Heading Home Again...

Forry was listening to the news last night while the rest of us were at the theater. He was a little concerned about the reports of the snowstorm in the mountains and snow in all the passes. We have all-weather tires on Toad II, but we weren't anxious to test them out. Instead of leaving late this afternoon, we decided to go ahead and get going this morning.

We did take a bit of time to get some snapshots of our getting very tall grand-children. Claire is in front and Varick is standing beside me. Look at how much taller he is than his Grammy!

He's also a bit taller than his mother, but not quite taller than his father, Scott --

This is what greeted us as we got our first glimpse of the Cascades!

There was a bit of snow at the top of Stevens Pass, but the road was wet and bare --

It was actually a pretty nice trip, although there was a great deal of traffic coming the other way. They would come in packs of fifteen or twenty and then there would be long gaps before the next pack.

We had picked up breakfast at Starbucks and made a couple of stops for gas at the Costco in Mount Vernon and the one in East Wenatchee. Other than a needed stop at a rest stop, we pretty much drove straight through, getting back to the ranch just as it was getting dark.

Over the Mountains

We drove over the Cascade Mountains to Mount Vernon today. There is a great deal of construction on Snoqualamie Pass and they have been warning about the fact that there is only one lane of road open each way -- long delays are to be expected. So we decided we would take Highway 2 over Stevens Pass instead. We came home the last time we were on the coast over the North Cascades Highway which is a gorgeous drive, but long. We hadn't been on Stevens for several years. It's a slower drive because much of it is only two lane highway and it also goes through many small towns with 25 mile per hour speed limits.

It was still a bit cloudy and hazy from all of the summer fires, but the colors of the trees were beautiful. We probably caught them at their height as many of them were just beginning to drop their leaves...

This is Palisades State Park on the other side of Wenatchee. It's where all of the rock climbers come to play and test themselves and their gear. As today was a week day, we didn't see any climbers, but in the past we've seen large parties of them on the rocks.

The reds, oranges and yellows of the orchards are in sharp contrast to the dry hills above them --

As we got further into the mountains, the colored undergrowth showed quite brightly against the evergreen trees --

Even on the steep rocky hillsides, the brilliant yellows stood out --

 

And yes, that's fresh snow over there on that mountainside!

It was raining when I snapped this picture. It's fascinating to see the colors of the scrub brush on otherwise barren rocky walls...

By the time we got to Mount Vernon, it was already dark and raining very hard. I had been talking to Daughter Mary Mae on our cell phones and found out that they were all over at the Lincoln Theater for tonight's dress rehearsal of "Witches, the Musical." It was an open rehearsal, so we grabbed a quick sandwich and drove to the theater to watch. This is a World Premiere of an original screen play about the Salem Witch Trials. There are over thirty people in the cast -- including our Granddaughter Claire who is one of the three little girls in the play.

What a treat to get to see this preview of the Opening Night we'll see tomorrow. It's a long play and it was after eleven when it was finished! I was very impressed by Claire. Her part involves singing and dancing -- and she's on stage most of the time.She plays a little Puritan girl and is also seen as one of Satan's minions in a dream sequence.

Grandson Varick is working with the sound crew while Scott is working backstage changing scenery and MM is helping with costumes. Quite a family production!