Winthrop … who knew?

In 1891, Guy Waring established a trading post at the confluence of the Methow and Chewuch Rivers. Waring diversified his interests through the years to include a sawmill, an orchard, a waterpower system, a freight company, and the Duck Brand Saloon. After a devastating fire in 1893, the town was rebuilt. Waring’s original Duck Brand Saloon survived the fire and the building now serves as Winthrop’s town hall.

What a surprise this little town of approximately 400 residents turned out to be.  I had seen pictures of it online which is what drew me to select an RV park here, but what I didn’t know is that it is one very popular vacation destination!  Biking, hiking and hunting are the three big summer activities in the Methow Valley.  In the winter, Winthrop is home to the nation’s largest cross-country ski area and some of the most acclaimed snowmobiling and backcountry skiing around.  They host a number of annual events, the Methow Rodeo being just one (and it’s twice a year—Memorial and Labor Day weekends).   The town, this Labor Day Weekend, was PACKED … and I mean PACKED!  They had to have a Sheriff at the main town intersection directing traffic the whole weekend (it’s a 4-way stop).  We were so glad when Tuesday rolled around and the crowds were thinned out.  However, not for long.  This coming weekend (and we’ll be gone by then) there’s an antique car show coming to town and they’re expecting the same crowds again.

Gotta love this little town.  There are some strict planning ordinances in place as you will see from the pictures below.  And, just like Port Angeles, there are NO fast food restaurants, no Starbucks, nothing that resembles a big city at all.  The whole city looks like an old western frontier town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is an Internet photo on the Methow River.  But, this is exactly what we saw on the Methow River Labor Day Weekend.  There were lots of people rafting down the river this weekend.

 

This is the RV park we stayed at in Withrop.

This photo was taken on Tuesday once the majority of RVers were gone.

We also took an excursion to Lake Pearrygin (pronounced:  pear-e-jin).  It has a fairly large campground with east and west lake side campgrounds.  A number of sites have full hookups and both campgrounds are right on the lake.

 

 

On our way back to Winthrop, I took some of these photos of the clouds gathering for the upcoming thunderstorm this evening.

And, we saw some more wildlife!  Check out the rack on this deer that was on the roadside.  I got out of the car to take this photo.  The deer looked up, saw me, and then went back to eating.  I guess I don’t look that scary after all!

After dinner at a local Winthrop Mexican restaurant (the only Mexican restaurant in town, actually) we were blessed with this beautiful sunset unfolding before our eyes.  What a lovely end to a wonderful stay in this cowboy town!

And, if that wasn't enough to end our stay, Gary caught this deer and her two fawns hanging out right outside our RV about 7:30 in the morning!

Job 38:1 and 25-30 // Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said … “Who has cleft a channel for the flood, or a way for the thunderbolt, to bring rain on a land without people, on a desert without a man in it, to satisfy the waste and desolate land and to make the seeds of grass to sprout?  Has the rain a father?  Or who has begotten the drops of dew?  From whose womb has come the ice?  And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?  Water becomes hard like stone, and the surface of the deep is imprisoned. “