We hadn’t even made it to the infamous west coast of Washington but found the scenery and towns in Washington to be everything everyone had built them up to be and more. After leaving Idaho we were making a fast ride over the mountains of Washington to get to the coast as fast as we could.
But we slowed down in the little town of Winthrop. Winthrop is this little town that would have never been somewhere we or anyone else would choose to visit, especially after most of it’s industry died off. But through the vision of one man they transformed the town into a “build it and they will come” destination… a modern day cowboy town… sort of anyway.
Our stay included spending two nights at the Pine Near RV park… no not Pioneer RV park… Pine Near. The owner told his 3-year old that the was going to be Pioneer to go with the cowboy old west theme. But to a 3-year-old Pioneer sounded like Pine Near. With a smile and a visible confession of love the park became Pine Near. Pretty cool huh? You’d think an owner like that would be nice wouldn’t you. You’d be right. We got the last full hookup site, which was nice since the temps were pretty hot. We used their laundry facility to wash our sheets and bedding and we explored the little town a few times.
We guess the town kind of lives up to it’s design. We found several really great outdoor shops, a really cool glass-blowing shop, ice cream and an old general store that was cool. All in all a great place to stop and rest and prepare for the final drive over the mountains to the coast.
But the drive over the mountains of Sherman’s Pass and the Northern Cascades… well, let’s just say it was hard to keep your eyes on the road. BEAUTIFUL!!!! As Lynn always says, there’s beauty everywhere and we feel so lucky that we get to experience it and share it with you.
You can watch this stop and the drive to and from there in our video:
VAN TREKKING lifestyle 