Summary: Left Seattle ~8 am, Thursday Aug. 19th. Headed east on HWY 90 travelled to Vantage. Crossed the Columbia, turned south then immediately east on HWY 26. Travelled through to Colfax, then turned south to Pullman. Arrived on the WSU campus at 1:30 pm. After unloading, stopped for lunch, drove to Moscow ID to pick up additional supplies, returned to WSU, bade Hannah farewell and headed south to Lewiston / Clarkston. Stayed in Clarkston overnight, then headed down to Asotin, and followed the river on Snake River road. Turned east at the Grand Ronde, crossed and took the gravel Chief Joseph road towards Enterprise OR. Headed south and stopped a little south of the OR border.
Travelled back to Clarkston generally along the same route, then headed west on HWY 12. Travelled to Waitsburg, then took secondary HWY 124 to the Tri-Cities where we reconnected with HWY 12. Headed west on HWY 12/82 through Yakima, and closed our travel loop on HWY-90 at Ellensburg. Followed 90 back to Seattle.
View Larger Map
Rest Stop East of Cle Elum
Similar to the North-East trip, we combined an important family event – transporting Hannah to WSU – and our geometric travel objective of reaching our fourth corner of Washington State, the South East. This trip required a little more planning / foresight, since it involved delivering the ‘baby’ of the family – sorry Hannah – along with everything deemed necessary for a freshman to survive dorm life for a year. Needless to say, the faithful Malibu was bursting at the seams when we pulled out of the driveway, though with patience, efficient packing and a little negotiation there was still enough room for Clara and me to pack a travel bag. After negotiating the tail end of morning rush hour traffic on I-5 through downtown Seattle, the first leg of the journey – to Vantage – passed quickly, with only a quick pit stop at the rest area just east of Cle Elum.
Our family first drove this stretch of I-90 heading west in the old blue Windstar when we moved to Seattle 18 years ago, and I’ve made a number of night trips to the Gorge in the past ten. Until recently little had changed along the way, but in the past few years the skyline to the north of Ellensberg has undergone a drastic transformation. A few years back construction equipment began to appear on the hill-tops, dirt roads were carved out, tall towers were raised, giant propellers attached, and the first wind farms took shape. Now the hilltops are bristling with windmills, visible from miles off – their propellers slowly spinning in the wind – with each turn generating a few more watts for the grid. It’s kind of ironic to think of ‘green’ energy on these brown hilltops, and considering the obvious / visible impact it’s also easy to understand that this new form of energy can stir up some controversy. Having seen their body parts ready for transport in the harbor down river in Vancouver WA, and subsequently the massive rigs hauling them up I-90 from the Columbia at Vantage, I wonder how many revolutions are required to recapture the energy that went into building, transporting and erecting them and whether they really are green revolutions. With enough combined megawatts to power tens of thousands of homes, they are vivid signposts of the future.
Heading to Colfax on Hwy 26
Once across the Columbia at Vantage, we headed east to Colfax on Hwy 26. Leaving the Columbia and heading east, the highway stretches for miles, occasionally wandering around curves, quickly snapping back into long straight sections. Of all the places in Washington State, travelling this highway most reminds me of being back in Manitoba, driving from Winnipeg out to the Whiteshell. However, the barn sized signs are a clear reminder that this is Cougar country. Along the way, we passed through a wide variety of agriculture, including vineyards, orchards, large scale herb farms, a poplar plantation, a stockyard and endless miles of wheat. As we made our way further east towards Colfax, we travelled into the midst of the harvest – thousands of acres of golden wheat being mowed down by combines and collected in trucks, and just like on our previous trip, the wind playing along behind, swirling up dust devils – sometimes dozens of feet into the air.
The happy freshman in her dorm....
At Colfax we turned south on HWY 195 and made our way to Pullman in just few minutes. It did not take long to find Hannah’s dorm on the WSU campus, and we made short order of hauling her goods down to her room. She met her roommate – a fellow Canadian named Molly – and sorted out the last minute shopping that we could help her with. After a pretty pathetic Thai lunch in Pullman, we drove out to Moscow ID, where Clara and Hannah shopped, and I gassed up. Moscow and Pullman, definitely have the feel of sister college towns and have that reputation to live up to. A classic line about the two – they are excluded from the lists of top ‘party’ colleges due to their ‘professional statuses’. Great parting thought as we left Hannah back on the WSU campus and headed south on 195 to Clarkston / Lewiston.
Lookout along the HWY above Lewiston Id
The Palouse region includes the towns of Colfax, Pullman, Moscow and Palouse, and many smaller communities. The area has a breathtaking beauty, encompassing miles of rolling hills covered in wheat and legumes, shades of green and gold set against the blue sky. The highway approaches Lewiston from the north, arriving on a ridge high above the city. After a brief stop at a scenic overlook to take in the cities at the junction of the Snake and Clearwater rivers, we made our way down the windy highway, noting the many pullout lanes for out of control trucks. Crossing the Clearwater, we drove west on HWY 12 through Lewiston, crossed the Snake River and quickly found our motel in Clarkston.
