I’m finally using the gift certificate that Dad gave me Christmas 2009 for the Cascadia Inn and Restaurant in Skykomish, just west of Stevens Pass on Hwy 2. Due to much soil renovation work by BNRR in the town over the past few years, many of the homes and businesses here have been moved or raised in order to remove contaminated soil from around and beneath them. The Inn and/or cafe were closed at one point for a short time, and that affected my timing to use the certificate. But here I am.
I left work today at 3 so I could beat some traffic and get here for dinner. From Tacoma I still went by way of Hwy 18 as if going home, to Snoqualmie, then hwy 202 to Fall City, Carnation, Duvall, and Monroe, then Hwy 2 east towards Stevens Pass. I made it here before 5:30, quickly checked into my small but comfy room(queen bed with full bath; sat.tv too but I won’t use it!), changed clothes and went downstairs to dinner. I was hungry so had beer. And spaghetti and meatballs, garlic toast, and salad. I also got a piece of apple pie to go for bedtime snack(supposedly homemade, but as it turned out, it wasn’t very good), and had them make me a roast beef deli sandwich that I put in the hotel shared fridge for my hike tomorrow.
After dinner, I went for a walk around town, and watched a couple trains lumber by. My room isn’t facing the track, but it does have a decent view, so I may not get lots of sleep tonight, but will enjoy it nonetheless. It is warm out and inside, and the one window is open and will be all night. The cafe doesn’t open for breakfast until 8 so I can sleep in. The eastbound Empire Builder passed thru at 8:42pm, a bit late I believe. I stayed up until about 10:30 writing this, and reading before I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. There is some local unsecured wi-fi that I connected to but just barely and distant. The netbook is on the windowsill.
There seems to be a good number of guests tonight. Some were fancilly dressed for a wedding in town on Saturday evening. So there must have been a prewedding function tonight. The town is otherwise very quiet and not too much activity. Being an historic hotel, albeit rebuilt numerous times, its extremely quiet inside. I had expected lots of creaks in the floors and noise thru the walls, but nada. Extremely simple and comfortable. I compare it to the Izaak Walton Inn but on a much smaller scale. Not as much in the way of railroadiana but more of the town history.