Week 38 - Washington - Oregon-Washington - September 18 to September 24, 2023

MONDAY-18th

The first goal of the week was to get to Grand Coulee Dam.  did you know that a coulee is a deep ravine, probably with a stream at the bottom.  The dam's construction began in 1933 and ended in 1942.  It is considered on of the Seven Civil Engineering Wonders of the United States!  Think of it - those engineers only had slide rules and paper and pencils to work with.

Here's the dam in the distance with other views following.

We went on a tour - about fourteen tourist in a cramped van - and went into a powerhouse section that generates electricity used for pumping water up and into a manmade lake which is quite a bit higher in elevation that the water's surface.  This water is used to irrigate farmland in Idaho and Washington.  Initially, back in the 1930's the construction of the dam was used as a "make work" project for the unemployed of the Great Depression.  Some people say that the Grand Coulee Dam is one of the seven civil engineering wonders of the United States.

We left the dam site and headed south and west following along the river.  Honestly, it was kind of depressing because we realized that the river is no longer a river but is a series of lakes behind 14 dams (eleven in the US and 23 in Canada).  On the shores of the river/lake are massive apple and other fruit tree orchards.  Intermixed are huge warehouses which process all of the fruit.  Also, lots of retirement homes built on bluffs overlooking the river/lake - big fancy houses.

We drove until it started to get dark and we parked for the night at a very windy rest area (note windmills in the photo) and a beautiful sunset.   I tried to take the cats for a walk, but the wind was too much for them, and they only wanted to crawl under the soda pop vending machines.

TUESDAY - 19th

Today we headed west toward Mt Rainer.  I didn't want to drive back home following the Columbia that marks the border between Oregon and Washington - we've driven that route too many times.  So, we decided to take a northern route and visit the national park.  

The cats were excited.

The drive through Rainer was beautiful - and cloudy.

Mostly we learned that there are two destinations - Sunrise and Paradise...which was closed except on weekends and that we need to come back in the summer, in the camper, with a grandchild or two, camp at a campsite, and do some day hikes at higher elevations.

We returned home on Tuesday night - kind of tired, ready for routine.  Did a lot of cleaning up and returned to real life.

WEDNESDAY - FRIDAY

A lot of cat photos - I know when they're older, they won't be as cute, and I'll take fewer pictures.

Jack loves playing with his sock which has a jingle bell.

The two cats like to do synchronized napping.

Wrestling on the pedestal.

Abby came over and helped me water the little trees.  I was so grateful for er help.

THE WEEKEND- Warren has purchased tickets for the Beaver Washing State game...and then Whitney got sick.  So I went with him...in the camper.  It was weird to almost be driving to the same place where Dad and I had been just two weeks previously.  We left...too late on Friday afternoon and got to Spokane after dark.  We parked in a man's driveway...Warren got his name from an old high school fiend who lives in Spokane.  But they were out of town so she gave Warren this guys phone number - and he was up for having strangers park in his driveway.  

We spent the whole day sightseeing in Spokane.  First went to this bear enclosure.  Apparently WSU has a bear research center and a bunch of the bears are 'on display' behind a double fence. 

We walked all over the WSU campus which is build in the middle of many hills.  You get a real workout there walking up and down the hills.  We spent over an hour in line waiting to buy some ice cream cones and cheese, if we had wanted to.  Apparently WSU is famous for their cheese,  we should have bought some.

The game was a good one, but unfortunately we lost by two touchdowns....our first loss this season.

We spent Saturday night in a driveway in Spokane and then drove back to Oregon City on Saturday.