Day 18 started out in an unusual way. We actually made plans to stop at places today!
After our visit last night we had a good idea what we wanted to see. The sun was shining and weather was perfect. Let's get this day started!
Just outside the Seattle area is the Snoqualmie Pass. It's an absolutely beautiful drive on I-90 through the Cascade Range. Have a look at these views.
A few hours of winding our way through the mountains and we came to a small town. It was going to be our first unexpected stop of the day.
Wild Horses Monument
The small town of Vantage Washington is home to this amazing monument. Heading East on I-90 you'll cross the Columbia River and find yourself at the foot of this sculpture. The views of the river valley were breathtaking.
Built in 1989-1990 by David Govedare, it's the most viewed piece of artwork in all of the state. It was to be completed for the Centennial of Washington statehood but took a little longer due to funding.
The sculpture goes by 2 different names. It started as "Grandfather Cuts Loose the Ponies" but after changing design ideas it became the Wild Horses Monument. It depicts 15 wild horses running across the ridgeline overlooking the river valley.
It's a tribute to the state and the local tribal people. In 1906 the last Great Wild Horse Roundup took place in this very area. Sorry for the grainy pictures but we weren't prepared to climb up to it.
Back into the truck and on the road went. This was our first "planned" stop for the day and it was worth it!
Dry Falls
We'd never heard anything about these dry falls until last night so let's have a look. This area is known as the Grand Coulee and is part of the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail.
Upon reaching the viewing area our jaws dropped. 😲 What were we looking at?!? This is astonishing! How have we never heard of this?
At 3.5 miles long and up to 400ft tall, these falls would have dwarfed the Niagara Falls. It's estimated that the falls would flow ten times the water than all the rivers in the world combined today.
This place was mind blowing! Here is more info from the Interpretive center and a couple shots with the GoPro.
A short drive further into the Grand Coulee area and we found our next stop for the day.
Grand Coulee Dam
Not knowing what to expect we followed the signs for the Coulee Dam. We'd seen the Hoover Dam on our Route 66 part of this trip, so we were expecting to be underwhelmed. We were wrong...again.
This dam was huge! After reading some info on the signs we were blown away. The Grand Coulee Dam is 1 of the 7 civil engineering wonders of the US. It's also among the largest structures built by mankind!
It stands 550ft high and is just shy of a mile at 5,223 feet long. The dam contains 12 million cubic yards of concrete and has more mass than the Great Pyramids of Egypt.
The Grand Coulee Reservoir on the other side of the dam stretches back 150 miles almost to the Canadian Border. It's also the largest powerplant by capacity at 6,809 MW.
During the Summertime, the City will project a laser light show on the face of the dam. After walking around and checking stuff out it was time to get back on the road.
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Spokane
Typically, we steer clear of "bigger" cities. On this day we decided to break that rule. I found us a nice room downtown with balcony overlooking the river.
Shortly after checking in, I stepped out onto the balcony. That's when I remembered why we don't stay in cities. A patron of the city was down on the sidewalk make bodily fluid water paintings on the sidewalk below.
I chalked it up to a one-time occurrence and something to laugh about. I was wrong.
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After watching the residentially challenged hanging out on the streets and sidewalks below I stopped going out there. In the morning I made the mistake of stepping out there again. They can't be out there all the time......WRONG!
This time one of the gentlemen was making his own pottery clay pile on the sidewalk. So creative these people are!
I don't think we have a single pic from this area. You're not missing much. If you plan on visiting Spokane, DON'T. Here is our trip for the day.
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