We woke up early in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to an overcast sky and light rain. The weather just wasn’t on our side this road trip! I wanted to check out Lake Coeur d’Alene, but the forecast showed no signs of things letting up.

Instead, we decided to take the advice of one of my former work colleagues and visit the famous Hudson’s Hamburgers.

We were there right when they opened at 9 a.m. and headed in with an older gentleman who had been waiting outside until I checked the door. Two other older men were at the end of the counter and gave him a hard time for standing out there until ‘the young lady opened the door for him!’

Two other women entered shortly thereafter and the seven of us all ordered hamburgers and cheeseburgers with fountain sodas. At 9 a.m. Definitely the earliest I’ve ever requested, or desired, a burger!

Ordering is simple. You can have a hamburger on a bun, and you can add a yellow cheese (no idea what kind it is, and they aren’t offering), onions and/or pickles.

That’s it.

At the diner counter you can choose from their homemade spicy ketchup or homemade spicy mustard if you wish to add it yourself. Which we did (they were both good, but I actually preferred the mustard).

It was AMAZING! It was just the right size and delicious. I didn’t even want a side of fries of shake (which they will not produce). We ate up and then bid Coeur d’Alene au revoir as we headed for Washington.

I can’t believe how different eastern Washington is from western Montana and Idaho, as well as western Washington. It’s totally flat. And kind of boring. Especially when the weather is crummy.

We had a couple of hours of driving to the Cascade Mountains and wine country, so in between doing work my husband tried to keep me entertained as we drove along by playing with the wide-angle lens:

We were starting to feel like we had been on the road long enough so we decided to take it easy and visit a few wineries near the Cascades.

We started in Wenatachee, Washington, at the Jones of Washington tasting room in the Pybus Public Market. It was a cute public market with a big red sign similar to Pike’s Place Market located in an open building with lots of little artisan shops. We walked around and noted a couple small restaurants, including one that featured meat from Cured. We might have to find a restaurant featuring their meat soon.

We each ordered a tasting and spent some time hanging out at the counter, people watching and sipping our selections. The tasting fee was waived if you ordered a bottle, which we were clearly obligated to do. We ended up with a Riesling and Pinot Grigio, which we both enjoyed.

Next door was the Cheesemonger’s Shop so we stopped in to taste some samples. My husband couldn’t get over the horseradish havarti (which I admit, was delicious) so we ordered some of that and some smoked gouda to go.

Our next stop was Chateau Faire le Pont, which was in a neat, restored building along the train tracks. There were a few people eating in the restaurant, but we opted for some tastings at the counter so we could look around.

Until our last visit to Washington, I had never heard of Sangiovese, but I keep seeing it on wine menus here, and it’s becoming a favorite red.

It has a pretty smooth ending– “fruit forward” is how they describe it. Even my husband likes it, and he’s not much for reds high in tannin.

The most interesting pour was an apple pie ice wine he tried at the end of his tasting, but neither of us were enamored. It wasn’t as syrupy as some ice wines tend to be, but it had a little too much going on for us to consider a bottle.

Our couple stops complete, we decided to spend the rest of our trip on the eastern side of the Cascades in Leavenworth, sampling local wines and craft beers within walking distance of our hotel. After that it’s a quick trip over the Cascades to Everett and the end of our journey!

Here are a few pictures as we headed into the foothills of the Cascades: