Sevens tour June 2024
Jun. 25th, 2024 10:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tiggymalvern
Following on from the success of last year, we went off on a five day tour with our fellow owners of crazy cars. This time we had a maximum of ten Sevens, plus a Corvette and a Miata. We went out as far as north-eastern Oregon, which... wow. I had no idea that part of Oregon was so beautiful. I learned something.
We set out from Enumclaw on a road I know well, the 410 into Mount Rainier (Tahoma) National Park. Fortunately they're not doing roadworks on it this year, and in the first half of June, the RVs aren't out in force either, so we had a really lovely drive. In the sun, no less!
Climbing up towards the summit at Chinook Pass.
Sevens in their natural habitat of snowy mountain peaks - or maybe not.
Looking east from the summit.
East down the Cascade foothills heading towards Naches, and the sun on this side was distinctly warmer.
There's an area of central Washington which, wherever you're going to or from, you have to pass through it and it's just flat. Not terribly scenic. We drove through that and arrived in Walla Walla in southeastern Washington in the late afternoon.
Sevens at the Walla Walla hotel.
Day two we did a loop drive north from Walla Walla on lovely sweeping roads through the rolling Palouse. This was crossing the Snake River at Lyons Ferry.
Palouse Falls.
A very old abandoned petrol station at Hays Junction, a hangover from the 50s? It was hot by mid-afternoon, we all sought the shade at the rally point...
An iridescent 'rainbow' cloud above Hays Junction.
And a closer look.
On day three, we drove north from Walla Walla before looping back south down to Enterprise in Oregon. The day started off a little cloudier, then as forecast, got worse as the day went on. We found the rain, but not the thunderstorms, thankfully.
Palouse farmlands north of Walla Walla.
Attracting the locals on Sunday morning at Starbuck.
Close to the Washington-Idaho border, in the vicinity of Hells Canyon.
After lunch, we took 129 south into Oregon - an amazing, twisty road that climbs up from the river valley at Hells Canyon onto a plateau, down into the Grande Ronde River valley and then back up the other side onto another plateau. There was light traffic on that road, and all of them were polite enough to pull over and let us go by when they saw us coming. I have no photos from that stretch as I was driving - we do have dashcam, which I'll edit together some of and post later...
Fortunately it didn't rain during the twisty bits - that would have ruined some of the fun - but it hit when we were on the plateau after it. The pullout for the viewpoint over Joseph Canyon made a good place to stop and put the roof on. Well, for those of us who have a roof, not everyone did...
Joseph Canyon in the drizzle.
As we drove further south towards Enterprise, the heavens really opened and there was some aquaplaning, and a few of our number got very wet. But as we approached Enterprise - wow. The snow-capped peaks of the Wallowa mountains appeared out of the mist, and that was stunning.
Late afternoon outside our hotel at Enterprise. This photo was taken by JR, he got a better shot than any of mine. (Some of the other Sevens had parked under cover.)
The forecast that evening was still a little dodgy regarding rain - we had reservations to eat in a local beer garden, but they fitted us all inside as a last minute switch just in case. The weather did clear while we were eating though, and after food, we sat outside for a bit.
Returning to the hotel at sunset.
The morning of day four gave us a very different experience of the mountains across the valley from our hotel :-)
At that point, we started to split up. Some of our group had to be back in the Seattle area that evening and headed straight for home. In one of those strange coincidences, though, one of our party had met someone they knew in the pub the previous night, who told us it was well worth driving ten miles further south to the town of Joseph and taking the cable car. So those of us with a more leisurely schedule did - and the man in the pub was not wrong.
Driving south to Joseph, with more views of the Wallowa mountains.
The road alongside Lake Wallowa.
View over the lake from the cable car up to the top of Mount Howard. the cable car starts at 4000 feet, with the peak at 8500.
Brunch at the cafe at the peak. Photo taken by our server.
View from the top of Mount Howard. A good Monday morning!
A view to other mountains from the cable car on the way back down.
Then it was back to Enterprise for our planned route home, across the Blue Mountains. I know the Blue Mountains from the Walla Walla area, but that's right at their northern tip - in Oregon, they're taller.
Highway 82 north and west of Enterprise.
Farmland on the plateau between the Wallowa and Blue Mountains, somewhere near Elgin.
Climbing up towards the summit of the road over the Blue Mountains.
And back down the western slopes towards Athena.
We stayed the night in Prosser, and had a fabulous meal at a real restaurant! After four days of eating in small towns with near-identical menus of burgers and grilled sandwiches, it was lovely to eat something different. If you're ever in Prosser, eat at The Prosser House. Seriously.
