Moses Lake, Washington

Today was eventful. We covered more miles in the motorhome than we have before - 233 miles to be exact. Margaret is a tired this evening but doing well. We entered the Pacific Time Zone in the middle of the Idaho panhandle, just east of Couer d'Alene. I mention this because it gave us an "extra" hour of travel time today.

Our first stop of the day was in the town of Wallace, Idaho. There are many statistics about this small mining town which I leave to the web surfers. But to mention a few:

* The 1997 film Dante's Peak was mostly filmed in the town of Wallace, with the large hill next to town digitally altered to look like a volcano. One scene shows Pierce Brosnan driving a pickup down Main Street to escape the volcanic eruption. Many scenes take place in the historic downtown area, visible from the nearby highway.

*The last traffic light on an Interstate highway to be removed was on a stretch of I-90 in Wallace, on September 15, 1991.

*Every building is on the National Historic Register.

*The tool called Pulaski is believed to be named for a ranger in Wallace.

*Actress Lana Turner was born in Wallace as was politician Bill Thomas

There is much ado about the 1910 forest wildfire that decimated the area.

There is a silver mine tour (we didn't take) in down-town. There are two mines in town that go down over 2,000 feet below sea-level. This, considering the town itself is about 3,000 above sea-level, is something. Glad I'm not a silver miner.

We stopped for lunch (and a nap for Margaret) on the north-eastern shore of Lake Couer d'Alene. The info sign said it was formed by a glacial dam which diverted the water into what is now the Spokane River. The sign also said the depth was "unknown". We debated that at length over a ham sandwich!

Even though we are it in the middle of no-where (anywhere north of the Mason-Dixson line is no-where), there is quite a bit of populace and activity between Couer d'Alene and Spokane, WA. Although we didn't stop in Couer d'Alene, it appeared (from the Interstate) to be a hub-bub of recreational activity. Lots of golf courses, tennis courses, and a huge lake with lots of boats and marinas. Spokane, WA looked prosperous with many large churches visible from the Interstate. (You have to understand, that in a 36 foot motorhome, with a schedule (self-imposed, to be sure), one doesn't get off the interstate and get "lost" on side-streets!).

Then we hit central Washington state - officially, the Columbia Plateu. Lots of lava flows, lots of plowed fields, lots of small lakes, not much else! Bleak, was Margaret's description.

After consulting the Trailer Life RV Park directory, we decided to push on to Moses Lake, WA. Still haven't seen Moses; although we did spot a smoldering bush! So it's back to paved paradise(s) for the evening. One gets spoiled without hook-ups. But there is a trade-off between scenery and air-conditioning!

The photo for the day wouldn't upload. Don't know why. Maybe tomorrow? In the meantime, I will investigate other options.

More tomorrow.
Wayne