The road to Stevens Pass is a beautiful exhilarating drive in the mountains with raging rivers running next to the road and mountains soaring above us. In the distance we can see some monster water falls high on the mountain, then middle of the mountain (they must be huge for us to see them so easily from the highway and still looking so big). We have to stop a couple of times for one way traffic through construction, but the road is good and the bus is doing great pulling the grade. We hum along about 30-35 mph keeping our own slow steady pace. The ’63 Westy moves up the hill with traffic, not slowing anyone down and we even get to pass a few semi trucks!

Stopping at one rest area, we receive accolades from a fellow traveler who is impressed that we’ve been keeping our speed up so well (you know — those SLOW ‘old VW Buses’!)  The summit is 4061 Ft, not high but we started at sea level so the climb is significant. The ski area is pretty with the summer green slopes.

Dropping down the east side is easy: 4^th gear and no accelerator and still going 55.  Our average gas mileage went up here!  We come to another Rest Area and pull off to take a break (Washington has free coffee and wifi hot spots at the Rest Areas). Two people come up and comment about the Bus. When we were on the beaten path (Interstate) no one spoke to us in the Rest Areas. Guess they were about their business and in a hurry whereas the ones on the ‘road less traveled’ have more time and curiosity (and perhaps appreciation?!) One of the visitors is super excited at seeing the camper and we have a challenge getting back on the road, taking a longer break than we anticipated!