Tuesday, June 26, 2012

GOODBYE RAIN…HELLO SUNSHINE. SPOKANE, WA

Sunday, June 24 – A fitting “good-bye” from the Pacific Coast this morning when we pulled-out of the Bremerton Elks Lodge – It was raining and continued to pour until we topped the Snoqualmie Pass of the Cascade Mountains. Once over the mountains, the sun came out and it was a nice day with puffy white clouds.

raining

mountains

Boy is Eastern Washington different than the West Coast. This is agriculture country.

landscape in eastern washington

A particular nice farming area had signs all along I-90 telling you what crops were growing in the roadside fields. And they were irrigating the fields. Too bad the coast couldn't share some of that rain with these folks.

sign

potatoes sign

We were also surprised when we crossed over the Columbia River. It's dug a pretty impressive gorge here in the East, as well. Can't help of thinking about Lewis & Clark rowing down this river and the amazing sights they saw. It's so beautiful today, what was it like back then?

bridge ahead

Our destination today was Spokane, Washington. A longer drive than we like (six hours) but there aren't many stopping points between Seattle and Spokane. Oh, by the way, it's pronounced – Spo-Can, not Spo-cane.

Spokane

We are staying at another Elks Lodge – The Spokane Lodge on the eastside of the city. It is a very nice stop-over. Easy in and easy out from I-90. The cost is $15 for 50 amp electric and water. There is a dump station here at the campground. We are in site #17. There are 20 sites here at the Lodge. We have good satellite connection with our roof mounted Direct TV dish and good Verizon phone & Internet connections.

Plenty of room.
site 17

site 17

Rear view.
from the back

Looking left.
looking left

Looking right.
looking right

There is plenty of nearby shopping and being on the eastside of the city makes for an easy getaway when we leave, missing rush hour traffic.

Some places wrestle with chipmunks, some with ground hogs, here….marmots.
marmot

Unfortunately, the Lodge is closed on Sunday and Monday so we can't report on the activity at the Elks Lodge. The hosts in the campground are very friendly and met us as we pulled-in. The campground is nearly full tonight with only two or three open sites. Lucky for us, the site next to us is open giving us a nice lawn to relax on and enjoy the beautiful weather here in Eastern Washington. Bella loves that grass!

We had a lovely sky tonight. We hope to catch the sunset tomorrow night.
sky at night

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

19 comments:

  1. That's interesting they put signs out with what type of crop is growing....we always wonder.

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  2. We had a lot of puffy white clouds yesterday too. Showers were predicted but we were glad the weatherman was wrong. Eastern Washington is definitely different than Western Washington. We'd like to send them a little rain too.

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  3. nice that you found the sunshine!..heading east are you?

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  4. That sounds like a great spot to kick back and relax.

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  5. Looks to be a pretty busy Elk's Lodge CG. You are sure getting your money's worth out of your Elk's membership.

    Now that you've left the west coast, you'll get a good chance to dry out for a bit. It sure has been a wet spring and early summer here - one of the worst I can remember.

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  6. Ditto what Rick said. It rained here yesterday like it was mid-winter...just POURED! Glad you are finding some sunshine finally.

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  7. Did you belong to the Elks before you started traveling?

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  8. We were also surprised at how different eastern Washington and Oregon looked compared to the west. Hope you can put away that rain gear now!

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  9. Nice of them to let people know what's been planted in the fields. I often wonder about that as we drive through agricultural areas.

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  10. Crossing the mountains out of Seattle heading east is like going to another state. As you get over to Idaho check out Farragut State Park. It was a large naval training base during WWII. Beautiful spot.

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  11. The clouds get hooked on the mountains tearing holes in them so all the rain leaks out before it gets across. :)

    Our daughter is living in Spokane through the rest of this week. She takes off Friday to hike the Pacific Coast Trail. She can tell you about hikes in the Spokane area. If you are interested let me know and I'll put you in contact with her.

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  12. That critter looks like a huge rat! Yuck...

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  13. You're getting close, very close. Be daring, cross over. Our friends and your followers - Sue and Doug - will be here this weekend. Remember, this is Canada's big weekend - Canada Day.

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  14. I wish more states would label their crops. I know what corn and soy beans look like and a few others, but it would sure perk up the drive. :)

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  15. neat that they label the crops...I can pick out a few but not everything...and we're always saying humm what are they planting there...looks like a great park...enjoy

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  16. Thats great that they label their crops... We're always wondering what is planted. Ive got corn pretty well figured out... but thats about it! Glad you drove into the Sunshine. Tomorrow is suppose to be the beginning of much warmer temperatures here. Yay!!

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  17. At 65 mph these Midwesterners can only identify corn and soybeans.

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  18. Well, at least your weather was consistent...even on the day you left the area.

    Yeah for sunshine. Hopefully, it will be shining on you for the rest of your summer travels. You've had enough cool, foggy, rainy to last TWO springs/early summers!

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  19. Good to see some good weather I bet !

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