North Cascades of Washington

This month we took our first real vacation since the beginning of the pandemic, and spent a week exploring the National Parks in Washington state. We've both been to Seattle before, but had never explored outside of the city. With three national parks and ecosystems ranging from desert to coastal rainforest, Washington is a great place for a roadtrip focusing on hiking and outdoor activities.

We started with one evening in Seattle. First we visited with David's video gaming friend Sherrod at a bar near the airport. Then we met up with our friends Leslie and Lauren. We walked around the Capitol Hill neighborhood and had dinner at Taku, a Japanese fried chicken place. We were pretty exhausted with the three hour time change, so we headed back to our friend's apartment and crashed. We do need to get back to Seattle sometime to spend more time in the city!

Flying over Washington, with the mountains poking above the clouds.

We could also see the wildfires from our flight - these would impact our trip route due to closed roads.

We also had a fantastic view of downtown Seattle just before landing.

David & Sherrod - the pandemic encouraged us to make friends in new ways - this one via Final Fantasy XIV online. It's nice to meet in person!

The Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.

On our first full day, we set out early for the area near of North Cascades National Park, in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. We did the Chain Lakes Trail, a 6.5 mile loop trail that goes around Table Mountain with views of Mt. Baker, Mt. Shuksan, and several alpine lakes. Several parts of the trail were still covered in snow, even in late July. This was a great hike with good views, and wasn't crowded. There were a few uphill sections with 1,800 feet of altitude gain, but it wasn't too bad. 

After the hike we had a late lunch at Chair 9, and relaxed at our AirBnB in Glacier. Overall, staying near the Mt Baker trails are a bit tricky and the town of Glacier seriously had like 2 restaurants and some shoddy AirBnBs so we probably wouldn't recommend staying here. That said, this was one of the best hikes of the entire trip and the wilderness area up here is really stunning!

Great weather for a hike!

Still lots of snowy areas.

The perfect kind of weather...cold enough for snow & but warm enough for a T-shirt!

David on a part of the trail cutting across a steep incline.

We love hikes like this!

Icy lakes are the prettiest lakes.

Iceberg Lake.

When the clouds parted we had direct views of Mt. Baker.

A few areas had snow/ice banks that had melted from below.

After hiking - giant pizza time!

The next day we backtracked and drove to the south side of North Cascades National Park, in the Ross Lake National Recreation Area. North Cascades is a bit odd because it's difficult to actually get into the national park unless you're doing backcountry camping. Most of the trails are in the surrounding national forests and recreation areas. But we saw the entrance sign and the visitor's center (which was mostly closed due to COVID), so we're counting it. 😂

We decided to do a relatively short trail, since we had an unexpectedly long drive ahead of us. Our original plan was to continue east on Highway 20, staying in Winthrop. However, the forest fires resulted in the closure of Highway 20, the only east-west road in this part of the state. Instead of a one hour drive east, we would have to backtrack and head quite a ways south before turning back east again. So we did some time management and did a hike on the Thunder Knob trail, a relatively easy hike that was just a bit over 3 miles round trip. It still had some great views of Diablo Lake and the nearby mountains. After leaving we had a quick lunch at a quirky Korean/American restaurant named Mondo in Marblemount, before continuing on the 4 hour drive to Leavenworth. 

One of the best looking national park signs.

Awesome views from the Thunder Knob trail.

Views over Diablo Lake.

Korean pork and hamburgers were both on the menu at Mondo!

Leavenworth wasn't in our original plan for this trip, and resulted in a lot of extra driving, but we're glad we visited! We arrived in the afternoon, and walked around a bit before having dinner. It's a faux-Bavarian town, like a larger version of Helen, Georgia. Leavenworth is also nicer than most American-made Bavarian towns. A common refrain was "oh, this is nicer than our Helen." The downtown area was closed to motor vehicles, which created a nice pedestrian experience. We weren't sure if this was a temporary thing due to COVID or for the tourist season, but it was great and they should make it permanent. We unfortunately were visiting during a heatwave, and it was really hot, but luckily it cooled off as the sun set. We had some beer, walked around the waterfront park, and then had dinner at Stein before heading back to the hotel (which was very nice and featured a really beautiful breakfast area on the top floor).

Welcome to faux-Bavaria, y'all!

All the people hanging out on the shady side of the street - it was hot!

