The choice of location for our last week in the US (before our – fingers crossed – international travels) wasn’t just centered around the normal campsite/brewery/co-working triangle. No, this time there were additional factors to consider – namely, proximity to the Canada border, and availability of Covid testing facilities. Oh and preferable avoidance of rampant wildfires (easier said than done given the extent of fires in the western states).
We lucked out at Liberty Lake, Washington – it ticked all the boxes, including being close enough to Spokane for the nose tickling test. But first, we had to pass through the Yakima valley, which happens to specialize in grapes of the wine variety. Harvest Hosts came up trumps with Hyatt vineyards, which we had to ourselves overnight once the daytime punters left.
After the rather upscale spacious offices in Bend, the unimaginatively named Liberty Lake Co-Work was friendly, welcoming and refreshingly down to earth. The personal touch makes such a difference – within hours of our arrival, there was a personal greeting on the whiteboard.
Our go-to hiking trail from the Liberty Lake Regional Park campsite took us through reclaimed wetland, courtesy of the local beaver population. Given no actual beaver sightings, and the reluctance of marshy lowlands to look photogenic, you have to go some to get a nice picture. Or just find the one decent spot and take the same picture on different days and times.
I’m still pondering to this day on the breadcrumb nay bread slice trail we found on our last morning. We saw the first bread clue on an interpretive sign. It was in pristine condition, neither the birds or the beavers too interested then. As we continued, the trail became gamified as we wondered where the next slice would turn up, a kind of sliced bread hide and seek. Alas, we ended up where we started back at the campsite, no fairytale cottage to be found.
Our camp spot overlooked a little meadow, which had some frequent and very entertaining visitors.
Liberty Lake had its share of local drinking establishments, and of course we like to support Drinking Local. Trailbreaker cider had a lovely outdoor lawn area, family and pet friendly, with a wide variety of cider. Unable to choose, I got a selection ranging from citrus cucumber to blueberry sage to habanero peach. In the end, it was their bog-standard Dry & Crisp that won the day.
Snow Eater brewing was also a winner, with their impressive range of imperial IPAs, Belgian tripels and aged stouts.
In amongst all the Liberty Lake fun and games, we had big time Canada prep to do. They might have opened their border, but only to the most determined persistent hardcore people who were prepared to research the requirements, read the small print and obtain and upload all the necessary documentation.
Given our most direct route crossing closed at 4pm, we opted instead for the remote outpost border of Cascade-Laurier. This one closed at 8pm so after work on Friday we rocked up at 7pm, with a leisurely hour to spare for the expected interrogation and additional Covid testing. We needn’t have worried. We were the only ones there and my prep paid off. The official seemed more interested in whether we had any animals in our trailer.
All hoops safely jumped through, we breathed a sigh of relief. And as we drove on into Canada, it truly sunk in – we beamed from ear to ear. We were no longer on The Little Loop or the 2021 Mystery Tour. We’ve got Alaska in our sights and it’s time to Go Big or Go Home.