Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Left Oroville heading south and took a back road at Tonasket. Stopped there for breakfast at Subway and as we were heading across this back road we saw one of the fires that is raging in the area. We had seen lots of smoke for a long time and we knew there were some fires close by. There were several homes along the way that could have been in the way of the fire, but hopefully they were spared. We did actually see flames at one point. The forest office in town was full of cars of firefighters, etc. and there were firetrucks and firemen around the houses closest to the fire. There were firefighting planes as well - tanker planes that scoop and carry water to drop on the fires.

Got to the town of Republic which is noted for its fossil beds. Went into one store/shop and we were fascinated by all the rocks and fossils on display. You could check out equipment and walk a short way up the hill to the fossil beds and dig your own. We did not take the time to do that, but we did enjoy our stop there. Then we headed down hwy. 21 an stopped briefly at a campground by a stream to let the dogs out. Drove on down hwy. to Keller Ferry to take it across Lake Roosevelt which is the lake created by Grand Coulee Dam. After getting off the ferry, we were definitely in Washington wheat country. There were miles and miles of wheat fields.

Drove on to the dam and found an RV park in Electric City on the shores of Banks Lake.....this is part of the Coulee project and this lake was dammed to be used for irrigation. Got into park about 4 p.m. and headed straight to dam. Got the last tour of the day at 5 p.m. and it was very interesting, but also a bit warm. Headed back to campground for a bite and then back to Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center for the laser light show they have every evening at 10 p.m. It was really neat....we got there about 9 and walked through the visitor center which is very very interesting. The light show is projected onto the face of the dam. Just before the light show, they start letting water come over the dam so the whole face of the dam is white w/ flowing water. The lights are then projected onto the water. It was pretty cool. I took some pix of that but they are a bit dark. Light show over at 10:45 and we headed back to RV park. Have pontoon boat reserved all day tomorrow.....