Hey everyone, are there any bigfoot (or sasquatch) believers here? Who here have seen the movie, "Harry and the Hendersons"? About 2 weeks ago, I had to go to Gold Bar for Crossmark (had to do a job at the Family Grocer). Afterwards, I wanted to visit a coffee shop where I can have my lunch (have been on the 30/10 weight loss diet lately) and get coffee, so I went out towards Index (just a few miles east of Gold Bar) and ended up visiting the Espresso Chalet. Interestingly, the location is well known for its appearance in the movie, "Harry and the Hendersons". For those of you who don't know, it is a movie about a family who encounters a "friendly" sasquatch while driving on some backroad in the cascades (Stampede Pass?) and the family must cope with having a bigfoot in their residence for a while (at least till they can release him back in the wild, which leads to some crazy happenings around Seattle).
Here are pictures I got of the place:
Above is a trailer for the movie on youtube. You can watch the full movie either on Netflix (it is currently on the listings there last I checked) or I am sure you can buy it on Amazon (see http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Hendersons-Special-Don-Ameche/dp/B000MRNWKG?ie=UTF8&creativeASIN=B000MRNWKG&linkCode=w00&linkId=BW3WCVC46WJYGMQC&ref_=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til&tag=rjsavjoma-20) for a link to the movie(s) on Amazon.
Foods for thought:
- I had no idea that the espresso chalet was featured in Harry in the Hendersons, but I went back and watched the movie and was able to confirm it (though it may have been a gas station at the time).
- Do real life big foots exist? While Harry and the Hendersons is a work of fiction, there are people that claim they have seen real life bigfoots or sasquatches and the Pacific Northwest is apparently a hotspot for sightings. The espresso chalet even had some books and brochures that you could buy that talks all about the creature. Personally I have never seen or heard a sasquatch, but there is that part of me that wants to believe they exist. If you have any experiences with the creatures, feel free to share your stories in the comments section. Like the commentators in IGN once said (on GTA San Andreas once said): I want to believe they exist, but I want to see real evidence that bigfoot is real (such as a clear photograph of one or even a video that surpases that of the Patterson film). By the way, the Bigfoot Field Organization website specializes on bigfoots and even has a database of sightings that take place all across the US and the globe for that matter. You can check out their website at www.bfro.net.
- While I do live in the Seattle area in present time (2016), back when the movie was made (1987), I was actually living in the Chicago area in Illinois). Was probably about 5 years old at the time the movie was made and was living in the house I was at on Timber lane in Lindenhurst (maybe about 5 miles south of the Wisconsin border and just off of the Interstate 94 freeway). I was in Illinois for over 9 years before moving to the Seattle area in 1994 (of course by now, my time in Washington has surpassed my time in Illinois by over 20 years). I am pretty familiar with the Seattle area by now. By the way, you know the exit that the family takes to go to "mount rainer", it is actually the exit for highway 522, lake city way. I've been up and down that road on many different locations, especially between highway 2 and interstate 405. It starts off as a boulevard arterial and makes a popular alternate route to Seattle from the east side (especially with the new 520 bridge tolls) and does have some freeway stretches between Interstate 405 and highway 2 in Monroe. According to the DOT website, there are long term plans to upgrade the route to a full freeway between Bothell and Monroe and about 2/3 of the route is a freeway (especially with the Monroe section done), but there is still about a 3 mile gap that is a super 2 freeway and even has a stoplight in Maltby (currently the only stoplight on the road between Monroe and Bothell). It is not clear when the gap will be bridged due to funding issues (they should widen it considering that both Monroe and Snohomish are fast growing communities and 522 is a major thoroughfare between Seattle and Monroe with congestion growing every year, especially in the afternoon commutes).
- Espresso Chatlet can be a popular pitstop point for people heading to Leavenworth.
(more will be added later as I think of more)
Well, that is all for my blog post and hope you enjoyed it.
Like this post? Feel free to "like" and share this post. Feel free to bookmark this blog for your convenience too. Your support for this site will be most appreciated
Ryan Jones
ps - Have you seen a bigfoot or sasquatch and have a story you want to share? Feel free to share them in the comments below.
