07.02.2023 - snoqualmie pass

we woke early.  i tried to lay in bed, but eventually i heard dan move, so i got up.  6am.  we packed and hit the trail by 6:30.  we had 30 miles to go before we could find breakfast in a little community called easton.  

we reached sequalmie tunnel shortly.  over 2 miles long, we had been warned to bring a headlamp and to wear a jacket cause it gets chilly in there.

and, even in the high cascades, there' no getting away from what feeds the country and how archaic the electric grid is.  there's a better way, there has to be.

earlier in the trip, i had vowed not to stop at any place that advertised their political preferences.  it only took a week to break that vow.  we had ridden 30 mi already before breakfast and the hitching post was the only place for another 20.  small country grocery/diner, friendly, the kind of place you imagine.  they took our order, and then we waited, and waited, and a young couple came in, were served biscuits and gravy, ate, and left.  and we waited.  finally, after one hour of waiting "sorry, but service is slow, but it's worth the wait."  

one hour for our food.  it was good, but not that good.

on the other hand, that milk shake i got in cle elum at the old train station was definitely worth the 15 minute wait.

on the other side of the tunnel, on the east side of the cascades, things were very different.  it was warmer, though that could have been as a result of the chill in the tunnel, it was sunnier and the mountains start to open up.  the trees started thinning and the green had more straw color to it.

we made it in to ellensberg, home of central washington u., around 5.  we arranged for a camp spot at the event festival grounds, home of the famous summer rodeo.  we had time to ride over to the whipsaw brewing company for some food truck fish and chips and a couple of good, hoppy ipas.  then back to the campground for an early night.