish the Cascade Scenic Loop so back through Gold Bar, Granite Falls, Arlington and around to Fortson Mill arriving about 10:23am. Fortson Mill is kinda cool spot to visit. We didn’t do a lot of hiking there although looked to be a great trail you could go on. What we were interested in was the abandoned mill that you could explore. It’s really just a shell now that looks like is a party hardy place. Very pretty to go through during the day and just stomp/hike around the area. Thoroughly enjoyed.

• Leaving Fortson Mill we journeyed on southwestward on highway 530 then taking the Mountain Loop Hwy (or Mountain Loop Scenic ByWay) onward south all the way back around to Granite Falls. Whewwwww… The mountain view was not paved about half way through. One hour for ten miles ish. Tough road but oh so beautiful. The pictures will want to make you go and if I can make it in the mighty Jaws minivan I know you can too!! (insert disclaimer… lol). Seriously, it was really nice, we loved the area. It’s part of Mt Baker National Forest and Skagit Wild & Scenic River System. We want to go back and stay there.

• Drove to King Charley’s Drive-In in Snohomish and got burgers and a yummy blackberry malt at about 1:40pm. Very hungry and food was very good. LOVED that blackberry malt even if we did end up eating in the parking lot watching the yard people mow the yards around us.
• Left the King with a full tummy and Dear God Seattle traffic sucks trying to get to Mount Rainier area. Took about 3 1/2 hours. Ughh….not what us mountain people like!! Seemed like being in a foreign world after being in the forests but finally made it to our spot for the night; the Packwood Lodge. Got ourselves checked in (make sure you book early as it’s just outside the park, accomadations are nice, and they go quick!!!) and thought man, “A pizza sure sounds good”. We drove just a couple miles into town (Packwood) and had a surprisingly good pizza. Bonus for us was as we drove in and parked there was a herd of elk grazing in the little park/common area just down from the pizza place a couple hundred yards. Walked down and had to laugh at how great this state is to be able to just see this kind of beauty. Back to the lodge and a super comfy nights sleep because we’ll need it for tomorrow.

Day 18: 07/22/22

• Dad woke me up at 4:30am. No time for sleepyheads this morning. We have a Mountain to conquer!! Super foggy morning as we drove into the park. We were pretty early and visibility wasn’t very good but it was well worth it. Stayed slow and safe so had no problems. Easily found a parking spot at the Henry M Jackson Memorial Visitor Center (Paradise Trails system) and let the hiking begin!

• Hiked in Mount Rainier today. Did a long but gratifying hike along the Paradise Trails system and the Skyline Trail. Very convenient fact is the lodge for the park is right at the trail head. Next time I’d like to stay there if can arrange it far enough in advance. Looked in a couple of the rooms they were cleaning and they were nice.
• Hike was about 7 1/2 miles long on the mountain trails and beautifully scenic every step of the way. Make sure to watch for the Marmot’s who are everywhere! Never realized those critters were so big. Anyway, lots of fun and met a couple other people on the trail we ended up hiking with that thankfully were all great people. Got to throw a few snowballs, hike on the mountainside, get lost, get found (ourselves), slide down some icey spots and just great fun all throughout. Don’t be fooled the path starts out paved and steep and it turns not paved but steep. lol. Funny to me anyway.

• Long drive after the hike to Yakima where we stayed at the Fairfield Inn & Suites tonight. We did go out and eat at the Provisions Restaurant and Market and had fun. Food was good and all that, however we felt a little out of place as it was to fancy for how we were dressed and how we were living the nomad lifestyle. Funny side story was that I need to get an oil change for Jaws. The Toyota dealership there only does anything with an appointment. That includes oil changes. Saturday is the only exception and then only sometimes if available. You have to wait with your vehicle; you can’t leave and come back. Not sure what’s going on with all that as it’s a big town, but it is what it is. Having said all that they were extremely nice at the dealership; just not anything they could do other than point me to a local oil change business and 30 minutes later it was done!

Day 19: 07/23/22

• Slept in until 6:30am and off to breakfast at the Backwoods Country Diner and Cafe there in Yakima – really good service and food. I had an orchard skillet with eggs apple sausage and potatoes and it was YUMMY!!! Would eat there again next time in Yakima.
• Next stop was Fruit City in Union Gap; about 3 or 4 miles down the road from the cafe. Stopped in and got a cherry and couple pieces of fruit for the road so we could try. Nice people working the fruit stand.
• Felt the need for a little historical education so Olivia took me to the Teapot Dome Historical Site in Zillah, WA. What a story on this. You need to read the story on this one. It’s one of the largest governmental scandals out there. FYI, it’s a very clean area with clean restrooms so do what you will!