Here are pictures I got of the place:
 |
| Here is a picture of what the Espresso Chalet may have looked like at the time of Harry and the Hendersons. May have been a gas station along highway 2 long before it became an espresso stand. |
 |
| Here is a statue of what looks like a sasquatch waving at cars as they drive by on Highway 2 along with a sign welcoming people to the Cascade Mountains. Highway 2 quickly transition from a country highway to a mountain highway east of Gold Bar and goes over Stevens Pass and eventually goes to Wenatchee and even Spokane. It is a popular alternate route (along with highways 12 and 410 to the south and highway 20 to the north) to Interstate 90 when going across the mountains |
 |
| Here is a picture of the espresso chalet today. It is an espresso stand/coffee shop nestled out in the woods. This is what the place looks like today. I actually had a picinic there myself (had a Americano, soup, and salad like I normally do). |
 |
| Another picture of the Espresso Chalet Espresso Stand. The building to the left seems to be where the "Bigfoot Mueum" was in "Harry and the Hendersons". Now it seems to be the back office building for the espresso stand workers. |
Foods for thought:
- I had no idea that the espresso chalet was featured in Harry in the Hendersons, but I went back and watched the movie and was able to confirm it (though it may have been a gas station at the time).
- Do real life big foots exist? While Harry and the Hendersons is a work of fiction, there are people that claim they have seen real life bigfoots or sasquatches and the Pacific Northwest is apparently a hotspot for sightings. The espresso chalet even had some books and brochures that you could buy that talks all about the creature. Personally I have never seen or heard a sasquatch, but there is that part of me that wants to believe they exist. If you have any experiences with the creatures, feel free to share your stories in the comments section. Like the commentators in IGN once said (on GTA San Andreas once said): I want to believe they exist, but I want to see real evidence that bigfoot is real (such as a clear photograph of one or even a video that surpases that of the Patterson film). By the way, the Bigfoot Field Organization website specializes on bigfoots and even has a database of sightings that take place all across the US and the globe for that matter. You can check out their website at www.bfro.net.
- While I do live in the Seattle area in present time (2016), back when the movie was made (1987), I was actually living in the Chicago area in Illinois). Was probably about 5 years old at the time the movie was made and was living in the house I was at on Timber lane in Lindenhurst (maybe about 5 miles south of the Wisconsin border and just off of the Interstate 94 freeway). I was in Illinois for over 9 years before moving to the Seattle area in 1994 (of course by now, my time in Washington has surpassed my time in Illinois by over 20 years). I am pretty familiar with the Seattle area by now. By the way, you know the exit that the family takes to go to "mount rainer", it is actually the exit for highway 522, lake city way. I've been up and down that road on many different locations, especially between highway 2 and interstate 405. It starts off as a boulevard arterial and makes a popular alternate route to Seattle from the east side (especially with the new 520 bridge tolls) and does have some freeway stretches between Interstate 405 and highway 2 in Monroe. According to the DOT website, there are long term plans to upgrade the route to a full freeway between Bothell and Monroe and about 2/3 of the route is a freeway (especially with the Monroe section done), but there is still about a 3 mile gap that is a super 2 freeway and even has a stoplight in Maltby (currently the only stoplight on the road between Monroe and Bothell). It is not clear when the gap will be bridged due to funding issues (they should widen it considering that both Monroe and Snohomish are fast growing communities and 522 is a major thoroughfare between Seattle and Monroe with congestion growing every year, especially in the afternoon commutes).
- Espresso Chatlet can be a popular pitstop point for people heading to Leavenworth.
(more will be added later as I think of more)
Well, that is all for my blog post and hope you enjoyed it.
Like this post? Feel free to "like" and share this post. Feel free to bookmark this blog for your convenience too. Your support for this site will be most appreciated
Ryan Jones
ps - Have you seen a bigfoot or sasquatch and have a story you want to share? Feel free to share them in the comments below.
Comments
Post a Comment