Oh!…the Fun of it!
Oh!…the Fun of it!
A day behind the wheel of a Porsche Taycan becomes a personal road trip through Snohomish County, blending luxury with nostalgia.
Porsche Taycan makes road trip to Duvall a dream
BY ELLEN HIATT
One of the family road trip photos I value the most has my children giggling uncontrollably, lined up in a Redwoods campground behind the family SUV, piled high with luggage and camping gear. We joked then that we looked like the Clampetts, making their way to Beverly Hills. There hasn’t been a road trip in their growing years that didn’t involve a stop at the auto parts store, a sack lunch out of the car trunk while waiting in a ferry line, or a malfunctioning air conditioner on one of summer’s muggiest days.
“It’s an adventure!” I’d shout out from the front seat. And they would groan. But to this day, every one of those adventures has been the source of family lore and fond memories.
Life is an adventure, with all its ups and downs. And a road trip, no matter how spare or how luxurious, is an adventure of its own. What will we discover next — about the world or about ourselves?
I thought about every one of those trips, the laughter, and the bevy of unknowns that travel with a family brings, when I took a more recent road trip of my own that tilted decidedly more toward the luxurious.
And I had to bring some of my family along.
“Grace!” I called my 22-year-old daughter on the phone to meet me. “I’m driving a Porsche, and you will want to drive it, too!”
This child of mine loves to drive. And she loves a road trip. But she’s never driven a Porsche. Neither had I. We didn’t know what we were in for.
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Treated to a day-long escape with my very own-for-the-day, “frozen berry metallic” colored, rear wheel drive, 2025 Taycan Sedan, I felt a thrill behind the wheel, and knew my daughter would as well.
So would my husband. At least he kept telling me he would, as I hit the gas for another out-of-body experience around each corner. It felt impossible to give up the driver’s seat.
We picked up the sweet ride at Porsche Seattle North in Lynnwood, a dealership that was bought out a few years back from its long-time owners who ran Porsche of Bellingham from the late 1980s to 2020. Jeff Swickard bought the dealership and moved it to Lynnwood, taking along with him at least four of their die-hard sales and service team, whose loyalty to the brand is rock solid. General Manager Travis Graddon has been part of the group for more than 30 years.
His team set me up with a gorgeous Taycan of my choosing. I opted for the subtle shimmer of the lightly lavender-hued beauty, having already heard about its stats: zero-to-60 in 4.5 seconds; battery electric vehicle powertrain with 274-plus mile range; and top track speed of 143 mph with summer tires.
I swung north to pick up my daughter, who could not contain her giddy enthusiasm when she had her chance to take it for a spin. But I was destined for a road trip, my husband beside me, and our dear friend of many years along for the ride in the back seat.
The interior is engineered to make the most of every inch, and the back seat was really not made for a passenger on a long trip. Our friend’s feet couldn’t slide under the seat in front of him, but it was otherwise roomy. Up front, though, from my vantage, it was seamless. The hood seemed to just slip out of view and I melded with the road. My fingers gripped the leather steering wheel, the clock on the dash ticked away in seconds — the only measure of time that matters when you’re in a Porsche.
We headed out from Monroe down to Duvall, then Carnation, taking a few curvy side roads because there’s nothing like the feel of a Porsche holding sway around a sharp corner.
It’s a particularly enjoyable road trip route anytime of year, with plenty of quality restaurants to provide sustenance along the way. We landed at Duvall Grill and Taproom, hoping only for enough variety to meet our trio’s varied tastes, but were blown away by the menu, where the spinach salad includes a croquette minimally noted as a “goat cheese crouton,” and the brisket is bourbon braised and served with chipotle creme on grits. Whatever you’re driving, jalopy or high performance sports car, I highly recommend this stop in Duvall.
By the time we finished the meal, chatted with the chef/owner of 18 years, Eric Roberts and his patrons, locals who know what a good thing they’ve got going on in Duvall, it was time to reluctantly return to Lynnwood and relinquish our ride.
Finally, I abandoned the thrill of being behind the wheel, and my husband drove us back, but by then the traffic and the hour left him little room to open her up and feel the power of the Taycan. I’ll not likely live that down!
I came away fully understanding why Porsche owners are so loyal, and often have one for the family road trip, one for the commute, and a third for the fun of it. Oh!…the fun of it!
I did, in fact, discover something new in our region in the Duvall Grill. And I learned something about myself: I can’t wait to drive a Porsche again.
