With that in mind, my wife and I decided to do a solo ride that would allow us to mark off a number of the cafe's. We would do it as a progressive meal. (Appetizer in one location, salad at the next stop, main course at the third). I think you get the picture.
So with some pre-planning, we set out to have our progressive meal. We already had enjoyed a nice buffet breakfast with our Gold Wing group, so we were fortified for a nice ride. Departing the house, we headed up Stevens Pass and passed a favorite restaurant (Index Cafe) that wasn't on the list.
Of course there's nice scenery on the pass.
Arriving in Leavenworth, there was a major art festival and the town was packed. But I was able to get the first tag. And we enjoyed our spumoni appetizer at this nice Italian restaurant in a Bavarian village.
Even my pirate duck got in the action.
Leaving Leavenworth (great to get out of the crowds), we crossed paths with some Gold Wing friends who were heading into town for the night. We had some brief CB chat with them and headed for Cashmere for a bike refueling and clothing adjustment (it had gotten a trifle warm).
Leaving Highway 2, we did double cloverleaf turns and headed north on 97Alt on the west side of the Columbia River and passed Rocky Reach and Wells dams. Here's a few photos.
Arriving in Chelan we found our next course (salad) at a very nice winery. Of course the view can't hardly be beat.
Following this refreshing stop, we headed further north. It continued to be warm and after we entered Okanogan County, we started to see deer. We called them happy deer as they were in large herds and stayed in the fields and away from the road. There were really only two large does that ventured down and crossed the road in front of us.
Arriving in Winthrop, we fueled up and finally found the target restaurant.
The service here was very, very slow (over an hour wait) for the simple quesadilla and salads that we had ordered.
The meals tasted great, but the long service time caused us to have a later departure (7:10pm) to ride over the North Cascades Highway than I would have otherwise chosen. We rode by the Woodstock Festival which was at the fairgrounds and it was pretty crowded and we didn't stop or even take a picture of.
The views while riding up the pass were spectacular and there was very little traffic.
We made one stop to add more clothing (temperatures dropped to the 50's). Here's a photo from that location.
Just after Washington Pass, a small bear ran across the road in front of us. Maybe the bear has heard of the game "Bear Bingo"? See my other Alaska ride report for the meaning of the term "Bear Bingo". (http://tbhyder2009.blogspot.com). It was cool to see a bear there.
Coming off the pass and passing through the town of Newhalem, we were treated by being dive bombed by bats who were in search of the plentiful insect population. It was actually a bit scarey to have these large objects come so close to the windshield or the helmets.
Shortly after 10pm, we arrived at our last stop and took the obligatory picture. We had already dined there a few weeks previously while on another ride, so it didn't matter if it was closed. One has to love the retro-reflective items on the clothing and all of the lights on the Wing.
It was then a 100 mile ride home via I-5. There was a surprising amount of traffic going northbound. In fact the backup was over 5 miles from north Seattle through downtown Seattle.
We logged 495 miles, enjoyed some great foods in a progressive manner, and whetted our appetites to get some more cafes. Subscribe to this blog to get future updates or our rides in the great Pacific Northwest.
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