It was Thursday morning and Mama said we were going to a pet friendly resort. Trails, trees, cool weather, streams, king size bed, outdoor restaurant, pools, hot tub, the full deal! Yeah, I’m in, so we piled into the Rover and we’re off to a place known as Washington.
Not so Pet Friendly.
Our destination, Sun Mountain Lodge in the North Cascades, is advertised as pet friendly, with lots of trees, trails, mountains and water. On arrival Mama goes in to register at the lodge and returns not so happy to tell us, I’m not allowed in the lobby, on the grassy grounds, and a bunch of other cool places on property. Mama reassures me I won’t have to sleep outside tied to a tree, so it looks like fun is still in the cards.
Since the “pet friendly” resort will not allow me near the restaurant patio, we order in and have a picnic in our lovely room with a deck and a view. Adaptability. This is one of The Parent’s travel rules. I had a great evening watching one of The Parents, who will remain nameless, get skunked in Gin Rummy, Backgammon and Farkel.
All about Adventure
According to The Parents another important travel rule is Adventure. So, the next morning we head out the door to the Kraule trail head and immediately see a sign with a dog and a red line through it. What? Mama says no problem and we venture down a hill and see another trail. So we take that trail and doggonit we’re on the Kraule trail and resume our original adventure. I was dog tired when we headed back to the “pet friendly” resort after hiking the Kraule – Blackbear – Moose trail loop (the Moose trail also had the international no dog sign as we went uphill to the road) before heading back to the “pet friendly” resort.
OK, to clarify, “pet friendly” at Sun Mountain Lodge means pets are only allowed in parking lots and in specific guest rooms. How a pet gets from a parking lot to a forest trail must require a Star Trek transporter!
It’s an Adventure Attitude
The next day our friends Donna and Andrew joined us for the same hike. We left later in the morning, as someone needed more time for coffee? Great hike, but the uphill on Moose trail was steep and it was toasty out. Humm, I do recall Andrew did not have enough coffee. But he had an awesome attitude and stopped to smell the roses as we all trekked on to the top. Attitude, another travel rule and having a positive one makes all the difference in the face of challenges.
Nothing stays the same, so adapt.
Later we drove up the road on the scenic loop in the North Cascades. We already knew the road was closed partway due to landslides, what we didn’t know was that the hiking trail we picked was still buried in snow! Post holing deep. Oh, did I say Adaptability, another one of The Parents travel rules, so we shifted gears and stopped for lunch at Mazama Public House which had great waffle fries! I then had a lovely head hanging out the window and tongue flappin in the breeze drive back to the “pet friendly” resort.
Another afternoon we checked out the small western themed town of Winthrop and ended up at dog friendly Methow Valley Cider House where The Parents and friends had Mexican food while I got to order off the Doggie Menu! I ordered the grilled chicken and fluffy rice which I inhaled in less than a minute while Mama gushed “Oh My!” and told Dad he was responsible for any “Dooey Tsunami”, whatever that is. OK, Patience is not on the travel “list”, so I don’t have to be!
A Toast to Fun
On our last night we found another super dog friendly restaurant, East 20 Pizza. The cute pup loving waitress brought me water and Mama and dad had pizza and beer. We must always have fun and make the best of everything and sometimes a little Alcohol makes things even better!
So, repeat after me, the Four A’s of fun travel are:
Adventure, Attitude, Adaptability, and sometimes Alcohol!