We drove about 450 miles today. 50 miles of it was a "scenic side trip" of 25 miles along the Columbia River then a "U" turn and 25 miles back. The navigator, that would be me, was not paying attention and we made a wrong turn. The scenery was so great that I forgot to pay attention to where we actually were. Livingston is only about 190 miles from here so tomorrow's drive will be much shorter.
One of the interesting items from my time at the museum yesterday. Ben Rosencrance, born Christmas day 1844 bought in Luzerne County PA. After fighting in the Civil War he moved west. In 1878 he bought a stock ranch near today’s Richland, Washington. In 1888 Ben and Mary, and their four children, homesteaded 1,700 acres on the north side of the Yakima river.
One of Mary’s stories was about how she rode in many roundups. She said that in the last roundup, when the Big Bend area was opened to settlement, there were 500 cowboys and over 2,000 horses. They spent four or five months “in the saddle” and rounded up the last great band of horses in Washington. After settlers started pouring in to try their hand at farming the Rosencrances also became farmers, since there was no more open range. They didn’t like farming and in 1904 they sold out but there was no information on what became of them. I did a little searching on the Internet and found that at ages 90 and 88 Ben and Mary were still riding horses. Ben lived to be 95 and Mary lived to be 92.
A photo of the Washington countryside north of the Hanford nuclear site. I think the river is the Yakima river.
Getting close to Spokane today. Finally some trees again.
Lake Coeur d’Alene is a natural lake that is 25 miles long and 1 to 3 miles wide. I-90 follows the north shore of the lake. It is HUGE.
We filled up with fuel just after crossing into Idaho, $4.109/gallon at a Flying J. Price wasn't bad but I think 92.3 gallons is the most I've ever put in at one time ($379.41, now that is a fill up). Fuel economy has dropped to 7.7 mpg with all the uphill grades.
I think we were at the highest elevation I have ever been at today. Lookout Pass is at elevation 4,725 when you cross from Idaho into Montana. Earlier, while in Idaho, we were up around elevation 3,100 before descending back down to around elevation 2,200.
Looking east from the rest area. The sky was a beautiful blue with clouds ranging from white to dark and foreboding.
Northwestern Washington, northern Idaho and what we have seen of Montana is beautiful. I can see why the Spokane, WA area is listed so high lists of great places to live. You wouldn't believe how clean it is along the Interstates, even going through the city of Spokane.
Time to close and see if I can get this sent using my cell phone. We don't have a great signal but I think it is good enough to sent this relatively small file.
Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.
No comments:
Post a Comment