• Just down from the Teapot Dome was Lep-Re-Kon Harvest Foods which despite the name of it is a nice grocery store and not magical at the end of a rainbow as we were hoping. I made a quick trip in to pick up some Emergen-C and back on the road.
• Took the scenic route down to St John’s Monastery and Bakery in Goldendale. Do make sure you go off the main road on the way so you can enjoy the hop fields. We really enjoyed just driving on the back roads, looking at the fields and sights not to mention the wonderful smell of the hops!

• As I said we were headed to St John’s Monastery & Bakery in Goldendale. You absolutely have to stop here! The food is authentic and oh so tasty! They have Greek pastry’s, coffee (any kind), gyros, souvenirs (handmade by them), and many other treats for you. I should mention this is part of the Greek Orthodox Monastery (founded 1995) that is located behind the bakery. It is all women (about 20 nuns and novices) and they support themselves soley by their own work and donations.. Everything that you see in the bakery is handmade by them including the souvenirs (incense, dipped beeswax candles, knotting prayer ropes, natural soap, lotion, writing Byzantine icons, and more). They work HARD!!!! Super friendly, clean restrooms, great food! Make it a stop! We had some coffee, baklava, other treats and got some to go as well. All were exceptional!
• Ok, I realize how stupid this sounds but I’ll say it anyway and I mean it with the highest amount of respect. When we were leaving the bakery and walking back to the car I noticed they were doing yard work when I glanced over and then I had to glance back over again and just stop….stare…..go what???? Oliva goes, “dad??”. I realized I had been staring for a good 15 seconds at a Nun working a leaf blower while she was wearing her full Habit. I don’t know why I found that so crazy, but I did. I guess I just never thought of seeing a nun wearing a Habit running around using a leaf blower happening in my daily life. She was quick, super hard working and I wish she could do my yard!!!!
• Having provisioned up for the next part of our expedition we journeyed onward to the Bluebird Inn in Bickleton, population 101-usually 80. This is a very neat drive we did along the Bickleton Hwy. Scenic and a fun drive. Don’t let the smallness of the town dissuade you from stopping. Actually you should plan on being here for several hours. Stop in at the Bluebird inn like we did. We split a Bluebird burger (Excellent) and chatted with the owner who told us to go across the street to the Carousel Museum and to take a look at the Market Street Cafe across the street.
• We didn’t want to miss the Carousel Museum as we’d never been to one before and thought it sounded pretty interesting to explore. Good grief Charlie Brown, it was amazing. The people at the museum gave us a guided tour and explained it all as well as told us some history of the town, the carousel, and themselves. I wish we would have had more time to stay longer. One of the men who gave us a personal tour was a guy who amputated and sewed his finger shut after riding north for no reason for two weeks on  a horse. What a story!! Long history of military service in the town that continues to this day.
• The carousel itself was over 100 years old and is still used every year at the local rodeo on the second week of June. It’s a big event where people come from all around to compete and just have old fashioned family fun. In the olden days the local Indian tribes would come to the fair in their full regalia to compete and trade. It was quite the site I was told by the guides. Not to minimize the carousel itself; all the horses on it are handmade and extremely well taken care off. As I said above they set it all up every year for the fair. The guide told us to remember this happens every year so their have been people riding “their” horse every year since they were a kid and now they are in their 80’s or more so basically for 70 or more years of their life! Sometimes “disagreements” happen when someone else rides their horse that isn’t supposed to or when they aren’t supposed to. LOT of memories on that old carousel!!!! I’ve only really focused on the carousel here but they have lots (and I do mean lots) of other interesting stuff (arrowheads, stage coaches, exhibits, etc).

• Having to leave Bickleton all to soon we continued onward to Chukar Cherries in Prosser. Had a couple samples and they were pretty good but we were worried they would melt only got one bag, you know for tasting purposes to see how they would hold up on the road. On to the next stop.
• Vintners Village in Prosser has several wineries in it but being limited on time and still having to drive we could only try one of them. We chose Coyote Ridge Winery which was okay. the white dessert wine had a really interesting earthy smell. Booked our hotel for the night while we were at our wine tasting as it was about 3:30pm so we didn’t want to be on the road looking for something last minute.

