I’m visiting my brother Ken in Seattle, and this is the third installment of a three-part series about road tripping in Washington State.
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Ken and I set out on our third trip of my visit on a Saturday afternoon. We head East on I-90 towards North Bend to get supplies. A light rain is fallling, which slowly gets progressively harder. We’re going to the mountains today. This should be fun.
We stop at the Blimpie and the Safeway in North Bend to get supplies, water, sodas, two club sandwiches and some deviled egg potato salad. Ten minutes and we’re back on the road again. The rain is coming down hard and the clouds are really beautiful. As we bisect the mountains, you can see the clouds low on the hillsides and foothills.
The Young South Asian kid at the Blimpie recognizes me, and he asks me if I’m living in North Bend now. I tell him no, I’m going back to New York. That was nice though, we had a nice exchange, and, we smiled at each other as I said I was going back to New York.
We drive along I-90 heading west and it’s just incredible how low the pockets of clouds hang on the hillsides of the mountains. It looks very futuristic, like a Blade Runner-meets-Alaska type thing.
The rain is falling lightly now as we cruise along I-90 doing 80 mph. We’re in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, and it’s absolutely beautiful. What a feat of engineering it was to cut this highway right through the mountains.
We reach the top of Snoqualmie Pass, and all of a sudden it’s really foggy. We’re in the mountains now and the clouds are really low and the rain is starting to come down hard, and it feels great. The rain is pounding as we pass West Summit, exit 52, and there’s also an East Summit. So we really are at the top, of the Cascade Mountains, at the top of the world if you will. My ears are popping and the air is thin because we’re so high up.
We pass The Lodges at Snoqualmie Pass, it’s a major ski lodge, but it’s not skiing season now.
Next we pass a huge lodge, Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue, for those unlucky skiers who just don’t know what the f they’re doing.
I can see lonely unused ski lift chairs on the right side of the road.
We pass a beautiful lake off to the right, with islands of trees in it. I mean there’s an incredible island of trees in the middle of the lake. The water is crystal blue steel. The lake is off to the right, and it looks a little like the coast of Scotland, like the Scottish highlands, with the trees on either side lined up low. The lake is Lake Kachess.
Now I see a sign that says we’re leaving Wenatchee National Forest. So I guess that’s where we were passing through on trusty I-90, Wenatchee National Forest. Everything out here is named after one Native American tribe or another, so I guess Wenatchee is as good as any.
We finally pull off I-90 at Lake Easton State Park. There’s an entryway road that winds past super tall evergreens.
We sit down to eat at a picnic table right on Lake Easton, and it’s absolutely magical. Trees surround the lake, there’s blue water, mountains, clouds, and a little son poking out. It’s chilly, about 55, but it’s absolutely beautiful here. Kids are fishing in the lake, families are picnicking, and it’s great. Just great. People are kayaking on the lake, and they look so free.
The rain starts coming down heavy now though, so we’re forced to evacuate after eating only half our ham turkey and swiss Blimpie sandwiches. We try the Safeway deviled egg potato salad, but it’s pretty terrible. We’re thinking of heading out now, maybe going deeper into the mountains, or maybe heading back. We’ll see.
But the rain is coming down pretty hard and it’s powerful stuff. It’s beautiful and smells like wet flowers, evergreens, cut grass, almonds, and burning wood.
We stop to use the bathroom in the park and there’s a little kid outside with a fishing pole. He looks absolutely adorable. He’s like out of a Norman Rockwell painting with a little hoodie pulled over his head, He looks great with his tiny little kids fishing pole.
We can hear the rush of the highway just about a quarter mile away. But we’re in nature here, the trees surround us, and the rain is coming down medium hard. Then it starts to let up a little.
It’s just a beautiful tableau, and it’s beautiful to see.. It’s just nature at work, rain letting its presence be felt, God letting you know he sees you. That’s what it is. It’s God letting you know he sees you.
