Sept. 16, 2010

Departed Coeur D'Alene, ID, early after a hearty breakfast at the good old campsite, the Comfort Inn ... lots of coffee to get us going and good conversation with a local gentleman, a sporting goods salesman!  We jumped into our "steed" and got on the road.  The trip went well, though we were in heavy mist for the first part of it.  By 9:00 a.m., we'd arrived in Washington State.

Having left Glacier the day before, we were a bit surprised at all of the commercial development between Coeur D'Alene and Spokane, WA.  But after we passed the Spokane area, the highway opened out onto the Columbia Plateau.  Here were great agricultural stretches, first cattle ranching and then farming.  By the mile markers we knew we had about 275 miles to Seattle.  We stopped at a rest stop along the way for "Tired? Free coffee."  Though not really tired, we stopped to see what this was about.  Apparently, different local non-profits staff a free coffee and snack stand along I 90.  The gentleman there on the 16th was from a local church, and we heard him talking to a couple, welcoming them, and then us, and giving information as he was able ... a nice touch!

We continued through vast stretches of cattle ranches and then the landscape changed to crop farming.  Somewhere during this long stretch, we almost took out a coyote.  He was sitting right in my lane of the highway as I was passing a camper on my right.  I veered to the left to avoid him ... he got up and trotted right where I was headed ... fortunately I had time to pull back to the right and avoid him.  It was very close, and I'm glad it turned out the way it did; I've had a fear of hitting something!

Anyway, along another stretch of highway, various fields were identified with signs on the fences: we both thought this was very cool.  We saw fields of both sweet and field corn, alfalfa, sunflowers, potatoes.  The fields went on for miles and miles, and I would wager all were irrigated.  They were beautiful and quite productive.  We were also seeing indications of energy production ... two large windfarms (one probably 100 mills, a second probably 60).  Eventually, we learned how all of the crop production, irrigation, and energy generation were connected, but not until later.  At noon we had reached the Columbia River Gorge.  The river literally cuts through the Columbia Plateau.  One minute you are riding high on the plateau; the next you are descending into the river valley, and then ascending again, but into a very different landscape, one of pine forest and moisture.

Columbia River Gorge

Right after driving over the river, we stopped at a state park that overlooked the river, the Petrified Forest State Park.  We learned from a man there that the Coulee Dam, upriver from where we were, is what makes the agriculture we'd seen possible.  The Columbia Plateau (desert conditions naturally) is irrigated with Columbia River water!  It is amazing ... I guess this area is like Israel in a way ... the desert here is blooming, too!

This area is a geologic wonder!  At the park we saw beautiful examples of petrified wood, which had been buried under layers of basalt (lava) eons and eons ago.  From the park, it was easy to see the basalt layers in the rock on the opposite shore ... amazing, awesome, and humbling.

Petrified Lumber

While we were at the park, an air force training (?) jet flew right down the gorge.  The sound was deafening and I couldn't find the plane; Meredith saw it IN the gorge sooner than I.  Later I saw it downstream veering and soaring right down the path of the river!  If that pilot wasn't training, he/she shouldn't have been doing this manuver!

Lewis and Clark were on the Columbia River, but they entered from the Snake River, 75 miles downstream from us.  Following the river to the ocean will have to be another adventure, but I would love to see the area where they went through very dangerous rapids!  Perhaps they don't even exist anymore.

As mentioned above, after the Columbia River, the landscape started to change to forest.  We stopped along the way at Easten State Park and took a short hike along the Yakima River.  They have beautiful campsites, even if a little wet.  After this hike, we thought we might stop at another state park, but by the time we approached that park, it was raining so we drove on to Seattle, where we landed at friends of Meredith's.  They have a beautiful home overlooking Washington Lake ... quite a setting and quite a beautiful place!

Yakima River