Instead of cruising on I-90 to get back to Seattle, take a leisurely diversion following the Columbia River north to Wenatchee and see the delightful and famous apple orchards. From there, explore Leavenworth, a Cascade foothills village styled after Germany's Bavaria, or float the Wenatchee River.

Sink into an exquisite stay at Sleeping Lady, a woodland resort designed with every environmental consideration imaginable and a mission "to provide a year-round retreat where nature, performing arts, outdoor recreation and healthful dining inspire reverence for Earth's life-giving wellspring."

From here, join the Cascade Loop (www.cascadeloop.com) heading west over the Cascades at Stevens Pass back to Seattle. For more adventure, go east and follow the Loop along the Columbia River via Lake Chelan, and on to the aspen-flanked Methow Valley, and the Old West cattle town of Winthrop. Then take the North Cascades Highway (closed in the winter) on a stunning drive through the high country, where great walls of granite sweep upward to Kangaroo Ridge, Early Winters Spires and Silver Star Mountain. A fun four-hour Seattle City Light tour of the powerhouse at Ross Dam includes a railway ride and boat cruise, available June through Labor Day. A series of dams along the upper Skagit River suspend vast lakes of gorgeous green water high in the mountainous zone. A 1500-acre eagle sanctuary is accessible on scenic float trips between Marblemount and Concrete. For more information on the area's natural history, wildlife and geological formation, contact the North Cascades Institute, 360-856-5700 x 209. Winding down into small rural towns, the journey links to I-5 for Seattle or continues into the tulip fields of the Skagit Valley. Blooming April through June, daffodils, iris and tulips grown here are exported throughout the world.