Headed North out of Newport on Rte 20 again to take the scenic route through the Cascades. When we were in Yellowstone we met a Swiss couple, who have a home in Colville, WA, who recommended this route highly. The route moves along the Kootenai River for quite a while ( to within 40 miles of the Canadian Border) before turning West and South through the Selkirk Mountains. At Kettle Falls we crossed the Columbia River. We then passed through the Kettle River Range through the Sherman Pass. We had lunch at the overlook at 5587' above sea level.
In Tonasket we saw our first WA apple orchards. We arrived at our KOA in Winthrop just before 4PM. We quickly set up our campers and we then took a shuttle bus into the center of town. Winthrop is sort of a tourist trap, but done nicely. It looks like an old western mining town, and most of the buildings are very old. We walked the main street and ended up having dinner at Three Finger Jacks, a local bar & eatery. The food was good and we all had a beer.
While waiting for the shuttle to go back to the camp, we were graced with a visit by a Mule deer doe and her yearling who came wandering into the parking lot we were waiting in. This was right in the middle of town. They showed no anxiety or fear of us and wandered into a group of trees next to the back patio of one of the restaurants where they found an old apple tree and some windfalls on the ground. It was then obvious to us that this wasn't their first visit to this spot. Traffic of cars, campers,and motorcycles was pretty steady, but this didn't deter her & her youngster from slowly walking across the Main street into the dirt parking lot of a group of rental cabins across the street. What a treat for us at the end of a great day!
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