A Trip Back In Time: Trains, Lakes And Old Towns

If you haven’t figured it out yet, taking day long road trips is one of our favorite things to do. We ventured out to Skykomish this weekend to see the Railroad Museum. We love that little roadside town out past everything on Highway 2 east of Monroe. Not only is there some fun stuff for kids, but there are some decent stops along the way and a few different scenic routes to drive home on.

To start our adventure, we hit the Sultan Bakery for breakfast. It wasn’t the best food on the planet, but the baked goods sure did look nice. I’d recommend hitting there for a cup of coffee and a pastry and moving on for lunch. The breakfasts were decent, but not really worth it, or the wait. There are quite a few other options for fast food along the way, but save room for lunch instead.

From there, it was a quick drive east to Skykomish to see the trains. The coolest part about this place is the fact that you can ride around on scale models of real trains with the kids. It’s a totally fun time and completely free to visit. There’s also a full museum onsite and knowledgeable volunteers that staff it regularly. The stories you’ll hear are worth the trip alone!

After a nice trip (or 10) around the rails, we ventured further east to Lake Wenatchee, which is no short haul, but it has a great park to run around at and a gorgeous lake to visit, regardless of the time of year you hit it. During the winter, it’s an empty area where the snow park people visit for lunch or to meet up before heading into the hills. During the summer, it’s a bustling crazy-ville with more people than you know what to do with, but it never seems ‘that busy’.

We continued the drive east and south and visited the town of Plain, which really is a blink and you’ll miss it type place. Wondering around though, you find some amazing things like this old bridge that is now closed to motor vehicles. That won’t stop you from pulling off the road at the roundabout and walking across it for some gorgeous views though!

We wrapped up the day with a drive home back on Highway 2. It’s always a blast to see where we end up on our little trips, and this one was no exception.