Whew, we are home sweet home in Sunnyside again. We had planned on spending two nights in Winthrop, but our Airbnb had such uncomfortable beds that we had a very patchy not-good night of sleep last night. Our full sized bed had a twin sized comforter on it, so every time one of us rolled over, the covers were yanked off of the other person. That combined with the horrific-ly uncomfy "mattress" made for very minimal sleeping. Lying in bed aching with lack of sleep and irritated pressure points this morning around 6am, Jeff and I held a nose-to-nose whispered conference wherein we decided to sled, eat lunch, and ice skate in Winthrop today, then drive home in the afternoon/evening. Then we executed that plan. It was a relief not having the dark, impatient prospect of another wild evening cooped up with the kids, followed by another restless painful night of non-sleep ahead of us. We were able to enjoy our day and head home at the end of it satisfied.
Before our family activities of the day, I went on a predawn walk around the tiny cute downtown of Winthrop to admire the effect of the lights on the rustic western style wooden buildings and freshly fallen snow. It was lovely. I was too tired to see the town lights last night, and since we were leaving in the afternoon, early morning was my only chance! I wore two coats and two pairs of pants and two hats in the 20 degree morning air and felt quite cozy. When I returned from my walk, I peeled off a few layers and went back out on a run, heading out of town up a rather steep but scenic residential street called Studhorse Mountain Road. As I ran, the sun slowly rose from behind the mountains, first tinging the tips of the opposite hills pink, then setting the snow aglow once the sun scooted higher above the horizon. It was breathtaking. The road was covered in a fresh semi-packed layer of snow and my shoes squeaked along in the still morning as I ran.
I am so thankful to have visited and admired the unique views and terrain of north central Washington. The Methow Valley is unique to all of the other interesting beautiful ecosystems and terrains we have visited here. This state has SO MANY DIFFERENT types of scenery! I love picking a new section of WA to explore. There's always something new and beautiful to see.
After my run, we bundled up and drove to Pearrygrin State Park to see if there were any sledding possibilities there. The park was beautiful, but too rugged and fenced for sledding. So we headed back into town and sledded on the same small-but-steep hill next to the ice rink as we did yesterday. It was moderately less stressful for me to watch my children pinball around the packed snowy halfpipe, teeth rattling and sleds vibrating with the speed.
Amber was hilarious to watch because she was so fearless. She did not take much time to position herself or her sled before taking off pell-mell down the hill, spinning on the way down and often sprawling at the bottom. Rose enjoyed herself immensely as well, feeding off the speed and adventure of the steep hill and relishing being in the spotlight of her parents' gaze. Jay was a bit more cautious, but he also had fun sledding down the hill. He was even the first to try sledding on his belly! I thought for sure he would crack his jaw on the bumps! He also spent a good amount of time trying to climb the extra steep section of the hill off in the trees like a mountaineer.
I sledded down the hill once, Jeff sledded a couple of times, and then we observed for the rest of the time because the hill was a bit too jarring to our aging spinal columns. The sun came out and made the day cheerful with its happy golden light.
After an hour of sledding, we drove back to our bungalow for a lunch of whatever we had in our food supplies: cup-a-soup Ramen, canned Campbell's soup, leftover Christmas ham, carrots, and hot chocolate. Eventually we were all satisfied. Jeff stretched out to read and promptly began dozing off. That sleepless night was taking its toll. We decided to divide and conquer: since I still had a bit of fuel in my tank, I took the kids to the ice rink while Jeff took a nap. The kids and I walked the half mile to the rink so Jeff could load the van at the bungalow when he woke up. Then we could leave for home straight from the ice skating rink.
The walk to the rink was pleasant and the kids were well behaved. I gave them my quick serious "I am one parent with three kids, so be good" talk before we left and it helped--we made the walk without any meltdowns or runaways! Ice skating is SO FUN! I am rather wobbly at it but I feel so happy every time I ice skate. Winthrop's outdoor rink was large with awesome slick well-maintained ice. It took forever to get all three kids' skates laced up and tied snug, plus my own. Amber used these hilarious double bladed strap-on skates that I got for $11 on Amazon--they helped her stay upright, but they kept coming undone and I had to re-attach the skates to her boots at least 5 or 6 times during the hour we were skating.
