Cowboys in Winthrop Washington

One of my favorite places to visit is Winthrop, which is on the other side of the Cascade Mountains from where I live. Not only is it a lovely drive but once you get there, the mountains and scenic areas are breathtaking.

We stayed at the Sun Mountain Lodge, which is located above the Methow Valley. There's lots to do there, swimming, boating, fishing, hiking, horseback riding. I even visited the spa and had a relaxing massage and body scrub. And just lazing around the pool is great in this warm sunshine.

But one of the reasons we love Winthrop so much is because it's a real Western town. They've renovated it to be as origional as possible. The main street is fun, because it's not a ghost town, it's a living town with a real Western theme.

We also discovered a wonderful local museum. My family knows when I travel -- the only thing I love more than visiting a library is visiting a museum. My husband indulged me and this visit was as good as several weeks of reading research books. I took a lot of photos, because when you have such great reference material it often helps to set a scene when writing.



This office has already "shown up" in my
Novella. And I'm sure this cabin will be
a perfect setting for a story.











But of course a vacation can't be all studying and research. Sometimes you just have to sit back and enjoy the sunset.