We found a perfect lil' mountain town over the weekend! We're at the peak of fall in Washington, so we spent our Saturday driving the Mountain Loop Highway in its entirety--a beautiful drive from Granite Falls over the mountains to the quaint town of Darrington.
^^Here we are at Coal Lake, a hidden lake up a sketchy side road at the top of the mountain. I'm kicking myself for not pulling my camera out during the gorgeous 90-minute drive leading up to this point, but between Savvy being so hyped up that she couldn't stay off my lap and then me being a nervous nelly on the sketchy pot-hole-filled side road near a cliff, the camera was not on the mind. Despite missing some shots of moss-covered fall trees and our canyon view from above the clouds, there was more loveliness to be found from this point onward. We've wanted to find Coal Lake for a few months and I'm glad we squeezed it in before winter. It's small but completely private and tucked away, and the hike in is only like a quarter mile. The road do be sketchy tho.
^^The road to Coal Lake is right across the street from this lovely viewpoint of Big 4 mountain. Those waterfalls streaming down the face of the mountain got me good. I wish you could see the clouds swirling everywhere. The last half of the road to Darrington wasn't as smooth as the first half, but we couldn't complain about the scenery. Gorgeous big rivers surrounded by huge rocks and enormous trees. I feel really lucky to live here. I've been telling Jared lately that even though I'm looking forward to ending up in Utah, if we had settled down in Utah immediately after residency there may have been a part of me at some point that wondered what it would be like to live somewhere like Granite Falls--a small farming town nestled up against the mountains, surrounded by all types of huge trees and rivers and mountains. It's definitely picturesque, and very me. I feel lucky we get to live here for a season and explore Washington sate.
^^After we finished the Mountain Loop Highway, we stopped in Darrington for lunch. This is the cutest little mountain town I was talking about earlier. It's surrounded by big hills and mountains on all sides. Put some chalets on the streets and I honestly could've been convinced I was in Switzerland. We got burgers and fries and a shake at a little hut called the Burger Barn. Exceeded all my tiny town dining expectations. The burgers were great, the fries and fry sauce were great, the brownie shake that was actually chocolate ice cream with oreos was GREAT. Jack's mini corn dogs were great. The little park we ate in had mind-blowing views. 5/5 stars, would recommend. Especially if you're small-town mountain lovers, like us.
^^Mom and Dad from Jack's point of view.
^^SEE WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT?!!
^^Feeling jipped that we don't have a park this good in Granite Falls, even though our town population is bigger than Darrington's. This park was huge, with beautiful grassy fields and a skate park.
^^Jack found these bumpy hills that we assume is a lil' biking track. Jack would still be racing around them if he could be.
And that is the story of how we found the cutest little mountain town ever, right on the other side of the mountains from our own little rural mountain town. I can't believe this is our life right now. We drove back home a shorter way around the mountains, through some equally as cute farming towns tucked between mountains. Me and Jared agreed that if we'd had more time and flexibility to house hunt, we probably would've ended up somewhere along the half-hour drive between Darrington and Arlington, which is where Jared works. We were able to drive by Jared's clinic on our way home and see his cute face on the clinic's billboard as their newest provider. Jared continues to love his new job, and me and Jack continue to love preschool life. I'm terrified for this next season of life (hopefully another pregnancy/baby in 2022). Can't complain about the backdrop though.
