We now start tracking back south and east. We planned a couple of one night stand days, just to make tracks. We then want to go back to some areas in Northern California before needing to call it a summer. Heading out of Seattle, we wanted to go along Highway 90 and found a nice little state park, just a short drive away.
Getting out of Seattle was stressful and I made lots of wrong turns, despite input from both Acura navigation and Richard reading Google navigation. Sometimes those two were in conflict, but really it was more due to me taking a right turn before it was really the “next right turn” and ending up having to turn around. That added time and miles before we got out of the city. And it was frustrating.
Once we were safely moving along the right road, Richard shared an idea about a biking stop he was maybe interested in trying. There is a rails to trails bike trail called the “John Wayne Pioneer Trail” aka the “Iron Horse Trail” and goes from Rattlesnake Lake, near Snoqualmie Pass, all the way to the Columbia River. We stopped at Rattlesnake Lake to get our bearings and Richard swapped out his road tires for his beefy tires. We set a point to meet up in case he wanted to bail, and he was off.
The trail is fully gravel, which was bone jarring enough, but he also had to descend a steep little road in order to meet up with me and Dory. At that point, he’d only done about five miles, but it was starting to rain and he was fine saying “ok that was fun, now I’m done.” We drove the rest of the way to Easton.
This is a nice little state park, with sites spaced apart adequately and full hookup sites available. There is a boat launch and a sandy beach area with a playground for kids. I’d say the only downside to the park is the road noise from nearby 90.
With plenty of daylight left, but skies threatening rain, I had this great idea to go for a bike ride together around the lake. When I suggested it, the image in my head was of a nice paved path that ran right along the shore. Richard doesn’t have such images so he thought, sure, bike ride around the lake, no problem, and he found a route.
I have not been on my pretty blue bike very much at all. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I rode it. As a result, I have lost any tolerance I once had for sitting on a bike saddle. Like, we hadn’t even left the campground before I asked if that was really my saddle. I didn’t remember it being so hard. So we headed out with me saying, “Ow! Owowow!” either in my head or out loud. The “bike path around the lake” was not what I had in mind at all, and when we did get to the part that was by the lake, we were separated from it by railroad tracks and trees. But we could see glimpses and Richard kept pointing that out. I asked, “Is this fun?” more than once. “Yes,” he said, “So much fun.” “Ok.” Following our fun little loop, I staggered over to the lake and enjoyed the view before dinner.
This park makes for a nice stop along the way. As a destination, I think the road noise would be a downside, but there are some hookup sites with a lake view and there is certainly an opportunity for boating and swimming. The pads are paved and level enough that we stayed hitched. We have yet to escape the PNW cloud cover. Onward and southward. We’re ready for a little heat!
Total miles from Seattle KOA (with getting lost and a side trip to Rattlesnake Lake): 99.0, 15.2, 3 hours 6 min. Site 19, full hookups. Good LTE for both. Nice bathrooms, boat launch, showers, playground, beach.
