The Great American Road Trip: Day 28

To seattle at EveryTrail
EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in Montana

Distance - 510 miles
Time - 9 hours

I knew it would be a good day when I managed to not hit my head on the rafters, or trip down the stairs from the loft, or even wake up Marley when I came in the front door to shower and get ready for the day (the door to the garage opens onto the front patio of the house instead of into the house itself). I caught Sam before he went to class and even though he's from Portland, he said that he has family in Seattle and had driven to there from Missoula a few times. I asked if he had any route recommendations, and he directed me to Mattawa, WA, a little farming town right near the Columbia river that happens to be in a valley where they grow a lot of produce, picked by migrant farm workers who now make up the majority of the population in the town and thus one is very likely to find a lot of mariachi music on the radio, abundant fresh fruit, and delicious Mexican food. Callie had left for work before I woke up, so I said goodbye to Alex and headed out to search for breakfast, only to realize I'd left my coat hanging on the chair and doubling back to get it.

When I arrived in Missoula I'd had a very hard time finding the house because my GPS directed me to the correct street address, which happened to be occupied by a cafe. It turned out that 524 and 542 are, in fact, not the same, and once the human user error was corrected I easily found the right place. I wanted to give the Italian cafe a try for breakfast since it seemed a little fateful that I had ended up there the night before, but it's such a popular place that they had a wait-list even in the morning! I was eager to get on the road so I used the Urbanspoon app to find places nearby, and ended up at Bernice's Bakery. They walked me through a brief overview of their 24-hour croissant making process, easily convincing me that a cinnamon-nut croissant was the way to go. It certainly was! With a cup of the piping hot house coffee and my dessert-breakfast in tow, Oliver and I hopped on the highway and started heading west.

Another day of eye-popping, jaw-dropping landscapes ensued, again I'll let the pictures tell that part of the story. I stopped for gas and coffee around lunch time and finally managed to get myself a loyalty/rewards card with the Pilot/Flying J gas stations (yay for gas discounts!). Around 2 pm I made it to Mattawa. It was just the way Sam described, coming around the corner and flying down the hill parallel to the river, watching the highway make a sharp right hand turn into a bridge over the water, but taking the exit there and continuing on under the highway and along the water into fields of fruit trees and grape vines.

I couldn't remember exactly which place Sam had suggested for lunch so I chose one at random, encouraged that there were still a few cars parked in front even though it was well after noon. It wasn't exactly packed inside, but the staff was friendly and brisk, they let me order in my halting, shy Spanish even though both of the people working were completely bilingual,the salsa was just the right amount of spicy, and the enchiladas were simple but tasty and filling - exactly what I was looking for.

I had passed a few wineries on my way into town, and as I was headed back towards the interstate I decided to stop and perhaps buy a bottle to take to my hosts. I ended up at the Ginkgo Forest Winery, where the owner's wife was in to do paperwork and kindly let me set up a private wine tasting appointment for right that very minute (tastings are by appointment on Sundays and Mondays since they aren't always in the office those days). I sampled a couple of wines from grape varieties I hadn't heard of before (including several I couldn't pronounce), and finally decided on a Cabernet that had a nice spicy bite to it, and a raspberry dessert wine that was surprisingly decadent (particularly with dark chocolate) but not nearly as sweet as I'd expected a dessert wine to be. I would love to try reducing it a bit on the stove and using it as a syrup or glaze over cheesecake or fresh fruit. My host even then took me around a few of the fields so I could sample some of the different grapes that hadn't been harvested - it made sense logically to me that different types of grapes taste different, but they really did taste distinctly different even though they all pretty much looked the same to me!

