Fontanaman
Robin Trower
After riding in the Mexico monsoon dual sport ride with MotoDiscovery last month it was really good to be back home. The significant lesson learned is I enjoy road riding more than off pavement riding. There are lots of places to go around home on good paved roads. And you can time your fun to work with mother nature and not fight here as we did in Mexico.
I think I brought the Mexican monsoon weather back with me for we have got our fair share of rain in Seattle over the past month. Ah but this past weekend was a gem and I was determined to get out and enjoy the fair skies with my lovely wife. We kicked around the idea of the going to to ocean with the dog in the car but finally settled on taking the motorcycle over the North Cascades Hwy and stay the night at Sun Mountain Lodge a luxury lodge near Winthrop Washington.
Sun Mountain Lodge
View from the dining room.
I have been riding the North Cascade Hwy for years and visited the Cascadian designed lodge a few times. Someday I was going to stay for a night, damned the prices. As so the Mexican Monsoon trip provided enough incentive to shell out a bit of coin to make this a special weekend. And it WAS!
We got a lazy start, just perfect to let the temps warm up to keep my wife happy as we started to gain elevation.
Our first stop was at Diablo dam; a dam on the 2015 Unofficial Dam tour list.
After Diablo dam we continue east on the North Cascades Hwy and I whip out my camera for some on the go pics.
Enjoy!
The temps were in the mid 50's to mid 60's most of the day. Perfect! And we were heading east on a Sunday while everybody else was heading back to the west. The road was mostly clear the entire way from Rockport to Winthrop a real treat.
If this road went on forever would you care?
The road opened a couple of weeks ago, about one month early this year. Snow pack is down 50-75% this year.
Approaching Washington Pass
Crest of Washington Pass
Just in case there is an avalanche.
We arrive at the lodge, have a couple of drinks and enjoys some hot tub time. It was a wonderful evening and very relaxing to stay in a 4 star resort, especially on a Sunday when the place was rather empty.
Mt Gardner is the view from our room. Spectacular. This was sunrise on Monday morning.
On Monday morning have breakfast and go for a walk on the Interpretive loop trail.
For Tyler
This hillsides were covered with this flower. Lupines were not in bloom yet.
We leave about 11:30 and continue east to Hwy 97 and the Columbia River.
After two days it is back to work but we both had a great time. Nice to get away and do something new while doing something I have done for years.
I highly recommend the Sun Mt Lodge. They offer hiking, mountain biking, fishing, kayaking, canoeing and that is just the summer time. Tip go mid week to avoid the crowds and go in the spring time. I didn't need to go far to have a great time.
I think I brought the Mexican monsoon weather back with me for we have got our fair share of rain in Seattle over the past month. Ah but this past weekend was a gem and I was determined to get out and enjoy the fair skies with my lovely wife. We kicked around the idea of the going to to ocean with the dog in the car but finally settled on taking the motorcycle over the North Cascades Hwy and stay the night at Sun Mountain Lodge a luxury lodge near Winthrop Washington.
Sun Mountain Lodge
View from the dining room.
I have been riding the North Cascade Hwy for years and visited the Cascadian designed lodge a few times. Someday I was going to stay for a night, damned the prices. As so the Mexican Monsoon trip provided enough incentive to shell out a bit of coin to make this a special weekend. And it WAS!
We got a lazy start, just perfect to let the temps warm up to keep my wife happy as we started to gain elevation.
Our first stop was at Diablo dam; a dam on the 2015 Unofficial Dam tour list.
After Diablo dam we continue east on the North Cascades Hwy and I whip out my camera for some on the go pics.
Enjoy!
The temps were in the mid 50's to mid 60's most of the day. Perfect! And we were heading east on a Sunday while everybody else was heading back to the west. The road was mostly clear the entire way from Rockport to Winthrop a real treat.
If this road went on forever would you care?
The road opened a couple of weeks ago, about one month early this year. Snow pack is down 50-75% this year.
Approaching Washington Pass
Crest of Washington Pass
Just in case there is an avalanche.
We arrive at the lodge, have a couple of drinks and enjoys some hot tub time. It was a wonderful evening and very relaxing to stay in a 4 star resort, especially on a Sunday when the place was rather empty.
Mt Gardner is the view from our room. Spectacular. This was sunrise on Monday morning.
On Monday morning have breakfast and go for a walk on the Interpretive loop trail.
For Tyler
We leave about 11:30 and continue east to Hwy 97 and the Columbia River.
After two days it is back to work but we both had a great time. Nice to get away and do something new while doing something I have done for years.
I highly recommend the Sun Mt Lodge. They offer hiking, mountain biking, fishing, kayaking, canoeing and that is just the summer time. Tip go mid week to avoid the crowds and go in the spring time. I didn't need to go far to have a great time.
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