Diving In

August 31, 2010

Wenatchee, WA

In today’s newspaper my horoscope said: “You’ll dive in even though you don’t know what to do exactly.” That’s the truth, and an apt slogan for the beginning of this journey. Dale and I have talked about driving to see the headwaters of the Columbia River for a long time, and we’re finally on our way. This river fascinates me, and I’m excited to not only take this trip, but to be able to write about it for the Columbia River Reader. I don’t know what shape this adventure will take or the article that I write about it, but I’m happy to be in the water.

It rained all day. Heavy rain, then foggy with more rain over Snoqualmie Pass, and then even heavier rain with temperatures hovering around 50 degrees. We stopped for the night at the Wenatchee Confluence State Park where the Wenatchee River meets the Columbia. It was 60 degrees and dry, and we were surrounded by an open landscape with levels that built from the river to shelves of orchards with deep green fruit trees with sculptured, scrubby ochre hills behind them. Beyond those contours the atmospheric gray mountains looked small against the big, smeary, slate blue clouds that threatened but didn’t produce. At dusk the screen door of the trailer slammed shut, and I felt the last warm winds of summer.

We were very impressed with Wenatchee and the surrounding area. It has a vibrant downtown, The Toyota Convention Center, art museum, and performing arts center and the famous Apple Blossom Festival in the spring. At the campground we were told that the city is carefully managing population growth in order to preserve the orchards.

The campground didn’t have WiFi, but the Lone Pine Fruit Stand on the Columbia River where we’re eating lunch does so I’m posting from here. We’re buying fruits and vegetables and heading north to the Okanagan Valley. What a world!

Today’s Route:

I5 to WA Hwy 18E to I90E to WA Hwy 970 just south of CleElum, then WA Hwy 97N to Dryden and WA Hwy 2/97 to Wenatchee and the Confluence State Park