49 summer delights in the Pacific Northwest

At Golden Gardens Beach, Seattle, 56-year-old swimmer Guila Muir emerges from a dip in Puget Sound. She swims one to two miles four times and week. “I’m practicing for a 5K in Alaska,” she said.   (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The fish mongers at Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle usually work before a big tourist audience.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park, which is admission-free, occupies nine formerly industrial acres along the Seattle waterfront near downtown.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Ray’s Boathouse, with views of Puget Sound, is a longtime Seattle favorite.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Seattle’s Green Lake features diving platforms in summer -- and lifeguards.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The Agua Verde Café & Paddle Club, overlooking Union in Lake Washington, Seattle.   (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Ballard Locks, Seattle. On a busy day, 600 ships pass through these locks. The facility (officially, it’s the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, built in 1911) also includes a fish ladder for salmon.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Archie McPhee has won wide fame as a Web retailer, but the novelty-meister also has a bricks-and-mortar shop at 1300 N. 45th St. in the Seattle neighborhood of Wallingford.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Theo Chocolate factory at 3400 Phinney Ave. is one of the neighborhood highlights in Seattle’s offbeat Fremont district.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Vladimir Lenin may not be your favorite 20th century historical figure, but somehow he ended up on a corner in the offbeat Seattle neighborhood of Fremont.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

From Seattle’s Gasworks Park, you get a broad view of the sailboats gathered for a traditional Tuesday night regatta.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Seattle’s Chelsea Station Bed & Breakfast is a small, stylish spot (just four roomy suites, children under 10 discouraged) in a residential neighborhood near the city zoo.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood has seen a surge in restaurants and night spots in recent years. Bimbo’s Cantina, shown here, had a three-star Yelp rating (last time I checked) and a reputation for big burritos.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Here’s Seattle’s Capitol Hill again -- this time, a wild-looking bar called Unicorn on East Pike Street. The website says the bar serves Jell-O shots. Since one of us was 7, we went for Molly Moon’s Homemade ice cream instead.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

While we ate our Molly Moon ice cream, we watched grown-ups play dodge ball. This is Cal Anderson Park, still on Seattle’s Capitol Hill, which hosts games on Wednesday and Friday nights.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Leavenworth, Wash., is a strange little slice of roadside Bavaria, along the highway between Seattle and Lake Chelan.   (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

In central Washington, three hours’ drive from Seattle, the town of Chelan sits at the southeast tip of long, narrow Lake Chelan. It’s a brilliant, busy spot on a summer weekend, yet few travelers outside of Washington state have ever heard of it.   (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The dominant lodging in Chelan, Wash., is Campbell’s Resort, which goes back to 1901. All 170 rooms face the lake.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Campbell’s Resort has 1,200 feet of lake frontage in Chelan but only one fire ring. So if you want s’mores -- as these people did -- you’ll need to claim the ring early.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Alongside Riverwalk Park in Chelan, Wash., a farmers market sets up shop on Thursday nights in summer. On the night we visited, a volunteer brought a barn owl to raise awareness of the birds’ habitats and habits.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

On the slopes overlooking Lake Chelan in central Washington, the Tsillan Cellars winery maintains vineyards , a tasting room, Sorrento’s restaurant and plenty of room for children to play.   (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Wineries and farm cover the hillsides surrounding Lake Chelan, Wash., including the Sunshine Farm, which runs a fruit stand and sends products to local farmers markets. Here, Sunshine Farm’s Renae Haug samples an apple.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The water at Lake Chelan’s southeast end is warm enough for swimming in summer. Here, at Campbell’s Resort, visitors are on a platform.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Baker Street is the main drag of Nelson, a town of about 10,000 alongside Kootenay Lake amid the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia. Steve Martin made the film “Roxanne” here in the 1980s.   (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Kootenay Lake, near Nelson, British Columbia, is cold for swimming, even in the summer, but it is just right for boaters and, lately, paddle boarders, too.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The big orange bridge over Kootenay Lake near Nelson, British Columbia, is officially known as the West Arm Bridge, because it crosses the lake’s west arm. But its nickname is Bob. As in B.O.B.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The All Seasons Café, which has an alley-front location, is acclaimed as one of the top restaurants in Nelson as well as all of British Columbia.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

From Lakeside Park, Nelson’s locals and tourists can enjoy a big view of Kootenay Lake. For an even bigger view and thrill, climb a piling and dive, as the young woman at right did.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Darwin’s Old World Bakery, which stands on Main Street in sporadically countercultural Nelson British Columbia, sells hemp cookies (which are entirely legal). They’re $2.25, locally made and really good. In fact, a little while after you have one, you may find yourself craving another one.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

How countercultural and artsy is Nelson, British Columbia? This bike’s decorations are one clue.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Here’s another clue to the character of Nelson, British Columbia. This gang was shooting some kind of video downtown.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Part of the Great Northern Rail Trail, a train route that’s now set aside for cyclists and hikers, runs through the trees along the edge of Nelson, British Columbia.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

New Grand Hotel in Nelson, British Columbia, features some rooms from 1913, some from 1939, and many under $100 nightly.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Though the town of Nelson continues to flourish, the Nelson Daily News shut down in 2010, leaving the town with a twice-weekly paper and various websites, but no daily newspaper. For the moment, the old Daily News offices remain on Main Street.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The Steve Martin movie “Roxanne,” shot in Nelson, British Columbia, included a group of goofball firefighters. But that was fiction (and 1987). On our last morning in town, we watched the Fire Department do a fine job of changing the banner over Main Street.   (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The Palouse region includes rolling hills and prime agricultural territory in southeastern Washington (seen here) and north-central Idaho.   (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

There are two Frank’s Diners in Spokane. The one along Washington‘s Highway 2, housed in a vintage railroad passenger car, makes a fine pit stop for drivers headed south from the Canadian border to Walla Walla.   (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The Backstage Bistro stands at 230 Main St. in Walla Walla, Wash., drawing many of the visitors who come for the area’s dozens of wineries.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

L’Ecole 41 is a winery just outisde Walla Walla, Wash., headquartered in an old schoolhouse.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Bright’s Candies, which goes back to 1934, is a popular Old School stop at 11 E. Main St. in Walla Walla, Wash.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Hood River, Ore., is best known for the wind surfers who risk life and limb on the neighboring Columbia River, and its main drag, Oak Street, has filled up with eateries, bars and shops catering to the water sports set.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Horsetail Falls, Ore., doesn’t get the attention enjoyed by its postcard-hogging neighbor, Multnomah Falls. But if you’re heading through the Columbia River Gorge along Highways 84 or 30 near Portland, it’s surely worth a stop.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Multnomah Falls, east of Portland, might be Oregon‘s most-photographed water feature, with a graceful bridge arching high and railroad tracks running below.   (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Portland’s 3-year-old Hotel Modera, once a Days Inn, now draws trendy travelers.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

You never know what or who you’ll find in Powell’s Books, a Portland institution since 1971. This is Taylor Kinzler, 25, of Arkansas, who had just finished bicycling from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Ore., in 70 days and wanted to celebrate by attending his first Phish concert.   (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The Hawthorne district of Portland, Ore., is known for Bohemian leanings, vintage shops and the Bagdad Theater & Pub, where you can enjoy pizza, a local brew and a movie -- all at once.   (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Mt. Tabor, an old volcanic cinder cone, rises in the southeast corner of Portland, Ore., attracting hikers, bikers and adventurers on all sorts of wheeled contraptions.   (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Surreys rent for $20-$30 hourly from Kerr Bikes at Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland, Ore. The fringe on top is free.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)