Sunday came as quickly as Friday started!
Alarm sounded at 10 minutes to 08:00am, giving us very little time to get ready and out the door. We ran down the stairs, gave our apologies to our host, and jumped on the motorcycle. Riding in light rain, we made it to the Enzian Inn just minutes before the 8:15 am deadline!
Every morning in Leavenworth at the Enzian Inn at 8:15 and 9:15 am, Bob Johnson since 1984 has played the Alphorn. The story goes that Bob was invited to the hotel in 1984 where Karl Wyssen showed Bob how to play the instrument. It quickly became a regular event for guests of the hotel. We got to enjoy it by arriving those few precious minutes before the event!
We arrived back to the B&B just in time for our host John to be serving up some more of his hearty breakfast! Today’s menu consisted of Fritata, sausages, black beans, and fruit. Just when we thought we couldn’t eat anymore, John brought out this amazing Apple granola crumble. Jenina was full, but managed to squeeze in a bite of Robert’s.
A race against the clock had us mounted up and ready to hit the road back to Vancouver. The views along the way were stunning. Wish we had more time to stop. Yet we couldn’t resist making a few stops along the way.
Our first stop was at the Alps Candy Store. A store that started nearly 48 years ago with homemade fudges and sauces. We were told by some of the locals that we must stop off here, and we’re glad we did. First impressions seemed like they had every hot sauce you could imagine. The more we looked around, the more the ‘Wow’ factor became. As we moved to the back of the store, we found multiple shelves of crafted sodas all illuminated with vibrant colors. Making our way back to the front we saw candy, mustards, and other crazy concoctions to put on everything imaginable. At the front, they had one of the largest selections of homemade fudge. One could not pass up the opportunity to try some samples. Samples lead to sales. Point proven as we had to purchase their ‘tigers tail’ fudge. A well balanced mixture of chocolate, vanilla, and peanut butter swirled into a whole goodness! We purchased the fudge along side the Carolina Reaper rub that we were told would knock our socks off! We left knowing we would be telling friends and family about our find, and with hopes of returning again.
As we rode on, we reached Steven’s Pass. The fog dense that we could only see about 15 feet! The rain was cold and the snow line was near the road. Not ideal motorcycle weather by any means. Vehicles we passed along the way were now passing us. We couldn’t wipe or see thru our visors making it even more difficult to ride.
Once the messy weather cleared, we stopped in Sultan. Just off the side of the #2 highway we could see gorgeous murals painted on the sides of the buildings. Insta-peftect! It was also a good excuse to stop and stretch our legs as the cold was causing some cramping. The only pitfall was again submitting to all the RV’s and campers we had tried so hard to pass back in the mountains.
Traffic? Unfortunately. Monroe was horrible. Heavy traffic with nowhere to pass or shoulders to ride on. It’s an ugly looking town with nothing to offer except a series of lights designed to anger tourists passing thru. They might get some travelers that would want to wait it out, but we didn’t give in. We skipped this hole just in spite of the lights.
Our final stop was at Woods Coffee / Sonics in Ferndale for lunch and coffee. Jenina and Robert both agree that Woods Coffee is hard to beat for a great cup of Joe. It might have been a little awkward eating our Sonics in a coffee shop, but we hid away in an upstairs loft, making the ordeal less noticeable.
Words of Widsdom: When you arrive at the border and the light is red, don’t go. The light was red, and the border agent stuck his hand out the window. At first, I hesitated on the red light. When his hand stuck out the window, my brain thought he was flagging us forward. Not the case. He gave us some snarky remarks. “Where do you live?” – “Burnaby” – “Do they have red lights in Burnaby?” – “Yes” – “Then, Why didn’t you stop for my red light?” … at least he waived us thru without any further embarrassment, but by the point, my pride was already gone.
Now just to pick our Noodles from our parents house and call it a night!