Day five was our drive back, by a similar route to the outbound one, so that's the end of the photo post. Once again we lucked out with the weather, except for a couple of hours that one afternoon, and a pretty fabulous group of people.
We set out from Enumclaw on a road I know well, the 410 into Mount Rainier (Tahoma) National Park. Fortunately they're not doing roadworks on it this year, and in the first half of June, the RVs aren't out in force either, so we had a really lovely drive. In the sun, no less!
Climbing up towards the summit at Chinook Pass.
Sevens in their natural habitat of snowy mountain peaks - or maybe not.
Looking east from the summit.
East down the Cascade foothills heading towards Naches, and the sun on this side was distinctly warmer.
There's an area of central Washington which, wherever you're going to or from, you have to pass through it and it's just flat. Not terribly scenic. We drove through that and arrived in Walla Walla in southeastern Washington in the late afternoon.
Sevens at the Walla Walla hotel.
Day two we did a loop drive north from Walla Walla on lovely sweeping roads through the rolling Palouse. This was crossing the Snake River at Lyons Ferry.
Palouse Falls.
A very old abandoned petrol station at Hays Junction, a hangover from the 50s? It was hot by mid-afternoon, we all sought the shade at the rally point...
An iridescent 'rainbow' cloud above Hays Junction.
And a closer look.
On day three, we drove north from Walla Walla before looping back south down to Enterprise in Oregon. The day started off a little cloudier, then as forecast, got worse as the day went on. We found the rain, but not the thunderstorms, thankfully.
Palouse farmlands north of Walla Walla.
Attracting the locals on Sunday morning at Starbuck.
Close to the Washington-Idaho border, in the vicinity of Hells Canyon.
After lunch, we took 129 south into Oregon - an amazing, twisty road that climbs up from the river valley at Hells Canyon onto a plateau, down into the Grande Ronde River valley and then back up the other side onto another plateau. There was light traffic on that road, and all of them were polite enough to pull over and let us go by when they saw us coming. I have no photos from that stretch as I was driving - we do have dashcam, which I'll edit together some of and post later...
Fortunately it didn't rain during the twisty bits - that would have ruined some of the fun - but it hit when we were on the plateau after it. The pullout for the viewpoint over Joseph Canyon made a good place to stop and put the roof on. Well, for those of us who have a roof, not everyone did...
Joseph Canyon in the drizzle.
As we drove further south towards Enterprise, the heavens really opened and there was some aquaplaning, and a few of our number got very wet. But as we approached Enterprise - wow. The snow-capped peaks of the Wallowa mountains appeared out of the mist, and that was stunning.
Late afternoon outside our hotel at Enterprise. This photo was taken by JR, he got a better shot than any of mine. (Some of the other Sevens had parked under cover.)
The forecast that evening was still a little dodgy regarding rain - we had reservations to eat in a local beer garden, but they fitted us all inside as a last minute switch just in case. The weather did clear while we were eating though, and after food, we sat outside for a bit.
Returning to the hotel at sunset.
The morning of day four gave us a very different experience of the mountains across the valley from our hotel :-)
At that point, we started to split up. Some of our group had to be back in the Seattle area that evening and headed straight for home. In one of those strange coincidences, though, one of our party had met someone they knew in the pub the previous night, who told us it was well worth driving ten miles further south to the town of Joseph and taking the cable car. So those of us with a more leisurely schedule did - and the man in the pub was not wrong.
Driving south to Joseph, with more views of the Wallowa mountains.
The road alongside Lake Wallowa.
View over the lake from the cable car up to the top of Mount Howard. the cable car starts at 4000 feet, with the peak at 8500.
Brunch at the cafe at the peak. Photo taken by our server.
View from the top of Mount Howard. A good Monday morning!
A view to other mountains from the cable car on the way back down.
Then it was back to Enterprise for our planned route home, across the Blue Mountains. I know the Blue Mountains from the Walla Walla area, but that's right at their northern tip - in Oregon, they're taller.
Highway 82 north and west of Enterprise.
Farmland on the plateau between the Wallowa and Blue Mountains, somewhere near Elgin.
Climbing up towards the summit of the road over the Blue Mountains.
And back down the western slopes towards Athena.
We stayed the night in Prosser, and had a fabulous meal at a real restaurant! After four days of eating in small towns with near-identical menus of burgers and grilled sandwiches, it was lovely to eat something different. If you're ever in Prosser, eat at The Prosser House. Seriously.
Day five was our drive back, by a similar route to the outbound one, so that's the end of the photo post. Once again we lucked out with the weather, except for a couple of hours that one afternoon, and a pretty fabulous group of people.
