Northern Washington

Most of our drive north  from Walla Walla was through agricultural land. There were many green rolling hills, the likes of which we had seen Saturday on our drive to Palouse Falls. We passed by numerous orchards, many of which seemed to be apple. We also saw many cattle in feed lots. I told John that I thought that they looked depressed all crowded together in muddy pens! Then, similarly as our experience was Saturday, we started climbing into higher elevations and started seeing land that was arid and rocky. Only a few towns dotted the landscape now and we saw signs pointing to such recreational areas as Moses and Soap Lake. There was a rest stop right alongside of Blue Lake where we stopped for a break and to snap some pictures.

The above picture was taken from the road looking up at the rocky walls surrounding the lake. Below is a picture of the lake itself.

 Our next stop was the site of the site of the "greatest waterless falls in the world". Back in the time of the glacial meltdown the water which fell over the falls here equaled ten times the volume of all the rivers in the world. It flowed through what is now eastern Washington, through the Columbia River Gorge and into the ocean at an estimated speed of 60miles per hour. The strong flow of water filled with mud and silt sculpted steep walled canyons  as well as immense water falls. Thus came about the creation of such places as Palouse Falls and Beacon Rock. In the picture below you can see where the chute was as the water flowed into the plunge pool below it.

 And below is a picture of the lake which formed in the coulee. The falls did not continue to have a river source as the Palouse Falls still has today so it became waterless.

We parked for the night in the town of Omak.,which is fifty miles this side of the Canadian border. There is an recreational vehicle park there on the rodeo grounds. The town itself is located along the Okagan River. Last evening we walked on the levy into town and were surprised to find two old movie houses still in operation. It was not in our plans but we saw the movie Killers starring Ashton Kutcher and Tom Selleck. That is the fun of traveling, we just never know completely what is around the corner.