I'm ba-a-ck!! Been gone so long I may have forgotten what went on during the rest of our trip. Busy since we returned, and finally found some time today (6 days later) to get back to this.
Thursday, Aug 13 we checked out the Grand Coulee Dam, doing a one hour tour under armed escort/guard, and taking in the displays at the Visitor Centre. Very interesting and impressive. The primary purpose for the dam was for irrigation, with generation of electricity as its secondary use. Returned to base later in the afternoon and relaxed. Had thought about taking in the laser light show that they do on the face of the dam every night, but it wasn't until 9:30 and would involve a 40-60 minute round trip drive to Grand Coulee, so opted to meteor watch instead. Robin did, but the bugs were giving me a hard time so I stayed indoors. Again, he saw some flashes, but nothing spectacular.
Thursday, Aug 13 we checked out the Grand Coulee Dam, doing a one hour tour under armed escort/guard, and taking in the displays at the Visitor Centre. Very interesting and impressive. The primary purpose for the dam was for irrigation, with generation of electricity as its secondary use. Returned to base later in the afternoon and relaxed. Had thought about taking in the laser light show that they do on the face of the dam every night, but it wasn't until 9:30 and would involve a 40-60 minute round trip drive to Grand Coulee, so opted to meteor watch instead. Robin did, but the bugs were giving me a hard time so I stayed indoors. Again, he saw some flashes, but nothing spectacular.
Friday, Aug 14 started off for me being serenaded by wild turkey. I heard some bird noises, then "gobble, gobble, gobble". That got my head off the pillow quickly. Apparently they had been there the morning before, as well, but I guess had been quiet.
Started the drive home (taking a couple of days). A short distance south of Grand Coulee is a place called Dry Falls. FASCINATING and beautiful, and a very informative visitor centre. When we asked, we were told that generally the difference between a canyon and a coulee is that a canyon is formed over a long period by erosion caused from a river's flow, while a coulee was formed during the ice age by the collapse of an ice dam and the sudden rush of water and debris, travelling at over l00 kmh. This also explains large boulders sitting part way up a hillside that is nothing but scrub - it was picked up upstream and deposited there by the flood.
Longer drive today than we usually make, plus we decided to take some secondary routes to avoid delays and congestion on I90 and I5. But decided to go all the way to the casino at Tulalip and hang out there and do some shopping in Everett and/or Marysville. We were surprised to find the dedicated RV lot at the casino full, and numerous units parked in the regular lot (the furthest one from the casino). We decided to set up there with the rest of them. Many more arrived after us, and soon it was just looking like an RV Park, with lawn chairs sitting outside rigs and awnings extended. Dinner at the casino's buffet, and the obligatory deposit of our money into the slot machines, and it was time to head back for bed. We did manage to get away from the casino with about 1/3 of the money we had allotted for gambling, so almost a win.
Saturday, Aug 15 was a bit of a shopping day, but short of a cheese run at Costco, not much was purchased. Most of the time, prices aren't much better than home and we still have to add 30+% for exchange. When we returned to the "RV Park" we learned that the reason there were so many RV's was that there was an outdoor concert that night featuring The Band Perry. We parked our lawn chairs behind the rig, and could hear everything loud and clear at our site (probably clearer than for those who paid for tickets at $85+), and it was free. Great people watching and fun watching cars scurrying around trying to find, or creating, parking spaces. Nice long chat with a family from North Van while the concert was going on. We had also chatted with a couple from Langley as they headed by on their way to the concert. Their rig was parked in the next row over, and when they came back from the show, they stopped by and we visited until midnight. There didn't seem to be as many people returning past our rig as had gone by on the way to the concert, but apparently there is a mass migration into the casino after the concerts. Go figure! Will have to pay attention to what outdoor concerts are going on at Tulalip, and park our rig nearby for a free concert.
Sunday, Aug 16 we returned home. Smooth entry at Sumas (thanks Nexus). Quick unload of the rig at the house, then we returned it to the storage compound. When we returned home, the neighbours were out having an afternoon beer on their lawn, so we joined them. Stumbled home about 10pm to a bed covered with clothes unloaded from the RV which, needless to say, were simply shoved to the floor and dealt with the next day.
Don't expect any more extended RV trips until our annual winter travels south, so bu-bye for now.
Saturday, Aug 15 was a bit of a shopping day, but short of a cheese run at Costco, not much was purchased. Most of the time, prices aren't much better than home and we still have to add 30+% for exchange. When we returned to the "RV Park" we learned that the reason there were so many RV's was that there was an outdoor concert that night featuring The Band Perry. We parked our lawn chairs behind the rig, and could hear everything loud and clear at our site (probably clearer than for those who paid for tickets at $85+), and it was free. Great people watching and fun watching cars scurrying around trying to find, or creating, parking spaces. Nice long chat with a family from North Van while the concert was going on. We had also chatted with a couple from Langley as they headed by on their way to the concert. Their rig was parked in the next row over, and when they came back from the show, they stopped by and we visited until midnight. There didn't seem to be as many people returning past our rig as had gone by on the way to the concert, but apparently there is a mass migration into the casino after the concerts. Go figure! Will have to pay attention to what outdoor concerts are going on at Tulalip, and park our rig nearby for a free concert.
Sunday, Aug 16 we returned home. Smooth entry at Sumas (thanks Nexus). Quick unload of the rig at the house, then we returned it to the storage compound. When we returned home, the neighbours were out having an afternoon beer on their lawn, so we joined them. Stumbled home about 10pm to a bed covered with clothes unloaded from the RV which, needless to say, were simply shoved to the floor and dealt with the next day.
Don't expect any more extended RV trips until our annual winter travels south, so bu-bye for now.