A maypole and Bavarian-styled building.

Lots of cute shops and restaurants.

There are three breweries in town - we had a flight at Icicle Brewing.

Sampler time!

Hungarian poutine in the USA. Nothing here makes sense, but it was great!

The Wenatchee river goes right through town.

Our hotel, the Enzian Inn, was great. Highly recommended.

The European-style breakfast room in our hotel.

Paul hanging out our Juliet balcony. Unfortunately, the courtyard was under construction.

Our first few days were a great start to our Washington road trip. We saw friends, both old and new, dashed through a bit of Seattle, explored the snowy North Cascades, and dined on the Washington-Bavarian Riviera. The next part of our trip would be quite different - heading into the grasslands and deserts of eastern Washington!

West Texas Roundup - Coasters and Culture in the Texas Panhandle

Over the July 4th weekend I went on my first roller coaster trip since early 2020 - the West Texas Roundup, an event with the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE). These events usually include exclusive ride time and behind the scenes tours, and this was no exception.

The weekend started out on a bad note, as my flight to Lubbock was cancelled. I managed to book a flight on a different airline, spent the night at a hotel airport in Dallas, and made it to Lubbock on a Saturday morning, 14 hours later than I had planned. But with that out of the way, the rest of the weekend was fantastic. My hotel was really cool. It's a new boutique hotel in downtown Lubbock, not far from Texas Tech. The rooms surround a central courtyard that is meant to be a community meeting place, with a restaurant, pool with bar, and live music several nights a week. Highly recommended! I had an early lunch at Torchy's Tacos, which is always a great stop when in Texas. I briefly explored downtown Lubbock, including the Buddy Holly Center, a farmer's market, and the Depot District that has a few restaurants and bars. I then stopped at "Prairie Dog Town," a little reserve for these critters near my first amusement park of the trip.

The Cotton Court Hotel

Torchy's Tacos. Cowboy hat guys at the bar!

Buddy Holly was from Lubbock.

A Buddy Holly statue.

I happened upon a farmer's market in the Depot District.

The old rail depot.

Prairie dogs fighting over food.

The event kicked off at Joyland, a small family amusement park. It has a handful of classic rides, mostly moved from other parks around the country. I particularly enjoyed the log flume and the drop tower. Our day started with bumper car soccer, which my team won! We had Q&A with the park owners, and plenty of free time to enjoy all of the rides and the atmosphere of this quaint park. The weather was great. It got a bit hot in the middle of the day, but was a beautiful evening. What a great start to this event!

Welcome to Joyland.

You get wet on the log flume. Watch out for the alligator!

The Galaxi coaster and a brilliant sky.

It was very comfortable as the sun started to go down.

Our group! Photo courtesy of ACE South Central.

Our second day started in Plainview, about a 45 minute drive north. I stopped at a couple of small towns on the way, which had interesting buildings but unfortunately were quite deserted. We had a tour of Larson, an amusement ride manufacturer. It was interesting to learn about the process of manufacturing a ride. They've even made roller coaster supports for Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) coasters. After the tour, we had a nice breakfast (burritos), and then came the most unique and interesting part of the event. The National Roller Coaster Museum and Archives is not yet open to the public, but we had a special behind-the-scenes tour and saw the unveiling of two new coaster exhibits. This place is incredible - all coaster enthusiasts should try to visit (although you can currently only do so as part of a special event). I spent a few hours exploring here, and could have spent more. We also got to see the archive room, which had loads of old blue prints and historic documents.

Abernathy - looks like a ghost town!

Hale Center at least had a mural and one open store.

Downtown Plainview had a few nice buildings, and brick streets.

The Larson factory.

Behind the scenes tour!

Sign from the defunct Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

Tons of signs, models, and coaster cars all over.

One of the main rooms of the National Roller Coaster Museum.

Close up of a wooden coaster model.

A model showing the original planned layout of Tennessee Tornado at Dollywood.

A genuine Coney Island Cyclone car!

We saw the unveiling of the newest exhibit, a Loch Ness Monster car.

They even have Disney trains.

The car and bobsled-style track from Cedar Point's Disaster Transport (previously Avalanche Run)

There's a bar, and it's amazing! It's made out of wood from Cedar Point's Mean Streak and Magic Mountain's Colossus.

The bar stools are RMC coaster wheels!

