Sunday 10 July 2011

Exposed Twins or Northern Peaks?

On a day trip from Seattle (Ralph's mum kindly got us a hotel room for Ralph's bday) its possible to visit some of the towns featured in my two favourite TV programmes from the early 90's - Northern Exposure (Roslyn) and Twin Peaks (Snoqualmie and North Bend), very exciting for me not Ralph !


 Snoquolmie Falls (268ft) from opening titles of Twin Peaks. For the native Snoqualmie People it was a sacred site where burials took place and they believe the mists rising from the base of the waterfall serve to connect heaven and earth.  Sadly now it looks less than sacred and has been ruined by hideous development and tourists like us.


There goes the mist!


Just down the road from the falls is Ronette's bridge from Twin Peaks


 R n R diner where we had to try the damn fine cherry pie and coffee, not that we had much room left for it as it was charity night  'as much spaghetti as you can eat' which as philanthropists we decided to take part in, although somewhat amazingly Ralph only managed a single plate!
  

 Mount Si - the twin peaks


 Shots from the show displayed on the wall of the diner which now looks nothing like it did in the show since it burned down in the late 90's and was refurbished completely differently but never mind!


 Me in front of wall from opening titles of Northern Exposure in the town of Roslyn - sadly no moose walked by while we were there


 Ralph poised ready to spit into the spitoon which was a gutter of running water under our feet in The Brick tavern in Roslyn, the outside of which was featured in Northern Exposure.


 Sampling ales in 'The Brick' Washingtons oldest bar.  The wooden bar and back bar where the spirit bottles are stacked was shipped from England round Cape Horn to Seattle in 1880's which seems quite an effort to go to.  


Me playing shuffleboard, a bit like boule/petonque as its whoever gets closest to or on the 3 score area and you can hit opponents pucks out of the way (and there's a gutter either side to watch out for like ten pin bowling) but involves sliding pucks along a wooden board covered in silica dust, just like my cousin Winifred uses at a dance!

 Roslyn is an old mining town hence the statue of the miner, it also explained the bar having the spitoon as all the miners chewed tobacco as do some locals still according to the barman. 


KBHR, the radio station from Northern Exposure, the studio has been left as it was in the show 

3 comments:

Harry said...

I can't tell you how jealous I am. Could you hire plastic to wrap yourself up in? Was there fish in the perculator? What about the great northern?

You are lucky, lucky people.

Ralph said...

the great northern was next to the falls, butthis ionly the outside that was filmed it's a health club - the real interior for filming is at a conference centre two towns away that is not open to the public -boo

Anonymous said...

hey Ralphy looks amaaaaazing. America is just like so huge. i am about to head north - meeting Billy Casper (Kes man) to visit the old hall where he got Kes, back in the day. then up my mum's, then looking for goshawks in the wids in N Scotland. then northumberland cottage with Sara's family. Silent Spring Revisited is go... will write more later.