Hay fields as far as the eye can see. Once we got past Spokane and into Northeastern Washington, we drove miles and miles on near-empty roads lined by hay fields or just prairie. There were a few small towns as we drove on route 2 and then 174 to Grand Coulee. We had overcast skies and a bit of rain.
The Grand Coulee Dam was built from 1933-1942 on the Columbia River, creating the Roosevelt Lake and the largest hydropower producer in the United States with a generating capacity of over 6800 megawatts. Roosevelt Lake extends 151 miles upstream to the Canadian border. It has a 600-mile shoreline and a surface area of 82,000 acres. There is an informative visitor center. Many of the Indians who lived in this valley had to relocate and the salmon they relied on for winter food were no longer able to come upstream once the dam was built, so there is controversy surrounding it.
After reading and hearing the exhibits, we had a picnic lunch with a view of the dammed water spilling through it. We continued northwest on route 174/17, passing the Chief Joseph Dam, another bordering the Colville Indian Reservation. After Brewster we started seeing valleys of Washington apples, pears, cherries, and grape vines.
Our stop for the next two nights: Chelan, at the southeast end of Lake Chelan. This is a beautiful area. Our lodge is on the lake, with a park in front. We have a nice balcony with seating but the weather is still cold and dreary so we didn't use it. There are lots of nice homes around the shore, a cute little downtown, and hillsides of orchards and vines. Tuna likes it here, which is always a blessing. We got dinner to go at a Mexican restaurant and watched Dancing With the Stars.
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