I have been a slug not making daily\nblog entries for the last few days but that is primarily due to the\nmundane nature of our activities. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tOne day we did the laundry in the\nGrandy Creek TT laundry facility. The last time we were here, there\nwas a huge commercial clothes dryer in the laundry that, through some\ndelightful malfunction, would dry a couple regular loads of clothes\nfor a quarter. Unfortunately, management eventually noted this\nmoney-making anomaly and now we are required to pay $1.25 for the\nsame service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tOne of the days we drove into\nBurlington \/ Mount Vernon and went food shopping. Costco and Fred\nMayer didn’t get all our money but they tried. I can happily state\nthat we now have a prodigious liquor cabinet. After the last dozen\ndays up in Blaine, we were surprised that we have been unable, to\ndate, to find any sweet con-on-the-cob here. The fields look about\nthe same both places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tA couple days were rain-outs and we\nwere obliged to be boring right around our own home. The rain last\nWednesday was not the drizzly, summer version rainstorm. It rained\nhard, sufficient to entirely soak an old person while he took a quick\nlap around our 34 foot trailer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tBut today was different. The weather\nwas still crummy with intermittent rain but we went for a cruise up\nthe south bank of the lower Skagit River anyway. We started out by\ndriving west along the north shore on WA-20 down to Bow, where we\nstopped in at the cheap tobacco stand next to the Skagit Casino. The\nNative Americans that operate those stands do not feel compelled to\ncollect sin, luxury, sales, pork barrel, stamp or other pesky taxes\non tobacco so the prices are splendid \u2013 about 55% of what one would\npay off reservation lands across the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tWe then headed south, through Sedro\nWoolley on WA-9 until we crossed the Skagit. There we left the main\nhighway and headed east up the south shore. It is a magical drive\nwith the mesmerizing turquoise waters of the Skagit on the left,\nstriking pasture lands and forest on the right and drizzle from\nabove. There are many stretches of highway running under the canopy\nof the roadside trees making it seem like we were passing through a\nlong green tunnel, albeit a leaky one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We continued until we got to the west shore of the Sauk River, a Skagit tributary, and headed up the Sauk for about a half dozen miles where we crossed on a one-lane steel bridge to get to the east shore. Back north on the opposite bank, we soon pulled into Rockport. Peggy and I were once going to stop at the local bar in Rockport but they had a sign posted out front that stated that \u201cHippies enter by the back door.\u201d Unaware if we were hippies or not, we chose to just get back in the vehicle and head to another town where self-characterization was unnecessary before ordering a porter. In Rockport, we picked up WA-20 again for a leisurely drive back west to Grandy Creek. We have stopped numerous times in the last week to check out if there are elk browsing in the Skagit Trust’s Hurd Field, where we have spotted the North Cascade herd many times on previous visits. The elk must be dining elsewhere because they sure ain’t here this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We took a few pictures along the way. Click the link. https:\/\/photos.app.goo.gl\/TDnU8SWtNKagpctaA<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have been a slug not making daily blog entries for the last few days but that is primarily due to the mundane nature of our activities. One day we did the laundry in the Grandy Creek TT laundry facility. … Continue reading