Clarkston, WA and Change of Plans

We arrived in Clarkston on Wednesday, June 26, in the midst of a thunderstorm.  We stopped for gas in Lewiston, Idaho, just across the river from Clarkston, and some of the streets were flooded!  The next day, the heat wave hit and the temperatures have been very high.

Here's what we saw a lot of during our drive from Wenatchee to Clarkston.  This is wheat area, as well as other grains and crops.   

In Clarkston, we like to stay at Granite Lake Premier RV Resort.  Our site, #36, faced the part of the Snake River called Granite Lake. 

See our bicycles in the picture?  Just beyond the green grass in front of our motorhome is a paved greenbelt multi-use path that follows the Snake River for 8 miles.  On Thursday, Dave and I rode the full 16 miles round trip.  On Friday, Dave played golf at Quail Ridge while I rode 13 miles along the bike path.  The only problem was that it was HOT, so we had to do it all early in the day.

The path from the RV sites to the bike path. 

On Friday morning when I finished my bike ride I saw this sternwheeler docked along the river.  The Queen of the West was being cleaned and rubbish removed.  It stayed in that spot for a couple of days and departed on June 29. To see the itinerary of the sternwheeler along the Columbia and Snake Rivers, click here. 

On Saturday, the weather was so hot that we decided to forego our attempts at exercise, and go sightseeing in the car instead.  Our destination was the Snake River Road.

We couldn't drive as far as Hell's Canyon on this road, but we saw some spectacular scenery.

Boaters and sunbathers were enjoying the hot weather.

In the afternoon, we drove to the Idaho side of the Snake River and explored Hell's Gate State Park.  We visited the new Discovery Center and watched the 30-minute movie about Lewis and Clark and their journey through Idaho.

From the grounds of the Discovery Center, we could see what I call "Big Rock" on the Washington side of the river between Clarkston and Asotin.  We had biked by there.  I don't know the actual name of that rock.

A view of the Snake River from the Discovery Center.

Also located in the state park was the new Jack O'Connor Center.  Do any of you know who he was?  I didn't know, but I learned that he was a famous big game hunter and author.  The Center houses his collection.    

We looked at the very nice camping spots, a few of which had full hookups, and as we drove back out of the Hell's Gate State Park, we saw this occupied osprey nest.

Now, about that change of plans.  We decided it was too hot for us in Clarkston, and was only going to get hotter.  We had planned to go from there to the Tri-Cities, WA, but it was predicted to be even hotter there.  So we decided to head for home on Sunday. 

We are now at home and it's hot here, too, but we will only be here for one day, and then we'll head to the coast, specifically Astoria, where the temperatures are much cooler.  So in a way, we'll be following the Lewis and Clark expedition, and the sternwheeler, from the Snake River to the mouth of the Columbia River.  As Captain William Clark wrote in his journal when they finally reached the Pacific Ocean, (sic) "Ocian in view!  O! The joy!"

Wenatchee, WA

We are now in (hot) Clarkston, Washington.  But on the way here from Winthrop, we spent two nights in Wenatchee.  When in Wenatchee, we like to stay at Wenatchee Confluence State Park.  We would have liked to stay more than two nights, but that's all that we could reserve.  It's a popular state park!

Site #20 has full hookups with 30 amp power. 

The view from our site.

The view of the Columbia River from our site.

The last time we were in Wentachee was a little over two years ago.  At that time, we discovered Country Boy's, a yummy barbecue place in the nearly town of  Cashmere. 

The food is delicious.  Between the two of us, we tried the brisket, pulled pork, and chicken.  We both agreed that the pulled pork was our least favorite, but they all tasted good!

The ribbon fries are my real favorite!  Yum!

One of the things we like to do in Wenatchee is to ride our bicycles around the Apple Loop multi-use trail.  But we had scattered showers both days we were there, so we settled for going for a walk instead.

Now that we are in Clarkston, the weather has turned hot.  Our thermometer says 101 right now!

Winthrop, WA--Part 2

Here is a bit of the scenery we saw as we drove east on Highway 20 from Marblemount to Winthrop. 

There's a lot to see and do in this part of the Methow (pronounced met-how) Valley.  Right across the street from Pine Near RV Park, where we stayed, was the Shafer Museum, where the log cabin that is known as "The Castle"  was built by Guy Waring, founder of Winthrop.  This museum operates by donations and is well worth a visit.

Mining drew settlers to the Methow Valley.  As the sign says, few miners struck it rich, but many stayed on to farm and ranch with their families.

The town has a pedestrian suspension bridge at each end of town, crossing the Chewuch River.  This river merges with the Methow River, which eventually merges with the Columbia River.

On the west end of town is "The Barn", an event center and city park.

On Saturday morning we drove a few miles east and went to the Farmer's Market in Twisp.

Twisp, WA, is a small "artsy" town, as opposed to Winthrop being a small "cowboy" town.

We ate lunch back in Winthrop at Duck Brand Restaurant, one of the original restaurants in the area.  Guy Waring, who founded Winthrop in 1891, came west after he graduated from Harvard.  He hated liquor, but he opened Duck Brand Saloon so that he could "control" the alcohol and boot out the drunks.  The original location of the saloon is now the town hall.

Waring's Harvard classmate, Owen Wister, spent his honeymoon in Winthrop in 1898.  Four years later, Wister completed "The Virginian" and the first western novel burst open an unsuspecting nation.  Waring named Winthrop after the colonial Governor John Winthrop of Massachusetts.  

Suspension bridge at the southeast end of town, along a multi-use paved trail.

The trail led to a hockey rink/soccer field.

On Sunday, our last day in Winthrop, we drove northwest on Highway 20 to the village of Mazama.  We were looking for a hiking trail which featured a third suspension bridge.  We found the trail, but not the bridge.  It's a beautiful area and in the winter this area is noted for Nordic skiing.

These skiers were keeping up their skills, even though it was summer.  Their skis were on rollers.

Community trail in Mazama.

We parked at the trailhead and ate our picnic lunch while we listened to  an "armchair church" podcast in the car, with this as our view.

We didn't take the uphill hike to this fire lookout station.

The tepees at Pine Near RV Park were popular with families.

After four nights in Winthrop, we headed south to Wenatchee for a couple of nights.