Last weekend, Amanda and I took advantage of nearly-free room and board in Mazama, Wash. Amanda's bosses won the two-night accommodations in an auction more than a year ago and gave us the gift certificate to try, thinking it might be expired. Thankfully, Mazama Country Inn still accepted it! We left Friday and traveled north on I-5 to Burlington and then east another 120 miles on Hwy 20 through the gorgeous North Cascades. The brochure says they're the "American Alps."
We unpacked, ate a tasty dinner at the Inn and crashed after the long, five-hour drive. (Amanda worked that morning, too.) We woke up refreshed on Saturday and went exploring.
The entrance:
The Inn:
The room was actually quite spacious. (Not pictured: Loft bed and bathroom).
The Mazama General Store:
Happy:
The nearby barn, where folks were preparing for a wedding:
We drove east to Winthrop to tour the cute, small town. We decided to crash a wedding there.
We only stayed for the ceremony because we had to get to the Lost River Winery tasting room before it closed.
This is a terribly Photoshopped image, but you get the idea.
I wish I could say this next image was Photoshopped, but it's not. That really happened.
Amanda did some candid modeling while we were in town.
We had drinks at the Old Schoolhouse Brewery. Drinking at school is cool!
After a couple drinks, Amanda likes to try and summon Captain Planet with her ring.
We took Chris Brown's advice and went up to Sun Mountain Lodge to see the views and filthy rich people.
Did I mention the people who stay here are filthy rich? Check out the parking lot.
The Lodge reminded me of that Aspen hotel where Harry and Lloyd stay in Dumb and Dumber. We scoped out the lavish hotel wine cellar and played some ping-pong in the game room. Speaking of, there were game heads all over the place.
We hit the road home on Sunday morning. The value of our gift certificate for Mazama Country Inn was $310. We had put a couple meals and bottle of wine on the room tab, so I figured I'd shell out a few extra dollars. Our grand total was $311.35. We only spent $1.35! I gave the hotel owner $2 and told her to keep the change.
I'd HIGHLY recommend Mazama Country Inn if you make the trip. It's off the beaten path but close to Winthrop. The food in the restaurant is fantastic and the rooms are spacious and clean.
We got an early start out on Sunday to make sure we got home at a decent hour. Amanda missed Fabrizio that much.
We wanted to stop by Lake Diablo on the way back because the color of the water is unreal.
See what I mean?
Twas a great weekend getaway.
