Douglas County

Hi all sorry a couple of big days and no time to blog, trying to Catch up tonight.
A reasonable early start to the day from Bonners Ferry, the plan for the day was to get to Wenatchee. We had a really restful night and a great breakfast at a diner just down the road. We expected the drive to not hold to much in terms of views or landmarks and that is just what we got.
The countryside quickly changed from the pine laden hills of the Idaho panhandle as we moved South West towards Spokane. Ahh… Spokane where we planned to have a look around, we found on arrival that they were having an event called Hoop Fest and the city streets were diverted. We attempted to find a lookout but no good on that score as well. We paid Spokane off as a bad joke and it was chewing up time, so we continued, that said what we did see indicated that it is a lovely place.
From Spokane, we continued west through miles and miles and miles and did I say miles of wheat fields with very little change. The scenery changed briefly when we hit a huge expanse of water and Coulee Dam, and just after a large gorge where two tectonic plates meet. We went through many small towns all seemingly a day’s ride from each other.
One standout was Waterville where we stopped by chance and saw a museum. This museum was on of the best that we have seen with rock displays, pioneering displays, a 45 star 1900 US flag, farming implements and more. Finally, we reached the Wenatchee River and its abundant stone fruit crops. Cherries, Peaches, Nectarines, Plums, Apricots. We stopped and picked up a punnett of the best cherries I have ever eaten.
The accommodation was scarce, and we learned that there was a state baseball championship being held. The rooms that were available were very pricey. We drove back to East Wenatchee and same applied. A decision was made to continue, but we also new that the fact that it is summer holiday we had moved into an alpine region again and the July 4 holiday might conspire against us. It did we checked hotels in Cashmere, Leavenworth, Coles Corner, Skyomish, Gold Bar and Sultan. Even Monroe had nothing. All of this meant that we had driven through what was our Saturday plan Stevens Pass. Stevens Pass was amazing again following a fast-moving river and climbing through this alpine region. The town of Leavenworth is named with all Bavarian and Swiss chalets and resorts.
We stopped at Monroe to regroup all feeling shattered from a long day, we ate at a diner and checked the accommodation situation. Our decision was to push on into Seattle rather than to stop on the outskirts. And so, it was that we navigated in failing light into Washington states largest city, with being in Seattle a night early we formulated a new plan and turned in for the night.Read more