Old School House Brewery

We make a trip to Winthrop, Washington at least once a year for cross-country skiing. We took off from Seattle on Thursday making a four day holiday. Our group consisted of Rick Massie, Jim Darmiento and his wife Ione and my wife Linna Wei. About half way to Winthrop, we stopped for lunch at the Milepost 111 Brewing Company www.milepost111brewingcompany.com in Cashmere, Washington for a sandwich and beer.

We have been staying at the Cottonwood Cottage www.cottonwood-cottage.com for the last four visits. This three bedroom cabin is located on the outskirts of Winthrop right on the Methow River and walking distance from Methow Valley Trail System. The Methow Valley www.mvsta.com is considered to have more cross country ski trails than any other place in United States.

After settling into the Cottonwood Cottage we were off to our favorite pub house in Winthropâ€¦.the Old School Brewery www.oldschoolhousebrewery.com This small place has been around for years and if you donâ€™t get there early on weekends, you will find yourself standing. They have live music on Friday and Saturday and usually a different band each night.

This year the state of Washington didnâ€™t receive much snow including the Methow Valley which limited where we skied. We actually had to drive to higher elevation to find quality skiing.

: Cottonwood Cottage

: Freeman, Massie & Darmiento

: Freeman Snoozing

: Front Cabin View

: Ione Darmiento & Linna Freeman

: Jim & Ione Darmiento

: Freeman & Darmiento

: Rick Massie

: Darmiento, Massie & Freeman

Jim Darmiento, Rick Massie, my wife and I planned a trip to Winthrop, Washington for some cross-country skiing. Much of Washington didnâ€™t have the normal snow fall for this time of year and our ski trip wasn’t looking good. This all changed a couple days before our departure from Seattle, we received a major snowstorm that hit the whole state. Luckily Jim drove his F-250 4-wheel drive truck over with 500 pounds of sandbags in back. After two mountain passes and numerous white-outs we made it to our cabin after 4 hours of driving.

Since our cabin was just across the river from Winthrop, we had dinner in the small village our first night at the Old School House Brewery www.oldschoolhousebrewery.com. This place is a local favorite and also attracts all the tourist too. The second night was Chinese hotpot that Linna Wei put together, after our first day of skiing nearly ten miles, spicy hotpot was the answer. Before we went out the second day, Linna and I cooked up some fluffy pancakes and thick bacon. We headed right out after breakfast and skied nine miles. After another great day out in the winter wonderland, Linna and I headed back to the cabin for a nap and other activities. For dinner, we headed back into Wintrop and hit the Old School House Brewery again, this time there were two guys playing music, Tim Snider and Redwood Son www.bit.ly/z2E4TP. I didn’t record this video, but found it on You Tube and it was the night we were there…I remember the lady dancing in front of us.

Sunday, was pack up and head back to Seattle. Since it was still snowing and the passes would be nasty, we decided to drive one pass via Stevens Pass versus Blewett and Snoqualmie. It was slow going over Stevens, but as we descended….snow become rain and then we just had wet roads home. After unpacking and taking a quick shower, Linna and I ended our evening at the Paramount Theater seeing David Garrett www.david-garrett.com.