Best Deal in Town - Sunset Motel - Clarkston WA
I firmly believe that management will remind me of the Sunset Motel in Clarkston WA until my dying day. I found a great deal on the web, and figured – how could I go wrong – each room has its own carport. Even better, it was only $43 per night and local and long distance calls were free – not that we made any. At that price I could overlook a lot, including the undersized furniture – unfortunately Clara and I were not entirely in sync on this front. I have to say, that the couple managing the place were very friendly, and suggested a great evening drive. Unfortunately they smoked incessantly, which did not help with the ambiance in our little motor inn room.
We did take their advice, and went for a drive up the Old Spiral Highway. Heading west on HWY 12, we crossed the Snake to the north on Hwy 128, then drove east over the Idaho border. We turned north on the Spiral Highway and wound our way along the ridge, all the way up to a lookout along HWY 95, which we had driven in on from Pullman. It’s hard to imagine that this was once the primary highway into the city, with the sheer drop-offs and sharp corners. However, given the incredible views and fun drive, I would recommend it to anyone. We finally made our way back to the hotel, and after a short night, got up early; we found a place for breakfast, then headed south towards Asotin and the Oregon border.
The Old Spiral Hwy - Lewiston WA.
We had originally planned to take a jet boat cruise from Clarkston, but unfortunately there were no half day cruises, and since we had a wedding to attend back in the Seattle area on Saturday we did not have enough time for the full day (10 hr) cruise. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, since the road trip became a memorable adventure. Leaving Clarkston, and heading south, the road makes its way directly along the banks of the Snake River. I may have mentioned at some point that when I go for a drive, I tend to just drive without really stopping anywhere – makes sense to me. However, I made some sort of pledge that I would make an effort to occasionally pull out at historic markers or interesting sites (or even rest stops if necessary) for the benefit of the passengers. I quickly made good on this promise, pulling off the road just outside of Asotin to take in the mountains on either side of Snake river that form the beginning of the Hells Canyon area (and to change into shorts because it was pretty hot).
Petroglyphs at Buffalo Eddy
Before leaving on the trip, my neighbor (a Lewiston native) told me that as a teenager she used to hang out somewhere along the Snake River at a place called Buffalo Eddy, where there were ‘carvings’. When I spotted the historical marker, I made a wise choice, and pulled in to take a look. Clara and I made our way a few hundred meters down the trail, and came across an interpretive sign describing the 3-4000 year old petroglyphs etched into the rocks. As we made our through the rocks above the river, hundreds of these ancient carvings of various shapes were chiseled all around us. Similar carvings adorn the rocks just across the river. They range from animal and human shapes to oddly triangular ‘alien’ looking creatures. A great feature of this being an out of the way place was the absence of restrictions – no fences or chained off areas – you can wander directly in the middle of thousands of years of history.
WA / OR border very near the South East Corner
From Buffalo Eddy we continued south on the Snake River road, eventually passing Hellers Bar and reaching the junction with the Grand Ronde River. Here the road became gravel, turning briefly west, then crossing the Grand Ronde and heading towards Oregon, making its way south to the town of Enterprise. As we made our way deeper into the Wallowa’s, the road followed creek beds along the valley floor, with the mountains rising to the east and west. We followed the road as it skirted the Chief Joseph Wilderness, and were surprised to pass a woman walking along the way. We stopped to chat and to figure out the distance to the Oregon border. She turned out to have an organic farm here, and knew the area well. She let us know we had a mile to go, and so we continued south until the road turned sharply east, where we were certain we had crossed the border into Oregon. At this point the road narrowed further and began to climb, so we decided we had reached our destination – (or at least close enough) – just about 5 miles from the south east corner where Washington, Idaho and Oregon meet.
Wild Canyon Farm - along Joseph Creek
As promised, on the way back we stopped off at the Wild Canyon Organic Farm and once again met the woman and her husband. We spent a good hour chatting about the history of the area, walking through the garden, trying the wonderful produce, and learning the ins and outs of organic farming. It turned out that this couple owned most of the ranch land along the way, probably thousands of acres well into Oregon. His father had been a TWA pilot, and start acquiring property in the sixties. They had been farming along Joseph Creek for over 30 years. With our last bills, we bought some delicious tomatoes, a melon, and some cukes. After saying goodbye, we headed north, back up to Asotin and Clarkston, then made our way west on HWY 12, setting our sites on TriCities.
With wheat fields stretching out for miles, I once again set my sites too far out, and just west of Pomeroy I was rudely brought down to earth by the flashing lights on the oncoming state troopers’ truck. Two speeding tickets in one summer are a little much; though I guess someone has to fund these little communities. $93 and a stern warning later, we were back on the road, my foot just a little lighter. We turned off HWY 12 at Waitsburg and made our way west to the TriCities on HWY 124. After a quick stop in Richland for gas and a coffee, we continued west to Yakima, where we stopped to pick up some fruit and preserves. We continued west on 97/82, approaching Ellensberg from the south west. Each time I drive this route, I am awestruck by the view from the ridge above Ellensberg – the great plain spread out and bounded by the Cascades on the Western horizon. Dropping down to meet I-90, we completed the great south eastern loop, putting to rest our Washington State geometric travels….. with one small exception – there still is that issue of where the real NW corner is – Cape Flattery or Point Roberts?
