Remember the 90’s TV show, Northern Exposure? Young Jewish doctor fresh out of med school sent to a small town in Alaska for two years of service, quirky locals including a potential love interest for the young doctor; I loved that show! Even though the show was set in Cicely, Alaska, the town was actually shot in Roslyn, Washington.
On our first “official” day of retirement, we fired up the Harley and rode over the Cascades to visit Roslyn. We are having an atypically great weather week here in Seattle. Sunny with temperatures in the 70’s is pretty unusual for June so we are taking maximum advantage of it as we ease into retirement.
Roslyn is about 90 miles from Seattle. Heading east on I-90, we rode over the still chilly Snoqualmie pass. The further you get away from Seattle, the less weird the traffic patterns are. By the time you get to the other side of the Cascades, people drive down right normal! The weather is always different on the other side of the mountain. Temperatures were in the 80’s as we rolled into the sleepy little town of Roslyn. If you remember the opening sequence of the TV show, you have pretty much seen all of Roslyn.
We parked the bike in front of the Roslyn History Museum where we were immediately engaged by one of the local residents. An older gentlemen (I wish I would have gotten his name) complimented us on the bike and invited us into the museum. The “museum” is actually a small storefront filled with antiques, old photographs, old mining gear, and odds-and-ends from times gone by.
Now, I am still getting used to this retirement thing. I generally have a difficult time strolling, chit-chatting, lingering, etc; think Chevy Chase viewing the Grand Canyon in the Vacation movie. But I did my best to S-L-O-W down as this gentleman, who is a life long resident of Roslyn told us stories of his family, stories of World War II, and stories of the mining history of the town.
After our time in the museum, we strolled the town, visited The Brick, the bar where much of the Northern Exposure plots unfolded, and finally had lunch at the Roslyn Café. Claire had a cob salad that included a breaded and deep-fried hard-boiled egg. I had the turkey club sandwich, which was much more than I could eat.
With temperatures in the mid eighties, we stowed the leathers and enjoyed the sunny ride back over the pass. All-in-all it was a great first day of retirement!
The Brick
The Brick
Lunch at the Roslyn Cafe
Downtown Roslyn
Randy replaces the Moose
Opening scene of Northern Exposure
Randy & Claire's Northern Michigan 
Glad you are enjoying exploring WA before you leave us 😦 Our son, Greg Hanson, worked on Northern Exposure for a short time as an assistant Prop Master. He had been Assist. Prop Master on the movie, Free Willy, and was considering doing that as a career. He got to do some of the NE episodes, but he never really pursued it further. His dreams took him in a different direction, but he did have some fun doing it. Larry & I have been to sleepy little Rosalyn, as well. I’m enjoying your blog. BTW, have you done the Underground Tour in Seattle? Lived here all my life and have never done it; but they say it is quite interesting. Just a thought.
Thank you Linda! The Underground Tour is on our Seattle Bucket List as well as riding the big ferris wheel!