Monroe, Washington

We arrived at the Thunderbird Thousand Trails in Monroe, Washington on Tuesday July, 22nd. This is the first time pulling with our new truck, Huntram II. It is amazing the changes they have made in ten years in trucks. When we got our Cummins Turbo Diesel in 2004 it was truck to get. We didn't know what we would be pulling, so maybe we should have gotten a 1 ton but we still got a great truck.
The 2014 truck we just got is not even in the same ballpark as the old one. The old one was rated to tow about 13,000 pounds. This one about 30,000 pounds!! I can put the 6 speed Aisin automatic transmission with 850 foot pounds of torque in cruise control  and it easily keeps at 65 mph pulling my 15,000 pound 5th wheel  even over 6% grades.

We got a beautiful back-in river site at Thunderbird. Although there is no sewer on the riverside, it does have 50 amp. We could also not get satellite at our site. Some nice people 2 sites over that were able to get satellite reception allowed us to set up our portable dish behind their rig. It was still iffy with the huge trees in the way, but 2 other guys and myself worked on it for 45 minutes and finally were able to receive it. There are also plenty of wild blackberries behind us just ready for the picking, which we did! This picture was taken out our back window in our 5th wheel. The river is the Skykomish River.

Site 94

The next day we decided to go into town for breakfast. We were not having much luck finding a breakfast place because the one we wanted to go to was closed down. We came across Steve's American Cafe and Grill but it was attached to a gas station and wasn't very promising. We walked in to check it out and guess what? It was an amazing place! Live music for breakfast. This bluegrass band was pretty good.

Steve's American Cafe and Grill

The food was really good too! Steak and eggs and Pancakes and bacon... Yummy!

Steak and Eggs

After filling up the belly's we went to Snoqualmie Falls. You may remember that I am a big waterfall person and patty is a big lighthouse person. Today is my day!

Snoqualmie Falls

Snoqualmie Falls is one of Washington's most popular scenic attractions with a 270 foot waterfall. It is spectacular.

Snoqualmie Falls Selfie

The falls are so powerful, even from the top you get hit with the mist. You can clearly see it in this picture. It was very refreshing on a hot day.

Snoqualmie Falls Mist

After we left the falls we went to the City of Snoqualmie. The town hosts the Northwest Railroad Museum. Here is the depot.

Snoqualmie Depot

They have tracks of old trains and cars with signs explaining what they are. It is very interesting and makes for a pleasant walk around town.

Old Trains

Several mornings we woke up to fog in the river. It would burn off by about 9:00 AM.

Fog on the Skykomish

This day we are going to Everett to see a lighthouse. We had to follow the route that the people that take the ferry take. They are the ones in the right lane. We were told they have a three hour wait!! It was backed up for miles. You can see our line takes a left turn into a parking lot.

Ferry Line

The ferry has just left Everett. It is headed across the Sound to Whidbey Island.

Ferry

We walked out to the boat docks to get a great view of the Puget Sound.

Puget Sound

This is what Patty was waiting for, the Mukliteo lighthouse in Everett.

Mukliteo Lighthouse

As you can see there are people up on the top of the lighthouse. They have docents that give guided tours for a requested donation. 

Lighthouse Selfie

This is the Fresnel lens in the lighthouse. With the Fresnel lens a very small wattage bulb can be seen for 12 nautical miles.

Fresnel Lens

The lighthouse keepers quarters is now being used for a museum and a lighthouse store.

Keepers Quarters

We had a great time in Monroe. We had intended to go to Seattle, but decided we just don't prefer to go to the large cities and prefer waterfalls and lighthouses! Lol!

God Bless you for reading,

Brian and Patty