May 30. 2024
Left
Missoula, MT at 9AM Mountain Time arrived Wenatchee, WA 3PM Pacific Time Early temp 41 degrees can see our breath,
sky is partly cloudy. Temp average 65
degrees Miles 367 36.2 mp gallon gas cost $3.64 average speed limit 65-70 mph Total trip driving miles to date 2451
Day 5. Awoke to cool temps. Room comfortable and good amenities, slept
with the window open. Breakfast: prepared breakfast sandwiches and quiches and
waffles, hot and cold cereals, fruit and fruit juice and Danish. Missoula is a pretty place ringed by
mountains and confluence of three rivers.
Houses around the campus are very tiny with cute exterior décor. The Clark Ford River is a major river and we
follow its valley covered with thick dark pine trees. Narrow valleys and high passes. There are truck emergency lanes on the steep
descents and chains required in winter. It
is a very lovely drive. We pass into
Idaho with its narrow valleys and history of silver and gold mining. This is the ‘panhandle’ of Idaho, a very
narrow northern part of the state laying between MT and WA. Lake Coeur d’Alene is very beautiful and huge
blue waters surrounded by homes. We’ve
driven southern Idaho and it is very different with its flat terrain with
fields of potatoes.
Into
Washington State through Spokane. Now we are in Pacific Time, gaining one hour,
now 3 hours from Ohio. Eastern WA is very agricultural. It is obvious this arid land with rocky,
light brown soil and sage brush must be managed consistently and
carefully. As we move west, we pass
through cattle grazing and huge potato farms, requiring a lot of
irrigation. As we near the Cascade
Mountains that still have a little snow on them, we are also nearing the mighty
Columbia River. We have left I90 taking two lane State Route 281 into Wenatchee. Many irrigation canals
and ponds crisscross the land and reveal a huge agricultural area of many kinds
of fruits, vineyards, some veg and acres and acres of Cascade hops. Specialty breweries identify Cascade hops in
their brewing. The Columbia River comes
into view, deep swift current, sided with steep rock cliffs carved by the
river. Dark brown spires of various
shapes and pocked with holes.
We follow the river into Wenatchee, an old town on the river. This area is more a gentle slope. We are staying at the Marriott Fairhill Suites on the east bank. Nice hotel, somewhat new and lots of good amenities. Room is very nice with large bathroom. We have had small refrigerators in all our rooms and most have had microwaves. We can see over the whole city on the west bank, there is a Jo-Ann Fabric and a Macy’s across from our hotel. It still very sunny and fairly windy, in low 70’s. The front desk recommends cc in historic downtown. The restaurant is in an historic building and it is very funky and fun inside. We sit outside in a hut built with odds and ends of lumber and metal screens, colored light, wind chimes and flowers. The food is excellent, local brews; Chuck has a hanger steak with mash and nice streamed kale and broccoli. Pat has a Mediterranean quinoa salad and Med flat bread with pesto, avocado, olives, red onion and feta, YUM! They make all their own desserts from scratch. Chuck gets peanut butter cheesecake and Pat gets German Chocolate cake to go. Chuck loves the cake; Pat’s piece is huge and saves some for later. Deep chocolate moist cake topped with coconut/pecan brown sugar frosting. It took until now to find a restaurant where all the food is excellent. Back to the room to repack for the ferry. Beautiful sunset and after dark we can see a large lighted cross on a high hill looking down on the city.
We will board tomorrow in Bellingham. It will be nice to sleep and eat in one place
for a few days and no driving but lots of sightseeing!
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