• Leaving the winery we headed towards the Geiser Grand Hotel in Baker City, OR which was about 3 hours away. Naturally since it was us we drove to a beautiful historical bridge that was totally worth it. Very irritating as I don’t know where my pictures of it went to. Oh well. Olivia never missing a well placed opportunity took this time to traumatize me with her music. Not sure what I was expecting but that wasn’t it. Fortunately we did find some that were pretty good, and a couple that even grew on me so way to go Evan!
• The Gieser Grand Hotel has an amazing history (see pictures below) and it has been restored beautifully to it’s former glory. Make sure you go online to look at some pictures of it in the winter also. Looks stunning! Rooms are clean, hotel it clean, well run, great service. Fun place! Baker City used to be the stop over place for people headed to/from Washington before/after they had to navigate the pass. They have done a good job not on just the hotel but making the entire town a fun place to visit.

• Had dinner at the hotel. Sad to say it was just ok. I think they are still working through the kitchen stuff. Julie was our waitress and she was great! Julie did an exceptionally good job providing service and being friendly. In fact as we got her talking we were telling her about our stop at the Monastery and how good the baklava was from there this morning. She also loved baklava and had been craving it during her pregnancy. I ended up giving her a big piece that we had brought with us for her to try. Hope you liked it Julie!
• Olivia went back upstairs to talk with Daniel so I sat on the balcony overlook area inside the hotel to give her some privacy. I met a nice couple from Seattle and had a great conversation with them. Was asking them about living in Seattle and how they liked, what didn’t like, and such. Very enjoyable and I learned a lot!
• Evan finished up and we walked around town some although it was getting late. There was a small concert going on next to the hotel that was ending as we were walking and we ran into some people from the hotel that were in the dining area with us when we were eating dinner. Funny conversation ensued with the drunk Canadian and his wife in street. All in good fun and she was sober so no worries on him making it home ok. I liked him and her. Be fun to run into them again some other time.
• Back to the hotel and a quiet, comfortable night’s sleep.

Day 20: 07/24/22

• Went to Miss Baker and got breakfast. Best was cardamon twist and the molasses cookie was spectacular. Cinnamon roll was flat.
• Wandered around a bit in town and headed out. Again, nice town and could easily spend a couple of days in it just goofing around and seeing sights. Maybe use as a base for couple days of exploring.

• Headed South out of town and stopped at the Snake River View Eastbound in Fruitland. It’s a nice rest stop at the Snake River Oregon/Idaho border.

• Took the scenic route again and drove the Map Rock Rd by the Snake River so we could see the Map Rock Petroglyphs Historic District in Idaho. Cool Rock with Petroglyphs right by the side of the road.

• Saw the manufactory of the first commercially viable frozen french fry. The J.R. Simplot Company.
• Mosey’d on down the road to Cleo’s Ferry Museum and Nature Trail. Very surprised and pleased. Trails were in great shape. Everything so clean and well maintained. Wonderful variety of birdhouses to look at as you walk the trail. Places along the trail to just stop and reflect. Cool statues. Just a really neat place to visit.
• They had some peacocks on the property you could feed so Evan got to feed a peacock so the peacock whisperer struck again! I swear they have tons of birdhouses yet I don’t have a single picture of them…..What happened???

• Heading back north towards Boise we made a sidetrip to Meriwether Cider Company (love the name). Evan liked the blackcurrant and violet; others were eh.. Whoops, drove the wrong way past the goddess festival they were having in town so had to backtrack a little. Festival looked pretty interesting.
• Drove Into the mountains because we LOVE mountains and we like the scenic routes. Stopped at Idaho City (a rejuvenated ghost town) and and had some ridiculously delicious huckleberry ice cream at the Sarsaparilla Ice Cream Parlor. They were very busy for a ghost town so I’d say the secret is out!
• Three more driving hours through the mountains as lots of switchbacks and nature. Worth every minute as it’s a really beautiful area and drive. Be prepared to go slow!!! This is NOT the shortcut you’re looking for.
• Pulled into Salmon about 9pm and surprise there’s a fire 15 miles north of the town. They told us they may have to evacuate the town tomorrow if they can’t control the fire or get it to change direction. Wow…not our most shining moment for checking ahead. Very disappointed though as we wanted to spend the day there as was so much to see and do however we felt it was best to move on and get out of everyone’s way. Salmon is a true outdoor adventure town by the Salmon river. Anything outdoor they have. It’s in a stunningly beautiful setting that makes feel alive. Make sure to go if you ever have a chance.
• Found a room at the Super 8 by Wyndham Salmon and got a good nights sleep. Up early the next day and gone. The fire did turn however we still felt it best to leave so we wouldn’t interfere with the ongoing efforts.