[ALONG THE SCENIC HIGHWAYS.]

From Vancouver, Washington, this highway starts northward through the prune and plum orchards of Clarke county, where more of these trees grow than in all other parts of the state combined. Along the banks of the historic Columbia and through the fertile valley of the Cowlitz, it winds toward Kelso, famous for smelt fisheries; and Castle Rock, the gateway to Mount St. Helens. Deviating to the right at Vader, the north fork of the picturesque Chehalis is soon reached, which fertile valley is followed to the cities of Chehalis and Centralia, two rapidly growing railroad centers having a combined population of 15,500 people. Groves, orchards, gardens and prairies line the smooth gravelly road from here to Olympia, where the first view of Puget Sound is obtained. The desire to swerve off toward Grays Harbor or the Olympic Peninsula by the newly completed Olympic Highway, or to try the steamer on the peaceful Sound, is with difficulty overcome; but the Pacific Highway finally wins and draws one on toward Tacoma, thirty-two miles northeast. Rising above the famous Nisqually flats, and descending again to cross the oak moor lands marking the beginning of Tacoma's playgrounds and reminding one of southern England, the road soon enters Tacoma, third city in population in the state.

Along the Puyallup and White river valleys, the course leads, touching at Puyallup and Sumner, famous for berry culture; at Auburn and Kent, centers of a rich dairy section; and at Renton, bristling with manufacturing importance near the southern end of beautiful Lake Washington. A dozen miles more and you are on the streets of Seattle, metropolis of the northwest and third city in size west of the Rocky Mountains.

Northward the course continues. A broad paved road winds along by Lake Washington to Bothel, passing several pretty lakes, entering green woods, intersecting meadows, crossing streamlets, rising to sightly plateaus and descending again to peaceful valleys before it reaches Everett, a city of 32,000, located on an eminence overlooking the waters of the Sound.

The next town reached is Marysville, whence the highway skirts the Tulalip Indian reservation, crosses the Stillaguamish river in the Sylvan Flats and enters Stanwood where a scenic road branches off to Camano Island. At Mount Vernon and Burlington, where it intersects the Skagit county road leading from Anacortes eastward to the mountains, one may appreciate the famous Skagit Valley, the "Holland of the Northwest," where 173 bushels of oats to the acre have been yielded on land protected from the sea and river by immense dykes.

Within ten miles of Bellingham the Water Front Road is reached, said to be the most picturesque on the entire route: for the Sound is plainly seen from the shaded highway which clings to the side of Chuckanut Mountain, while the electric interurban and the Great Northern railway traverse the waterfront below. Bellingham, a city of 30,000, has innumerable attractions to hold the tourist, who still has twenty miles' journey if he would follow the Pacific Highway to the Washington limit at Blaine, the most northwesterly municipality in the United States. Near by is the Whatcom County Government Farm, the only one in the northwest; where bulb growing rivals the same industry in Holland.

SUNSET HIGHWAY.

The Sunset Highway is the only route at present permitting through automobile traffic across the Cascade mountains and connecting the western with the eastern counties. Throughout its full four hundred miles from Seattle to Spokane it introduces the tourist to scenes which for diversity and pleasant surprises, varying from rugged mountains and roaring waterfalls to peaceful irrigated valleys or broad wheat plains, can nowhere be duplicated. With the exception of a few miles the grades are never more than five per cent.

Branching off from the Pacific Highway at Renton, it rises northeastward to the headwaters of the Snoqualmie River. Just below the town of Snoqualmie appear the wonderful falls of the same name, the "Niagara of the West." This immense stream of water falling 268 feet, is now harnessed to supply power and light to the cities and towns of Puget Sound. Following the banks of this river the highway penetrates entrancing forests and exposes many a remarkable panorama. Both road and river are at times clearly visible from the Chicago-Milwaukee trains puffing towards the summit.