Winthrop, WA - day off - kind of
June 28, 2026
Back and legs still sore from yesterday’s ride when I woke up this morning.
Put three things on my to-do list. Updating my Polarsteps blog, oiling
my bike chain and washing the WomanTours kitchen towels.
As I write this, it’s now two mornings later (6/30/26).
Oiling my bike chain: Did this before breakfast.
Washing the WT towels:
My roommate Nene was planning to go to the Fainting Goat restaurant
(just a half-mile walk down the road) with a few of the other WT guests.
I asked if I could join her and she said, “Sure!” Since it was our day off,
I figured I’d have plenty of time to wash the towels after breakfast.
Well … as the saying goes … people plan and God laughs.
While we were eating breakfast, a fire engine drove by with lights and sirens.
Then another. Nene could see out the restaurant window and saw smoke in the distance.
Dorothy, who lives nearby was unconcerned and said, “Oh, they’ll knock it down.
There’s nothing to worry about.” We finished our breakfast. The others were
still chatting, but I felt obliged to excuse myself to go back to the hotel to wash the towels.
As I left the restaurant, smoke was in the air and a few more emergency vehicles
were rushing towards the fire in the distance. Along the way back the wind was
blowing away from the hotel. When I got there, I started to organize myself,
quarters for the machine, cross stitch craft to pass the time during the time
at the laundry, trying to figure out if I can carry both bags of heavy, wet
towels or make two trips.
Then I heard a few of the WT guests chatting outside
and saying something like, “Are we leaving right now?” I had heard my What’sApp ding,
but it wasn’t until then that I checked it. Yup! The guides had sent a message to
let us know that the entire town was under an evacuation order.
We needed to get over to the WT vans with our phones and IDs right away.
I grabbed my backpack, water bottle, cross stitch craft, yesterday’s snack bag,
a long sleeve shirt, phone charger and cable and went downstairs to the van.
So much for washing the towels...
The WT guides took attendance and noted which guests were away for the day
and accounted for. The rest of us piled into the two vans and made our way to Twisp,
the next town down the road. The town was jumping with a wonderful Pride Day festival.
The Red Cross had set up a greeting station at the local Community Center across
from where we parked. We wandered around the town … just a few blocks in either
direction. Found a grocery store with large bread baguettes and bought one to
share at the picnic table across from the Community Center.
Meanwhile, the guides were busy with the staff at WT trying to find lodging
for 25+ women. We couldn’t go back to Winthrop because the evacuation order
hadn’t been lifted and wasn’t likely to be any time soon. Nothing in Twisp,
but Omak had a couple of low-budget hotels that had enough rooms to accommodate us.
Back in the vans, everyone! Let’s go to Walmart to get toothbrushes and
whatever else we need at the hotel. The WT guides were nothing short of
amazing. Our rooms weren’t ready yet at one of the hotels. There was a
Mexican restaurant next to one of the hotels we were staying at, so a
bunch of us headed over there for a bite to eat. Since it was still
officially a day off on the tour, each of us was responsible for paying
for our dinner. Shared a yummy taco salad with Jennifer. By the time
dinner was over, our rooms were ready and we headed over to the other hotel.
Donna and I were sharing a room again. Her bed had a huge one-foot-diameter wet spot in
the middle of the bed. Called Cindi, our lead guide, and in about two minutes or so,
she had a key to the room next door with beds that were both dry as they should be.
The housekeeper arrived as well and we showed her what we found in the bed in the
first room. Nobody knew what happened to make the bed so wet. It was as though
someone had spilled their water bottle by accident.
Things finally settled down and we got to sleep around 9:30 or 10.
Leg 1 highlighted in the context of the entire tour's route
