Kittitas

Driving back from Tri Cities takes one through the Yakima Valley on Interstate 82, then up and over several anticlinal ridges of the Yakima Fold Belt between Yakima and Ellensburg.  The Yakima River has cut through these ridges as they were folded.  I usually like to drive the meandering Canyon Road that follows the Yakima River through this gorgeous canyon but I was eager to get home.  There's a great vista point just before you drop into the Kittitas Valley, a land of ranches and hay fields devolving into ranchettes and McMansions.  Wind farms are sprouting up like alfalfa hay on the surrounding ridges.

I made a stop in Cle Elum and tried out a new place.  It looks like a dive but they make a fantastic burger on a French roll.

It was on over Snoqualmie Pass through some of the nicest mountain scenery anywhere in the country.  It's hard to appreciate it as you weave through the traffic on Interstate 90.

Sacajawea, we hardly knew yea ...

After my fourth and final trip to the Tri Cities for this particular work project, I went to check out Sacajawea State Park located at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers.  It was here on October 16 and 17, 1805 at the confluence of these two great rivers that the Lewis and Clark expedition encamped for two nights.

"... towards evening we arived at the forks of the river which came from a northly direction and is larger than this Columa. R. the country around these forks is level Smooth barron plains not even a tree to be Seen as far as our eyes could extend a fiew willows along the Shores. we found about 2 hundred or upwards Camped on the point between the two Rivers. a verry pleasant place. we Camped near them on the point. ..." Private Joseph Whitehouse, Corps of Discovery, October 16, 1805

From my readings I know that the confluence area was used by several tribes including the Walla Walla, Umatilla, Wanapum, Yakama, and Palouse.  The Palouse, excellent horseman, gave rise to the Appaloosa breed of horse.  The Palouse were subdued when the majority of their horses were slaughtered by the U.S. Army.

McNary Dam on the Columbia River forms Lake Wallula and backs up the waters of the Columbia and Snake Rivers to the point that may obscure the original expedition campsite.  I'm not entirely sure to what extent the river water levels have been raised.  I do know that the only real free flowing section of the Columbia River in Washington State is the Hanford Reach which is a little further upstream.

Sacajawea State Park itself is a pleasant day use park.  It became a Washington State Park in 1931.  It has a recently remodeled museum, the Sacajawea Museum.  The museum is small but well worth a visit.  The museum and other park buildings are built in an Art Deco style and probably date back to the 1930s, perhaps some depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps project.  The park has broad green lawns, large trees for shade, trails, and lots of riverfront.

Sacajawea Museum

Looking downstream on the Columbia to a railroad bridge.  A wind farm is visible atop the Horse Heaven Hills in the distance.

Looking upstream on the Snake River to a railroad bridge and the twin bridges of US Hwy 12.  Grain terminals to the left and right.  Lewis and Clark wouldn't recognize the place.

Mammoth Mountain

The Dude is flying down to Mammoth Lakes to meet up with old college friends and do some serious skiing.  I've skied a few places in the western U.S. and Mammoth ranks up among the best.  It's huge!  I remember when a lift ticket there cost $13, now it's $85.  Oh well.

Crocus

Crocus mean the dark cold wet days of winter are over.

Chipmunk

We don't often see chipmunks but every once in awhile one shows up at the platform feeder.  I think it's a Townsend's chipmunk (Tamias townsendii).  In back of our house is 120 acres of park land composed of typical western Washington lowland forest - western hemlock, western red cedar, douglas fir, bigleaf maple (some huge), and a few alder that are past their prime.

Squirrel Trap Fail

My son Geoff found a design for a squirrel trap on the web.  A paper towel roller slathered in peanut butter suspended over a 5-gallon bucket.  The next morning we had three drowned mice.  Fortunately, mice are not an endangered species.

New Fred Meyer - Alderwood

It opened September 25, 2009, about a month ago.  I've been driving by the construction area for well over a year.  I thought it would stall like so many other development projects around the area.  Key Bank financed the project.  It's a perfect location for me, right on the way home from work for a milk stop and it even has a gas station.  The gas prices are competive with Costco, and I even get a 3 cent/gallon discount with the Fred Meyer Rewards program.

From the Enterprise:  "Upscale service and amenities included in the 177,000-square-foot store a wine steward, a 16,000-square-foot Garden Center, a drive-through pharmacy and a Starbucks coffee bar. A fuel station, with five pumps to serve 10 cars, is another amenity of the new location. Additionally, the unit was designed and built with multiple “green” features such as skylights to utilize natural light, energy-efficient lighting and concrete floors that do not require the use of chemicals for cleaning and maintenance. The new store will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m."  Location:  2902 164th St SW, Lynnwood WA 98037

I hope that the Fred Meyer Garden Center doesn't hurt business for Emery's Garden Center, right across the street.  I hardly ever buy anything from Emery's anyway, too expensive.  But it's a nice local business.