_We continued our drive east by going into Twisp for lunch and a walk along the wooden sidewalks.  Even for a weekday in eastern Washington, the town was busy as heck so we continued our drive east with our guest (Louise's mother) riding shotgun on WA-20 looking for a nights stay at the Elks in Omak.  As we pulled up to the Elks we saw that their camping area was full of vehicles, but we still continued inside to find out if they still had any camping available for us.  Well like so many of the Elks Lodges, they are feeling the down economy as much or more than any other business or club so they have opted to lease their parking lot out to the local DSHS.  It was a good idea for them but it left us out.  Fortunately the lady behind the counter at the Elks directed us to the City Park and Fairgrounds.  The Fairgrounds park was the best city owned park we’ve ever been into so we do thank the Elks for their direction.  First thing the next morning we continued on WA-20 and our next destination…Chewelah and a nights stay with Dave and Carol.  Dave and Carol are such great hosts and it’s always difficult to leave after only a night or two.  We’ve got to find time to stay longer.  A very good friend of ours just received some bad news, so we continued on to Coeur d’Alene to spend a little time with him before heading back to Seattle to receive our rental house back from our long term renters. 

_We really had a great time in Darrington and a whole new appreciation for Bluegrass music, but we had to move on or they would have locked the gate on us as the last performer left…  Bonnie and Doug continued back to their home to “MOW THE LAWN” and Louise and I decided to take a journey over a pass that we hadn’t been over for quite a few years…The North Cascades Highway.  This is one of those passes that will be closed most of the winter because of heavy snow fall and a very difficult roadway to keep clear, but when it’s open...amazing beauty at every turn.  It was time for us to see that beauty again and maybe get in a little kayaking as well.  We lucked out and found a campsite at one of the two National Park campgrounds and had double luck by getting a site right on the banks of Lake Diablo.  Within the first hour we were there we had the kayak in the water

_and headed out into a breezy lake.  It didn’t slow us down too much, but we did stay close to the shoreline.  We got an early start in the morning and headed out for a hike

_along one of the rivers and then up to a lookout above the lake.

_Wanting to get another paddle in, we headed back and were in the water paddling into the middle of the lake to see the views that were unavailable to us the night before.