The kids chose to sleep on an air bed in Dana’s Subaru last night and they learned what Peggy and I have decided is a universal truth – airbeds invariably leak. Being kids, however, they still didn’t climb out of their bedroom until around 10. We rustled them up some breakfast here inside the Barbarian Invader and augmented it with some fortified coffee and Mimosas with beer later.
After everybody got all their morning showers and other duties completed, we took the kids on a spin to some of the local sights. Peggy and I purchased a Washington State Parks pass a few days ago so the first destination was now-free Rasar State Park, not five miles from our camping spot. This park is snuggled up along a gorgeous section of the Skagit River. The camping sites are large, they can accommodate RVs, the camping spots are nestled in a very shady grove of massive conifers and hardwoods and there are bathrooms and showers that look clean and modern. This would be a great place to be during those few days each year when Pacific Northwest is hot.
From the state park we headed north onto federal lands up to Baker Lake. Driving up the road from Concrete there are superb views of Mt. Shuksan and Mount Baker, which is really a massive volcano that occasionally vents a bit of steam to worry the locals. Baker Lake is filled by glacial runoff from the mountains and it is not only azure blue, but freezing cold. Along the roads are ample foxglove and little yellow flowers. The forest the road passes through is about as close to a jungle as one might find in the temperate zones; the massive forest trees and thick tangled brush make walking away from the highway impossible without a chainsaw. It is gorgeous.
Baker Dam is the plug that holds back Baker Lake. It is one of the few dams in the U.S. that Homeland Security has not surrounded with fencing and concertina wire and motorists can actually drive across the top of the dam. Driving over the dam there is water right up next to the truck on one side and a precipitous drop on the other. Motorists are advised that the top of the dam is only one lane wide so check to see it is clear before proceeding or you may end up backing down a very narrow passage for a very long way.
After admiring the beautiful North Cascades National Park sights for a few hours, we returned to our RV park the kids to their car for their return trip south. They departed around 6:00 and so did we; Dana and Devon going to south to Mukilteo and Peggy and me going over to Bow to watch the sprint cars race at Skagit Raceway. Many roaring engines were heard and some very expensive sprint cars were damaged or destroyed but no drivers were hurt. It was pretty good fun although Peg and I have decided we like the old beater racing we have seen at smaller tracks better than sprints.
There are some pictures. Click here