Off to Wenatchee/Leavenworth

September 17, 2010
Monitor, WA
Off to Wenatchee/Leavenworth

No, we're not headed to jail (that Leavenworth is in Kansas) but rather to central Washington for a few days. We left Prosser as planned and had a nice, easy driving day. Heading north on "back roads", we soon crossed the Department of Energy Hanford Site, an interesting place even if we didn't get close enough to see anything. It's almost 600 square miles, and was the location of all the weapons-grade Plutonium in the US from World War II (Fat Man but not Little Boy) until the facility was put on "standby" in the late-1980s. Today, it's undergoing a massive clean-up involving 11,000 workers; they hope to have one section, along the Columbia River, completed by 2015.

Continuing North, we soon joined I-90. We pulled into a Scenic Overlook for a lunch break, and found the Wild Horse Monument high up on a bluff. Although a few hardy souls climbed straight up the mountain, we decided to enjoy the sculpture, and the view of the Columbia River Valley, from the parking area. The art installation of more than a dozen horse sculptures doesn't really memorialize anything in particular, just celebrates the history of the area. It makes for interesting road-side viewing.

No way was I climbing up there...

View to the south across the Columbia River.

Back on the road once again, we were soon exiting I-90 in George (George, Washington - get it?), heading north on WA-281 to Quincy, then northeast on WA-28 to East Wenatchee. After crossing the Columbia River again into Wenatchee proper on WA-285, we soon rejoined US-2 for the short leg to our destination, Wenatchee River County Park in Monitor, WA.

This is another park that we might have passed by if some research hadn't been done, as "conventional wisdom" says that a rig as large as ours won't be welcome at public parks. Well, this is clearly an exception, with about 50 spots, all paved and most at least 50' long. Full hook-ups with good 50 amp power is a little pricey at $29/night as public facilities go, but we're pretty happy with our nice spot right next to the Wenatchee River. Got a TV signal and their Wi-Fi works most of the time; what more could we ask for?

Well, we could ask for trains in the distance, I suppose. That's as opposed to tracks right on the other side of the river, about 300' away. Fortunately, there are only 4-5 trains a day and few at night, so we can tolerate it...

For dinner, Geri made some wonderful Chicken Parm, and we finished up the last of the leftover "gravy" I'd made a while ago with some Angel Hair pasta. Geri was happy to see the sauce finally gone, as she gets to make the next batch (she makes "sauce" and I make "gravy", each to our own likes).

Maya Lynn and Merlin enjoying a rawhide chew...