“Twin Peaks” and Trains

 

The Hippygeek and I had never seen an episode of the 90‘s hit TV show Twin Peaks. But, now that we were staying in the town where it was filmed, we felt like we should at least give the pilot episode a viewing and check out some of the filming locations in the area.

 

Let me first say that David Lynch is the king of weird and twisted which is alluring to many TV fans. Not wanting to scar the Dudes for life, we put them to bed first then pulled up the pilot episode on Netflix. The show is a psychological thriller/murder mystery and prior to viewing it, I had thought of North Bend and Snoqualmie as quaint little sleepy towns. After viewing it, I was left with an eery paranoid feeling as I drove around. I guess the show had an impact.

 

 

 

We ate in the cafe where the FBI agent character ate, we visited the 270ft. Snoqualmie Falls that appear throughout the show and saw the “big log” that pops up periodically during the episode.

 

The Hippygeek said the cherry pie at the cafe was very good. The Falls were spectacular even though the 100 year old hydroelectric plant there is undergoing renovations and the “log” which  fascinated me during the show is still there. It turns out to be part of a 400 year old fir tree that lived until the 1970’s when it was struck by lightening. A section of it was saved as a show piece for the old logging town.

 

The log is just a block away from the 120 year old Snoqualmie Train Depot (I love old train depots) which is now part of the Northwestern Railway Museum. They have a collection of century old engines as well as an old passenger car that you can ride. Thomas the Train just happened to there for a special showing and the town was hopping with little conductors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hippygeek decided that a boyhood is not complete without putting a penny on a railroad track. So, the Dudes put pennies on the track to see what would happen when Thomas rolled over them. They were quite pleased with the result.

 

 

We also managed to do a trail ride on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail which is one of the old railroad beds now turned hike and bike trail. The Lil’ Dude logged 7.5 miles, his longest since learning to ride a bike last month.

 

 

 

 

 

To finish up our week, we had a wonderful dinner with friends from Charleston now living in Seattle and the Hippygeek’s cousin came in to town and treated us to a lovely all you can eat buffet at the Snoqualmie Casino. The Dudes have never been to an all you can eat restaurant and were quite taken with the idea of choosing anything you want and going back for more, especially dessert!

 

 

 

left: The Lil’ Dude smirks after putting his giant cookie in the chocolate fountain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The area is really beautiful and there is a lot to see and do. But, if you want to fully enjoy it without having to look over your shoulder, pass on the viewing of an episode of Twin Peaks.

“This whole world is wild at heart and weird on top.”  David Lynch