An overview of the newest expansion, with multiple coaster trains.

Original concept art for Thunderation at Silver Dollar City.

A sign from Six Flags New Orleans - the brown mark near the bottom is from the Hurricane Katrina water level.

After the phenomenal tour of the National Roller Coaster Museum, we kept heading north, for our next park in Amarillo. I stopped off in Happy, Texas along the way. 

No frowning allowed!

It's called happy but it's a bit sad.

Saw this guy along the way too, in Amarillo.

The second and final park of the trip was Wonderland, another small family park. It's actually quite similar to Joyland, but a bit bigger and with a much larger coaster. I had a great time riding multiple coasters and playing a round of mini-golf. We had a fajita dinner and a round of Q&A with the park owners. We finished off with some sunset rides on the bizarre but intense and fun Texas Tornado.

Welcome to Wonderland!

Riding on the Mouse Trap.

Texas Tornado is steel, but essentially has wooden coaster trains.

Texas Tornado climbing above the rapids ride.

This is the driest water ride. You won't get a drop on you.

Log flume time!

Another vintage coaster!

The Hornet was previously at Astroworld in Houston.

Texas Tornado has bizarre supports. Check out the modified bottom of this loop.

Texas Tornado's drop.

The day ended with a great sunset.

Texas Tornado's weirdest loop at sunset.

Dark ride, sky ride... lots to do here!

Mouse Trap coaster.

View from the sky ride.

Beautiful end to a great day!

The event officially came to a close, and I went to my hotel for the night. I decided to go big and tacky - at the Big Texan Ranch! This is a wonderful west Texas tourist trap, famous for a 72oz steak that is free if you eat it within 15 minutes. They have a motel right on site, and my room was every bit as over-the-top as I hoped for. I had a beer before bed at the onsite brewery, and enjoyed watching some random fireworks from the parking lot.

Why not have a cowboy boot lamp?

Wood everywhere, Texas stars everywhere!

My motel.

Hey look it's the Big Texan!

Why not have  T-Rex too?

A quick beer before bed. It's made on site, and it was actually pretty good! A Mexican style lager.

The next morning I woke up super early to make the most of my remaining few hours before flying back to Atlanta. Amarillo is quite flat, but I drove about 40 minutes south to Palo Duro Canyon, which is like a mini grand canyon. I got there around 7:45AM, so there were no crowds, and it was great to take in the views in peace and quiet. The trails (and part of the main road) were closed due to recent flooding, but I was still able to explore the main area of the park. In addition to the views, I saw a variety of critters - a deer, a tortoise, a tarantula, and turkeys. I definitely recommend a visit if you're in the area.

Views all the way to the clouds on the morning drive.

Old windmill, new wind turbine.

Overview of the canyon.

Lots of wildflowers!

I literally stopped my car so this tarantula could cross the road.

Brilliant red sandstone.

More sweeping views from in the canyon.

A turkey!

Little tortoise buddy.

I made it back in to Amarillo and explored downtown. It was quiet since it was a Monday holiday morning, but I enjoyed seeing some of the old buildings and grabbing a locally roasted iced coffee. Downtown Amarillo is quite a bit bigger and more developed than Lubbock.

The historical society building. And a horse.

Overview of downtown.

A theatre and old office building.

Yay, local coffee!

Another cool building, now a Courtyard Marriott.

They even have a shriners building!

My next stop was a few attractions on the west side of town. Historic Route 66 runs through Amarillo, and there's still a strip lined with shops and restaurants. It was fun to explore for a bit. I then visited the botanical gardens, which were small but very well maintained and beautiful. A final stop was for some gas station BBQ (again, when in Texas!) before heading to the airport.

Me with the Route 66 mural.

An abandoned motel. Reminder of the past glory days of Route 66.

A video game mural!

A few of the shops on Route 66.

The main plaza of the botanical gardens.

They have a little frog musician.

The tropical greenhouse, complete with ducks and a waterfall.

A blooming cactus.

The Japanese garden section.

The Palo Duro section, with a neat mosaic.

Authentic gas station BBQ.

It was pretty good!

I had a fantastic time on this trip. It's always great to meet up with fellow enthusiasts and chat about coasters, and I got some bonus local culture and nature. I may just end up back here in a few years to check out additions to the National Roller Coaster Museum. Huge thanks to ACE for organizing!