Nana and Grandpa's Cool Day

  
On Saturday we awoke to a glorious, sunny and almost warm day.  And it's only June!!
This could not go to waste.
So we headed up to Concrete and the 10th birthday party for our local winery, Challenger Ridge Winery.

The party began at 11 AM and we were the first to arrive.  Wine tasting before breakfast.....ahh the good life.

We made our way through several whites when our friendly "barista"  mentioned that a motorboat was available to us for a ride on the Skagit River.  We have lived here for over 23 years and have never been on the river, so we jumped at the chance.  She poured us each a glass of 2008 vintage Liberty Bell (a blend of several whites) for the trip and off we went to the boat launch.

That boat moves FAST and it was a challenge to keep our wine from spilling, but we both performed heroically.  There were some wonderful views from the river........

We even managed to see the tip of Mount Baker.

And believe me, these rapids were rougher than they look.

We were the first ones on the boat and had it all to ourselves.  When we returned to the launch, there were nine other waiting to go out.  The entire time we were on the river we did not see another soul.

Upon returning to the party, we found the music had started!   A renowned local bassist was performing, accompanied by a guitarist and a drummer.

They ROCKED the freakin' place out.

The party was really starting to rock now and visitors arrived in all manner of transport and gear.

We settled down to some kielbasa, chips and soda and grooved to the beat.
After stuffing ourselves we needed a walk and check out the grounds.

It was such a great day, it seemed only right to continue east, over the mountains and check out Winthrop and Twisp.  It was easy to convince Nana to go - I promised her an ice cream cone.

Nothing could stop us.

Not snow.....

Or a little rock on the road.

It is a magnificent ride that we hadn't made in many years.

First stop in Winthrop was the promised ice cream cone, then a leisurely stroll through the town and its shops (all tragically unphotographed).  Having recently read a magazine article about Twisp, we headed over to see what we could see.  Despite the late hour of day, we were quite pleasantly surprised to find ourselves in the middle of the Twisp Art Walk.  There were receptions at several galleries and the town was more alive than I have ever seen it.  Quite a change from the place I remember from the mid 90's.
After refreshments, art and music we headed up to Sun Mountain Lodge for dinner and a view.

Sadly, this is the lone photo from our visit but it shows the view from our outside table at the Wolf Creek Bar & Grill in the lodge.
We munched on pizza and beer, watched the sun go down and headed home with smiles.