Seattle to Spokane at 70 m.p.h.

Well, not exactly starting in Seattle, but close by (and it makes the title sound cooler)!

Last Saturday Bruce and I rocketed to Spokane from our house near Seattle (about, ummm, 260 miles). We stayed over night at my Dad's and took a few truckloads of furniture to his new duplex on the north side of Spokane. It was a short visit but a good one. I hadn't seen Dad for awhile and missed his hugs.



Since the birth of my blog, I try to have a camera nearby when I leave home for any place other than boring old Safeway. Being "Memorial Day Saturday" the traffic was pretty erratic. It gave me a chance to take some pictures...most of them at 70 m.p.h. (I apologize in advance for the bird poop on the windshield.)

First we climbed Snoqualmie Pass, the west/east I-90 corridor through the Cascade Mountain Range. At the top of the pass we're at an altitude of 3022 ft. It's quite a hill.



Kacheelus Lake was filled to the brim with snow melt and will provide water for both sides of the mountain range this summer --- irrigation for the drier valleys to the east and drinking water for thirsty Seattle. The lake is the beginning of the Yakima River and it's name is a native American term meaning "few fish". Shhhh...don't tell that to the guys in the testosterone impregnated bass boats!



The Stuart Mountain Range, within the Cascades, provided some craggy snow covered peaks to shoot!





"Roll On Mighty Columbia, Roll On" loomed out my now bug splattered side window. The beautiful and powerful Columbia River is the largest hydroelectric power producing river in North America.



The hillsides along the mighty Columbia River where festooned with magnificent wind generators. Geesh, I really want a smaller version of one of these big daddies.





The return trip on Sunday? Just scroll up from the bottom of this post to the top. Pretty much gets you back to Seattle, minus the Memorial Day traffic! Sweet.