The Cascade Loop

To say we’ve been “on the go” today would be an understatement. We left early this morning (Monday) to do the tour of the Cascade Loop in a borrowed motor home (see photo), which turns out to be an incredibly delightful way to travel with four kids in tow (well, not literally). Even though we stopped a lot along the way, it still felt like we were driving all day. Fortunately, every kid had a Nintendo to occupy their time, and with the comfort of being able to change seats and locations often, everyone did very well. The RV had huge side windows, so Inger and I sat on the couch and enjoyed much of the scenery, while the kids sat at the dining table and played their games and Kory and Bjørn sat in the front, trading off the driving duties and talking all the while.




Before we even left Skagit County, we stopped at Krispy Kreme donuts. The whole family was giddy with joy that they actually got to taste an American donut, “Just like the policeman eat in the movies.” It was an unexpected pleasure, so Bjørn bought two dozen for the road. We stopped up at Diablo Dam for our first taste of them, while sipping coffee and juice and looking at the surrounding mountains . We also took a photo stop at the top of the pass (see other photo), so they could all say just how much the mountains here look like Norway, except Norway doesn’t have trees. Our goal was to eat lunch in Winthrop (a cute little cowboy town – see photo) but we got side-tracked with the “Old Time Photo” shop where they all got dressed up as cowboys and had fantastic family photo taken. Kaleb wanted one also with the, “Wanted – Dead or Alive” frame around it so everyone else grabbed a quick lunch while he had his photo shoot. His picture was pretty cute, too.



The scenery changed so dramatically as we drove east across the state today, from the moss draped trees as we headed up over the mountains, to the brown, rocky basalt outcroppings dotting the landscape of our final destination. We detoured off the Cascade Loop in order to go to Grand Coulee Dam (see photo of Kory and the boys) to see the largest dam in America and the laser light show they put on there every night in the summer.



I was lucky to find a campsite nearby at Steamboat Rock State Park, even though I reserved it months ago, because that camp ground is so spectacular, it fills up the minute they open for reservations nine months in advance. Our spot couldn’t have been any better, located right next to the lake and under the shade of a huge tree. The 90 degree weather didn’t affect us too much as we sat up our tent for and got all the bedding ready for a good night’s sleep. The Norskies all slept in the motor home, and our little family slept in our new two room tent that easily holds eight. As I relaxed on the comfort of a self-inflating air mattress, and stared up into the heavens, I felt particularly smug that none of those pesky mosquitoes circling overhead could get to me. Our new tent features a “room within a room” so they had little chance of taking on my blood as their last meal before being swatted to death.



We had to backtrack a few miles to find dinner in Coulee City before attending the laser light show, so the RV didn’t get comfortable for too long in it’s cute little spot under the tree. The laser show didn’t start until ten and then went on much longer than I remembered, so we left before it was over as the twins were falling asleep on the benches. It was still something special to see, even if we missed the grand finale.



After all the kids were asleep tonight, all us grown-ups sat at the picnic table drinking “cold beverages” under a blanket of stars as deep as I have ever seen. I even spotted a shooting star race across the sky. The air was warm; the campground peaceful. We all thought we’d landed on the sweetest spot in America and Bjørn and Inger were sure Norway couldn’t possibly have as nice of a camping place as where we had just landed. We all agreed we could stay a week, but even if it is just for the night, we are happy to have experienced such a place.