Well, this morning we woke up to, you guessed it, rain! I had to quickly dash to the car to get my jacket because of the wet cool weather and then we packed everything up again for today's trip. We had kind of planned to visit the Boeing factory here in Everett. However, the rush hour traffic here in this part of Washington state is like the Lower Mainland in BC or Toronto Ontario. We also didn't know if we 
could get to the Boeing plant in time for the first tour, so in the end we decided to get out of town fast and into the more rural part of the trip. We took route 2 east which is mostly a 2-lane highway and and excellent road. Up until Monroe, there wasn't much to see, a lot of farms and commercial enterprises line the road and it's pretty flat. However, just past Monroe the road goes up into the Cascade Mountains. Now, let me tell you, if you ever have a chance to travel route 2, I highly recommend you take this highway over Interstate 90. From Monroe to Leavenworth this road is one of the most scenic roads we have travelled so far. On the west side of the Stevens Pass (4061ft) the forest is again the typical Pacific rain forest. Moss grows everywhere and the undergrowth is lush and green and wet. We saw lots of old forest Douglas fir trees, some of them enormous. We drove for quite awhile along the Skykomish River which is wild and wonderful (as are all the tributaries). Note that by now it was still cloudy but the rain had diminished to a bit of spitting on and off. The temperature went down to 4 deg C though.
We stopped along the road to take some pictures of some unusual wood carvings, inclucluding this eagle feeding her young. The nest is made from an upturned tree's root system. Neat eh?
could get to the Boeing plant in time for the first tour, so in the end we decided to get out of town fast and into the more rural part of the trip. We took route 2 east which is mostly a 2-lane highway and and excellent road. Up until Monroe, there wasn't much to see, a lot of farms and commercial enterprises line the road and it's pretty flat. However, just past Monroe the road goes up into the Cascade Mountains. Now, let me tell you, if you ever have a chance to travel route 2, I highly recommend you take this highway over Interstate 90. From Monroe to Leavenworth this road is one of the most scenic roads we have travelled so far. On the west side of the Stevens Pass (4061ft) the forest is again the typical Pacific rain forest. Moss grows everywhere and the undergrowth is lush and green and wet. We saw lots of old forest Douglas fir trees, some of them enormous. We drove for quite awhile along the Skykomish River which is wild and wonderful (as are all the tributaries). Note that by now it was still cloudy but the rain had diminished to a bit of spitting on and off. The temperature went down to 4 deg C though.We climbed Stevens Pass where we briefly disappeared into the low hanging clouds. After we crossed the divide, we started to descend into a different weather system. The rainclouds disappeared, the sun came out and the lower we got the warmer it got. It even reached 19 deg C. The river that parallels route 2 is now the Wenatchee River. This river is even wilder than the Skykomish and the scenery is no longer rain forest but a kind of in-between (rain forest and desert). It is a lot drier but not yet desert like. We took lots of pictures of wildflowers again (different ones than before).
We stopped along the road to take some pictures of some unusual wood carvings, inclucluding this eagle feeding her young. The nest is made from an upturned tree's root system. Neat eh?
When we came to the town of Leavenworth, we were in for a surprise. The whole town had been made to look like a Bavarian town. All the buildings, including the gas stations and McDonald look like typical alpine Bavarian buildings. Everything is "Alles muss in ortnung sein, da?" clean and organized unlike some of the typical hillbilly settlements we've come to expect in other parts of North Amarica. We stopped for awhile and walked around the various town center streets. The buildings sport the typical Bavarian murals on the stucco walls and there are flowers everywhere. Annie had a ball looking at all those flowers. Go ahead, plea
se click on my link to the website for Leavenworth if you want to find out more. There is a beautiful section on the town's Christmas lights on this page here. Click on the slide shows and be amazed.
se click on my link to the website for Leavenworth if you want to find out more. There is a beautiful section on the town's Christmas lights on this page here. Click on the slide shows and be amazed.At the town of Wenatchee, the Wenatchee River joins the mighty Columbia River. We have been going down from the Stevens Pass 
for quite a long time now but now we are in the Columbia River valley and follow that river for awhile. From Cashmere on there are lots of fruit orchards lining both the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers. In particular, there are lots of cherry orchards and we stopped at a roadside fruit stand to pick up a few pounds. The vegetation is now mostly desert-like again. Unless cultivated by man of course.
for quite a long time now but now we are in the Columbia River valley and follow that river for awhile. From Cashmere on there are lots of fruit orchards lining both the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers. In particular, there are lots of cherry orchards and we stopped at a roadside fruit stand to pick up a few pounds. The vegetation is now mostly desert-like again. Unless cultivated by man of course. At Orondo, we turned away from the Columbia River and climbed up to another high plateau called the Channeled Scablands. This is again 
totally different from the Columbia River valley. This large plateau is situated between the Cascade Mountains on the west, the Bitterroot Mountains in the east and the Monashee Mountains in the north. The plateau is intensively farmed and for all intents and purposes looks like the prairies. Wheat fields stretch from horizon to horizon. There is hardly a tree to be seen. Only where there is a settlement do you see some trees and shrubs. In the un-cultivated parts it looks exactly like a desert, lots of sage brush and a bit of scraggly grass and lots of rocks.
totally different from the Columbia River valley. This large plateau is situated between the Cascade Mountains on the west, the Bitterroot Mountains in the east and the Monashee Mountains in the north. The plateau is intensively farmed and for all intents and purposes looks like the prairies. Wheat fields stretch from horizon to horizon. There is hardly a tree to be seen. Only where there is a settlement do you see some trees and shrubs. In the un-cultivated parts it looks exactly like a desert, lots of sage brush and a bit of scraggly grass and lots of rocks.We made a spur-of-the-moment decision to make a detour to the Grand Coulee Dam. This was well worth it. First of all it allowed us to descend to Banks Lake where the landscape looks like the badlands, very rocky and rugged. The Grand Coulee dam is also very impressive. It is the largest dam in the US, even bigger than the Hoover dam. I won't bore you with the statistical details, if you want to know more go to the Grand Coulee Dam website to learn all about it. We toured the area and checked out the visitor center. All-in-all, we were suitably impressed with Yankee ingenuity and took lots of pictures.
The weather has become cloudy again it's starting to spit again. By now we were ready to get to our hotel in Spokane and relax. We put the pedal to the metal and got there in good time. I suspect that Spokane is at the eastern edge of the Channeled Scablands plateau and that tomorrow we'll see more mountains again in Idaho and Montana. We're also crossing the next time zone tomorrow so we'll have to advance our clocks and watches.
Well, I think I've covered the more important parts of today's route section. "Good nite Irene" and to all other friends and family members as well of course.
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