The rink rented out these perfect seal-shaped scooters called "bobbies" for inexperienced skaters to lean on and skate with. They made the whole experience FUN for everyone. I loved having the freedom to let the kids do their own thing while I skated a bit on my own every few laps. Amber enjoyed riding on the seal's back while Rose pushed her around. Rose even graduated from seal-dependency to skating independently, if shakily. It was so NICE! I wanted to skate longer, but the Zamboni came out at 2pm right around when Jeff arrived, so we decided to head home.
The drive was torture. Four hours is too long. I can handle three hours, but four felt endless, especially since it was not freeway driving and I was feeling my patchy previous night of sleep. I didn't even drive and it was hard! The one lane roads were all curvy and it was dark for the last half of the drive. We stopped at Costco in Wenatchee for dinner on the way home. We arrived home around 6:45pm, all relieved and happy to collapse into our very own comfortable beds.
Family adventuring is exhausting!
Predawn Winthrop, taken looking down at main street from the corner of our bungalow's street.
Sadly it was too cloudy on the night we were in Winthrop for us to see the northern lights or even the wide Milky Way--since the Methow Valley is so remote, there is little to no light pollution and the stargazing is supposed to be stellar.
Silent magic is my favorite kind.
Rustic painting on the bakery.
Rise and run! Sunrise was slow with the mountains to overcome, but as I jogged along I enjoyed the slow steady change in the sky and its reflection on the white mountains.
My run was an out-and-back, all UP on the way out. The fresh snow was squeaky underfoot and slightly slippery, making my legs tired.
Horseshoe bend on Studhorse Mountain Road. I would like to know the story behind the name Studhorse.
Pink clouds over the cold blue-white Methow Valley.
The sun rays caught the very tips of the far-off mountains.
Uphill into the sunrise!
More pink tipped mountains.
As a general rule, I don't use digital zoom on my cell phone, but I do break that rule occasionally. The mountains looked too small in pictures without a little zoom here and there!
I love seeing what a strip of sunlight catches along its path.
The usual view-hug joie-de-vivre pose.
I propped my phone in the snow and ran back and forth a few times for a top-o-the-world type mountain run picture.
Running down the snowy road was a bit treacherous, but not too bad. I wasn't able to fly down the hill like I could have without the snow to slide on, but it was still easier to go downhill than up. It was an hour well spent.
Studhorse Mountain Road on the right, straight road back into Winthrop on the lower left.
A picture of the road sign because it is such a strange name.
The packed roads back in town were a bit slick for running.
Our tiny abode, with its impressive re-frozen sliding rooftop snow that Rose admired.
Sledding part two. Sunlight makes everything so much better!
Fearless daredevil Amby.
The bottom of the hill had a halfpipe type rise to stop sledders from landing in the road beyond.
Halfpipe-ing Rose and Jay.
Jay positioned himself on top of the tall snow heap that had been shoveled off of the parking lot. It was a rough steep ride down the drift with enough momentum to carry him down the sledding hill. We shared our extra sleds with a nice Dutch family with three girls who were speaking their native language to each other and English to our kids, flowing back and forth between the two with enviable ease.
Everyone wanted to try the snowdrift challenge. Mostly they fell off their sleds when they hit the flat ground at the bottom of the heap.
We couldn't figure out how Amber conned Rose into pulling her up the steep slippery hill!
The snow was so packed from endless sledders that Amber could barely scoop a tiny pile to play in.
VITAMIN D and love.
The kids started getting tired.
View from our bungalow's back porch at lunchtime, looking over downtown Winthrop and the mountains beyond.
That warm happy sun shining through the windows was almost worth the long drive and uncomfortable sleep.
LUNCH
Walking through cute Winthrop to the ice skating rink!
On the big pretty pedestrian bridge.
Knee pads at the ready!
Those seals were so much fun! Even I took a turn giving kids rides.
No comments:
Post a Comment