Tom’s Y2k Opportunity Tour

Got up about 8:30 to yet another crisp morning. A few high puffy clouds were drifting over head. I broke camp while fixing some instant oatmeal (one of my common morning meals on the trip). A little after 9:00 I was on my way again. I spent about half an hour driving around Farragut State Park looking at where various parts of the WW II Navy Boot Camp had been.

I stopped for a few minutes atop the Jokulhlaup Point bluff to read some interpretive signs explaining the geology of the area. The rapid emptying of Ancient Lake Missoula (500 cubic miles of water and ice) as ice dams broke during the last ice age formed the valleys that now contain Lake Pend Oreille and Lake Coeur d’ Alene. The peninsula that is now Farragut State Park was a bar in the colossal river that flowed into the pacific near the Washington / Oregon border.

By 10:00 I was heading back south along US-95 to Coeur d’ Alene. I drove along the surface streets through Coeur d’ Alene hopping to find a Jiffy Lube where I could get the Jeep's oil changed. After running out of city before finding one I proceeded on to Spokane via I-90. I found a Jiffy Lube just off the Interstate in Spokane and spent about an hour getting the oil changed (and uploading e-mail).

I followed US-2 out of Spokane and through many small towns. I made a brief stop at an over look of Dry Falls (near Coulee City, WA). This was an impressive set of cliffs probably formed by the same catastrophic floods that formed the peninsula that is now Farragut State Park. There was a very large an obvious river bead that flowed over these cliffs and at one time made an impressive set of waterfalls.

I continued to follow US-2 as it joined US-97 and began following the Columbia River. I arrived at Lincoln Rock State Park about 3:00 PM. I spent about an hour walking around the park before I set up my camp and made my dinner (pea soup). As I was setting up my camp I discovered the that the electrical hook-ups had only 30 amp receptacles and did not provide any to plug in my standard extension cord (with a 15 amp plug).

At this point I was some what disenchanted with the park. The campground and the park as a whole had much more in common with a typical city park then any of the other state parks I have visited. The campground (and most of the park) was a vast sea of green grassy lawn, punctuated by the occasional tree who's branches had been trimmed up at least six feet. The self-registration envelope asked for and provides space for comments. So I wrote a letter to the park's superintendent expressing my opinions of the park. These opinions included: the lack of screening between campsites, the electrical hookup problem, the fact the self-registration envelope had to be deposited in a locked fee box before the visitor had a chance to use any of the park's facilities, and a few others.

It had been cold during the night and I had wished that I could run my little space heater with out using up my battery. I got up a little after 8:00 to find a nice layer of frost on my Jeep and on the grass. I packed up my camp and dropped my letter off in the same fee box where I had deposited my camping registration the afternoon before.

I again followed US-2 / US-97 south along and across the Columbia River near Wenatchee. I continued to follow US-97 to Teanaway. From there I followed State Route 970 to Cle Elum where it joined I-90. I stopped in Cle Elum to phone Chris and to get some breakfast. I then followed I-90 into the Seattle area. I arrived at Chris's a little after noon.