We leave the park and drive through downtown Easton. There’s a country store. A sign for graduation June 9th at noon. Probably high school, i figure. This really is a no stop light town.
Soon we’re back on I-90, and the rain starts coming down hard again. Thank you God, we see you.
We decide to turn around and head back West just before reaching the small town of Cle Elum. And then all of a sudden wow! I see a black horse and a chestnut horse off to the right in a meadow. They’re just chilling. Very cool.
We pass another meadow with no horses in it. They’re probably in the barn sheltering from the rain.
We pass secretive-looking little cut out trails, and I’m not sure what they lead to. We’re approaching Granite Falls, I think.
We’re on a side road now, and we literally drive through a cloud. There’s mist in the air, and I can see it rising a little bit from the road. We’re crossing a cloud, is what we’re doing, and it’s awesome.
We take a small, rocky, bumpy road called Granite Creek Trail. It’s really really bumpy and rocky and a little scary, because we don’t want to get stuck. We reach Granite Creek but there’s too much of a dip to cross it, you need an SUV or a truck or something.
We pull over on the side of the road on Granite Creek Trail and just chill. You can hear the water rushing and it’s magical. Just magical.
We decide to cross Granite Creek on foot instead. We find a rocky spot on the other side of the creek, sit down, and eat our food, the rest of our sandwiches. The water is rushing through the creek, and it’s a calm quiet rush. There are trees all around us, and it’s absolutely beautiful.
Then out of nowhere, in this totally peaceful and serene spot, a dusty red jeep comes and forges Granite Creek. Then another car jeep comes out too. There are two kids and a dog in the back and two adults in the front of the first jeep. It’s pretty cool, they must live around here.
Two more Jeeps pass, with parents and kids in tow. You go folks. They have the hardware necessary to forge a little creek, but our 2005 Hyundai Sonata just isn’t cut out for this. We must be at a crossing point or something. Maybe they’re hiking beyond the creek, on the ridge past the trail. Who knows. It’s pretty interesting though.
We chill out on the far side of Granite Creek Trail for a good 20 minutes, eating our blimpies, and then we cross back on foot. We chill out on the road for another 20 minutes taking pictures.
In all honesty, at first I’m a little nervous being so far from civilization. But then I just try to appreciate it. I mean how often am I so far away from people in Queens? Plus I’m with my brother, and were a team, so I just kick back, loo up at the sky. and chill. I just chill.
Eventually it’s time to go, it’s getting cold, so Ken and I take our last few selfies together. Then we hop back in the car and start making our way back West. What a great road trip, what a great side trip, what a great day, what an incredible trip.
Ken pops on a radio station as we hit the road. It’s country music, which has grown on me recently, and it’s the perfect music to capture what we’ve just done. It’s soothing, warm, slow, natural, and full of love. Yup. It had to be country music.
We get back on I-90 now, heading towards Seattle. It’s 6:08 p.m. There was a little rain earlier, but it’s clearing up, it’s just a drizzle now.
It’s been a great trip, and now we head back towards the world we know. But we won’t forget the world we just saw out here in the mountains. We will never forget. Ever. It’s in our blood, our hearts, and our souls, and we take the nature and the beauty and the wonder with us back to Seattle.
So thank you Washington State for providing another beautiful, relaxing, adventurous and awesome day.
I won’t ever forget you.
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That night back in Seattle at Ken’s place I make my first pizza in 13 years, with a little supervision from Ken. He assists me on getting the pizza from the peel to the stone. For toppings I add yellow peppers, onions, Kalamata olives, and anchovies.
I have a little trouble cutting it into 6 slices, but when we finally eat it, it tastes incredible. Salty, briny, sweet and delicious. It’s a great pizza, it’s my first homemade one in over a decade, and I’m happy that I made it. In fact I’m psyched. Then we chill and watch TV, Stephen Colbert and the like, and we just enjoy the evening.
Good day, good night, sleep well, and remember to dream.
Peace.
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