With a lighter wallet and a slightly heavier car, I wound my way back out of the valley and onto the bridge and the rest of the trip on I-90. It was fairly uneventful until I started getting near Snoqualmie Pass. While the name is fun to read and say, the signs warning of road closures due to "blasting" was more than a little unsettling! I knew logically I would make it through before they closed the pass at 6pm, my GPS estimated my arrival in downtown Seattle as being 6:10pm, but as I climbed up the pass the rain just kept getting harder and harder, and I couldn't keep all of my irrational nerves at bay. The pass itself was very picturesque, even though the driving rain, and I could see at least one or two ski areas where the runs were already covered in a base layer of snow. I breathed a sigh of relief after I passed the blasting area, massive piles of rock chunks along the side of the road and in between the two directions of traffic, but soon was crossing my fingers again as I began the descent through curtains of rain and a good amount of standing water on the roads. It was more than a little scary, but once I got down out of the mountains the rain finally stopped and I safely made my way to Jim and Jeanne's building.

I should have known when they said they lived on the 18th floor that I was in for a shock, but wow! The Escala building is minorly famous because apparently some uber popular romance novel was set there (one/all of the 50 Shades of Gray books?), which might actually be the tipping point to get me to finally read them if only to see what the author said about the building now that I've been in it. Is that a bad reason to read a book you've been avoiding? But back to the shock and awe of their beautiful modern apartment - a jaw dropping view and more little luxury touches than you can shake a stick at (burl wood paneling in the elevator that only serves two apartments per floor, floor to ceiling windows and a balcony, 24-hour receptionist at the front desk to remotely open the door for you, 8 stories of underground parking in the heart of downtown). The tour of the apartment was pretty quick - when you have a bedroom, bathroom, and combined entry/kitchen/living/dining room it doesn't take long to see all of it, but all of it was beautiful and perfect for a mostly-retired couple that spends a lot of time traveling around the country visiting friends and family. Plus their location allows them to walk just about anywhere they'd want to go, which proved to be very useful.

Jim and Jeannie and I have been trying to figure out our exact relation - I believe they're my mother's first cousins so they're my great cousins? The way I describe it to other folks is that they're part of the family I see every year at Family Reunion, so anyone under the age of 70 is usually referred to as "aunt/uncle" or "cousin", and anyone under the age of 16 is collectively part of "the kids". Whatever the exact wording, it's always a pleasure to see them every year both at Reunion and when they come to Tucson to golf with my parents, and it's been such a treat to get to stay with them in the heart of downtown Seattle.

We braved the cold wind to walk down to the waterfront and have dinner at Etta's, one of a dozen restaurants owned by Chef Tom Douglas, a local who has made his name and fortune with a series of eateries, most of which are completely different from one another. Etta's is an upscale seafood restaurant, with friendly service and a comfortably sized menu (everything looks delicious and there are a lot of options but not an overwhelming number so that it takes 30 minutes to read them all and start to choose one thing). I had the baby lettuce salad that was served with thinly sliced radishes, parmigiano shavings, and a lemon dressing, followed by the crab cake with wheatberry salad, tomatoes, and something called a "basil green goddess" which seemed to be a creamy herb and mayo puree. I was delighted to find that the salad was mixed with a few types of vegetables that were still firm and gave something to chew on, unlike most restaurants that insist on serving mushy vegetables you can cut with a fork. For dessert I tried the huckleberry almond tart with lemon gelato - I'm looking up a recipe for it and would be happy to experiment in your kitchen when I see you! We walked along the waterfront a bit, then headed back up the hill to sit and catch up for a while before I went across the street to the "guest house" (the hotel they rent a room in when they have company since they only have one bedroom - I protested that couches and floors are quite fine with me but apparently this was the agreement when they got a one bedroom flat instead of a two bedroom), and went to bed after a long and eventful day!

Montana is very pretty :)

It got a little overcast for a while

And then I found the sun again for a bit!

Cloudy mountains going towards Idaho

We meet again, "Welcome to Idaho" sign

Random huge pretty lake coming down from the mountain pass

Another little lake about an hour later

Eastern Washington

I could have kept going on I-90 and gone over the bridge over the Colombia, but then I took the detour to Mattawa instead :)

Dipping my toes in the Colombia - not surprisingly, it was very cold

Apple orchards

Two generation wind break - I thought that was a pretty smart way of doing it, I don't think I've seen this before

Yum!

I can't figure out why all these pictures look so washed out and blurry except that I must have had a fingerprint on my camera lens. But look - grapevines!