Why Snoqualmie:
One of my oldest friends, Taylor, was getting married! He recently moved from LA up to Seattle. In a first, my son Udo was invited to the wedding! This was the perfect opportunity for us to have our first family trip.
August 28, 2026: Birthday Flight
Today was my 35th birthday and my self-appointed birthday present was to take Udo on his very first flight. We drove over to the Burbank airport two and a half hours before our Alaska Airlines flight to Seattle. This is typically far too early to show up to the Burbank Airport but we didn’t know how to travel with an infant. Infants under the age of two are allowed to fly for free on domestic flights but don’t get a seat.
Turns out the whole process was not terrible. Infants on Alaska are allowed two free checked baby items which can be a stroller, bassinet, car seat, etc. We brought a car seat and bassinet which doubles as a stroller. There was no weight restriction for these bags. In addition, we checked one normal bag for Udo. Sheesh he needs a lot of stuff for such a short trip!
Going through security also took longer. We are allowed to bring formula in liquid form, but TSA needed to do a chemical test in each bottle. Additionally, they had to manually inspect our stroller.
When boarding, families got to board after first class and before Group 1 which allowed us to get situated and have overhead bag space for all our items.
According to online research, babies get the most upset during the takeoff and landing because of the air pressure changes.
In general, the flight went pretty smoothly. Udo cried a bit during the takeoff and a bit during the middle of the flight. But luckily everyone near us was enthralled by his cuteness and chill personality. We fed him during the landing and he was fine. Overall, we gave him a B grade.
On the ground, we picked up our luggage and took the shuttle to get our rental car. We lucked out and were upgraded to an SUV.
Since it was almost 14:00 and we still hadn’t eaten lunch, we stopped briefly in Renton to get some delicious Australian-style fish and chips.
We then continued into Snoqualmie, which was about 50 minutes east of SeaTac Airport. Our Airbnb was 10 minutes outside of town but literally next door to the wedding.
Outside of Seattle, Snoqualmie is best known for being the filming location of the TV show Twin Peaks. Maisie loves the show so we made a point of visiting key filming locations from the show.
First, we visited the Reinig Bridge, which featured in the opening scene of the pilot episode.
Then we visited Snoqualmie Falls. The 270 ft falls feature in the opening credits of Twin Peaks but are also the area’s most famous tourist attraction bringing in over 1.5 million visitors each year.
The main viewpoints are located on a cliff across from the falls.
There is also a lower viewpoint accessible by a 1-mile trail. I underestimated its steepness and had an adventure pushing Udo down and up the hill in the stroller.
On the way up the hill, I got a call from my dermatologist saying that a mole recently removed was benign but carried a high risk of turning into cancer. I am so glad I went in.
Back at the top of the falls, we visited the iconic Salish Lodge, which sits precariously atop the falls. And yes, it also features in Twin Peaks as the Great Northern Hotel. The luxury lodge has a restaurant that is supposedly one of the best in the region. Since it was my birthday, we decided to splurge. We ordered mussels, a burger, and some cocktails made with their own honey but the highlight was the cheesecake dessert.
As I blew out the candles, I reflected and realized I had so much to celebrate: a sweet loving family of three humans and two cats, so many wonderful friends including Taylor who invited me here to Snoqualmie, the start of a promising business that really helps people, and no cancer! Hard to ask for much more.
We drove back to our hotel, put Udo to bed at his normal 7pm bedtime and then went to bed ourselves. What a day.
August 29, 2026: Around the Valley
We woke up to a heavy rainstorm. Rain is typical in the Pacific Northwest but not in August.
Even though we are in King County (the same county as Seattle) and just 30 minutes from downtown, it really feels like we are in a remote rural area.
At 10, we drove into the town of North Bend where we met up with my business school friend Jordan. Jordan lives in Madrid, Spain but is from Seattle and was in town for his brother’s wedding. What luck!
We got breakfast at Twede’s Café, an iconic diner founded in 1941 that, shocker, also was heavily featured in Twin Peaks. The menu has numerous nods to the show including cherry pie and “damn fine coffee”. Many of the other patrons were Twin Peaks fans who made the pilgrimage to eat here.
I will say the food was damn fine. I ordered a burger and it was better than the Michelin-guide burger at the Salish Lodge by a mile.
It was still raining but the forecast called for it to let up. So, Jordan and I drove 10 minutes south to do the Seattle area’s most popular hike: Rattlesnake Ledge. Meanwhile Maisie went shopping with Udo at an outlet mall.
The hike is typically very crowded but was not due to the rain. Even luckier for us, the rain let up just 5 minutes in.
The 4-mile roundtrip hike winds up a forested slope and eventually reaches a stunning viewpoint.
Back at the car, we drove west to the town of Issaquah where Taylor and his fiancée Chana. We got beers with some friends and then toured their beautiful townhome. One part of having the wedding here in Seattle was to convince friends to move there. And…they made a convincing argument.
For dinner, we headed into the town of Snoqualmie itself. The cute walkable downtown is centered around a rail line that used to run all the way to Seattle. Now, there are weekend tourist trains to North Bend.
We got beers at the Snoqualmie Falls Brewery, which has been open since 1997.
Then we went to a BBQ spot in an old bank called Buckshot Honey that was unexpectedly amazing.
As is now typical for us traveling with a baby, we went to sleep very early.
August 30, 2026: Wedding Day
Today was the wedding day.
In the morning, we got brunch with my cousin Susan and her boyfriend Leonard.
We then got ready and headed over to the venue, which was all of 200 yards from our Airbnb.
After a beautiful ceremony with a backdrop of Mt. Si, we had cocktail hour followed by dinner and speeches.
Finally, there was dancing. Overall, it was a beautiful and chill wedding where I was able to thoroughly catch up with so many old friends.
The next morning, we woke up super early to fly home to Burbank.
Final Thoughts:
Snoqualmie is close to Seattle but feels a world apart. With tons of hiking, cute towns, and yes Twin Peaks sites, I really believe that Snoqualmie is a worthy travel destination in its own right and can enchant almost any visitor for a couple days.
Had Taylor not gotten married here I probably would have never spent any time in Snoqualmie, but I highly recommend it as more than just a day trip from Seattle.
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