Snoqualmie Falls

09:30
I sleep well, and until 06:00 - no doubt aided by yesterday’s beer / wine / beer / Guinness / whisky combo. I’m a touch groggles this morning, but not disastrously so. I’m up and out in decent time to pick up my hire car.

Another day, another cultural icon from my teenage years. Twin Peaks first aired in 1990, and I was hooked on it. We had two TVs in our house at that time - one in the living room, and one upstairs in our spare room, which doubled as a monitor for a computer. It was one of those dial-tune jobs, that required safecracker skills to pick up a decent signal. Twin Peaks aired at around midnight on Saturday nights in BBC2 - WAY past my bedtime. I thus used to sneak into the spare room to watch each week’s episode, while my parents doubtless dozed on the sofa downstairs. The first 2 seasons of the show are amongst my very favourite episodes of TV. Ever. I was particularly drawn to the setting - a sleepy town in the foothills of the Cascades mountains, surrounded by dark green forested hills.

The drive out to North Bend is a fairly dull highway route, but the views of the mountains are pretty spectacular. The mercury is falling, we’re down to a frosty 2C when I arrive. My first stop is Twede’s Café, used as a filming location in the show as the Double R - the diner that features in most episodes. It’s not quite the time of day for Cherry Pie, so satisfy myself with some breakfast. It’s fairly surreal to be sat here.

News from back home, that my awesome Twin is unwell. He’s in hospital, awaiting the results from tests. He updates me while I eat to let me know it’s some kind of virus or infection, and he’s been sent home to ‘keep an eye on it.’ Not the very helpfulest of advice, but I guess it means his Drs think it’s unlikely he’s imminently going to kark it. He’s feeling better, but still a little peaky. MY TWIN IS PEAKY. TWIN PEAKY. Kismet.

15:30
From North Bend, I head out to Snoqualmie, which instantly becomes one of my favourite place names. It’s named for the indigenous people of the same name, and is a stunning part of the world. I’m here to see Snoqualmie Falls, which featured in the intro credits to Twin Peaks, and next to which the Great Northern Hotel was based. The building that served as the Great Northern is called the Salish Lodge. Looking up to the falls and Salish Lodge from the hiking trail that runs alongside the river is giving me the feels. Just beautiful…

I head North, towards the Cascades, stopping briefly at the Roadhouse, another Twin Peaks staple. The drive to the mountains is beautiful. I’ve set the GPS to avoid highways, and instead, cruise along single lane roads. There’s an invigorating freshness in the air, and the sun’s trying to emerge from behind thick cloud. The jagged peaks I saw from 40 miles away are looming ever closer. I stop at the Wallace Falls National Park, and take a short hike around the forest. Stunning.

Back in the car, I aim for the city. It’s around 60 miles, and takes a little over an hour and a half. I’m back at the car hire office just before 15:00. My chariot today has been a monster of a thing - a Jeep Grand Cherokee, with a hunking great V8 engine. All kinds of fun to drive, but the visit to the gas station to fill up makes me wince. I’ve averaged around 19-20mpg, and have hardly been hooning it around.

I feel in the mood for some refreshment, so head to Locust - a cider brewery near the harbour. They have a ‘Pub Dry’ apple cider which is delicious, so much so that I order a second…

21:30
From the harbour, I head up towards Pike Place, ostensibly on the hunt for some food. The car hire has taken much of my budget for today, so am planning to grab some groceries, and eat in my apartment this evening. On my way to a cool looking grocery store / deli, I happen upon a very funky taproom called Old Stove. Figuring that it would be rude not to, I park up on their terrace, which overlooks the harbour, and order their in-house dry cider, which is magnificent. So much so, that….

The skies darken, and there’s some patchy rain about. The lights over the harbour come alive, including on the ferris wheel at the water’s edge, and in the distance the Seattle Seahawks’ stadium. It’s very pretty.

At the deli, I grab a carton of a very tasty sounding broccoli and blue cheese soup, along with some bread and a couple of ciders. The soup and bread combo is fantastic, but leaves me a little sleepy. Not long after 21:00, and I’m readying for bed. Early start tomorrow to head to Minneapolis. Onwards, to Minnesota!Read more