Stehekin trip

Following on the heels of our successful trip to find some sunshine, we were full of vim and vigor and wanting to get out of the house a bit more. We thought to ourselves, well, why not head across the mountains again and this time spend a few days in the sun somewhere? Cause we're crazy like that.
Luckily for us, Sky's dad and step-mom have a place up at the top of Lake Chelan in a "town" called Stehekin. Stehekin is off the grid - no phones, mains electricity, or sewer - and you can't get there by car, only on foot or by boat or float plane. It's a beautiful river valley nestled in the North Cascades with soaring mountains all around. It's quite simply tranquil and lovely.

So we thought, hey, Peregrine is three weeks old now, surely we can take a road trip, boat ride, and spend four nights in Stehekin. How hard could that be?

Turns out, not that hard. We had a great time. Packing was a bit of a chore as we haven't done that yet for him, and deliberations on how much/what was needed got a little convoluted (we don't need as much as we thought, though!) In particular, the question of "Pack'N'Play or no Pack'N'Play" was a drawn out consideration. (we went with "no"). Two giant storage bins, a wheelie bag, one big green hiking backpack, a cooler, diaper bag, and assorted carry-ons later, the three.25 of us hit the road. We travel light.

The ferry leaves really early - 0930 or thereabouts - and the ferry landing is three hours away. Since Pip is still eating on-demand, we needed to plan time for stops on the way, so we left Sunday and spent the night in Wenatchee at a hotel. The hotel even had a little institutional crib for Pip. Very nice. Monday morning, we headed up the road to Field's Point Landing and waited for the ferry. Weather was of course beautiful, being the east side and all. There are two ferries up the lake, and we opted for the slower one as Grandma Biddy hasn't seen all the sights along the way yet. The boat ride (Pip's first boat trip!) was uneventful, he slept and ate and was in good spirits.

Arriving in Stehekin, we were supposed to borrow a car in the valley belonging to friends of ours/Sky's folks. (While there are no roads TO Stehekin, there is a road IN Stehekin and it is easier to get around if you have wheels as the valley is 30 miles long). The car wasn't exactly where we thought it would be, though, and when we DID find it, it wouldn't start. Puppa had to push it out of the parking spot - on a hill, of course - while grandma tried to pop the clutch. It didn't take, but the rangers were nice enough to jump it with their gear. Only a scant hour after arriving at the landing we headed up-valley to the house.

Everything there went perfectly. We had to discard some trapped rodents, but that's to be expected this time of year. Grandma Bridget hardly screamed at all. The weather was beautiful, we could gaze up at the mountains, listen to the wind in the trees, smell the air through the pines, and just generally soak up life at a slower pace. Pip loved it in particular, we think, but we all really just had a great time.

Over the course of the four days we spent there, we got out for a few laid-back hikes ("hike" might be a strong word, but we did move about under our own power), made a couple trips to the Bakery for yummy snacks, and had dinner up at the Stehekin Valley Ranch one night; Puppa Taj cooked the rest of the meals. Mostly, though, we just loved life with the sun and warmth and mountains and river. It was just delightful. Peregrine loved in particular looking out the windows up at Mt McGregor, and we all enjoyed snuggling in front of the wood stove in the evenings when the weather cooled down a bit.

The car didn't start again, though, so we had to find an alternative car - thanks to Anna Maria and Laurie for letting us borrow one of theirs.

The trip home went very smoothly back to the Gray Gray Everett Gray Area, and all told the trip was as perfect as could be. Mumma and Puppa have new-found confidence in their ability to travel with a tiny child and no pack-n-play and Pip clearly loves the outdoors and Stehekin especially. Grandma Biddy got to see and experience the slowed-down life of Stehekin too!

Pictures!