Got back yesterday from our second long-weekend motorcycle trip this summer. This time we did what is called the North Cascades Loop. There are two really scenic routes along the northern part of Washington. They start in Seattle and end in Winthrop. So, you don’t have to come back the same way you came.

It was great weather, if not a bit too hot. We always wear full ‘leathers’ (well, in our case it is Kevlar) no matter how toasty it gets. While were east of the mountains, temperatures got up into the upper nineties. We definitely wanted to keep moving or it was sauna-land. We stayed in a nice lodge that had a reputation for great food. And, yes, it was really great food. Thursday night was a really tender Ellensburg rack of lamb. I had them substitute rice for the potato. The appetizer was a lovely mushroom thingy wrapped in philo and a really rich dipping sauce. A wonderful bottle of zinfandel the waiter chose for us made it all come together. Hubby had a duck breast that he also raved about. I just had a couple bites of his dessert. I’m sure there were many hidden avoids there, but I sure couldn’t taste them!

Friday we took a ride over to the Grand Coulee Dam. I’d always wanted to see it. It’s big! There have been a lot of forest fires in that part of the state, and the air was very thick with smoke. The scenery was pretty lost because of it. Had a big digression and ate a hamburger (with bun) on the road. There wasn’t much else to choose from. Dinner was another gastronomical wonder from the Lodge kitchen. I went to Avoid Heaven for the meal. Started with a quail appetizer. The entrée was a nice rare piece of buffalo (okay, that’s not an avoid, just neutral) but there were potatoes with it. A dessert came automatically with this meal, so I ate the whole thing. It was a huckleberry tart with some sort of sherbet….at this point my memory is a little foggy, because there were two martinis before this evening’s bottle of wine. I definitely had too much to drink.

Of course, I woke up with the stuffiest of heads. Oh well.

Anyway, the ride back home was lovely. We rode through a town called Leavenworth. It is a Bavarian village. All the stores and banks and hotels – everything – are built so it looks like a really quaint southern German town. Very touristy. We stopped for gas and rested in one shop. Hubby ate a thing called a Chocolate Bomb. I saw bananas hanging over the counter, and just had to have one. All I could think about was how wonderful a banana would taste. And it was wonderful. My body was obviously craving a replenishment of potassium from three days of sweaty riding.

I’m glad to be home. I’m spending the day catching up on laundry. Too pooped to get on the treadmill. Later today is 9 holes of golf with a friend and then to his house for dinner. More eating challenges ahead!