Wednesday April 24, 2013
I am sitting in the rig typing this blog with the sun coming in the window, the birds are chirping, the trees have their new leaves popping out and the lake is as flat as glass….how perfect is that. This is a lovely quiet spot to stay (Soap Lake RV Resort at the north end of Soap Lake) and they even take passport America so it was only $30 for two nights for full facilities.
We left the Boise/Meridian Koa yesterday morning at about 7:45 am and it was clear and cold. I think it froze lightly over night but the good news is that the wind had died down. The drive north through Idaho, Oregon and Washington was uneventful and I really like to be able to say that! It was nice to go over Cabbage Hill in Oregon with no wind, rain or fog and when we came down onto the large open plain by Pendleton there was no wind there either. A nice drive! It was a long day and we didn’t arrive in Soap Lake until about 4:30 pm but some of that was due to the back country roads and also the construction delay along the Columbia. No problem. We were set up (StarChoice too) by 5:30pm.
Today we had decided to go north along the East side of the Columbia River instead of up through the Tri Cities so we left the I 84 at exit 188 for Stanfield. We took this route last year but this time we decided to try MapPoint’s route. After leaving I84 we travelled highway 395 for a short distance through Stanfield and then made a right turn onto Canal Road which was going to take us to State Road 207 (Hermiston Highway) and then onto the Columbia Highway and north to Pascoe. The GPS had argued that Canal Road wasn’t paved but we thought it was wrong. Guess who was right! The GPS. Drat, I hate it when that happens. So…plan B was to make a right turn east to south Edwards Road which is the route we had travelled last year and continue on to the Hermiston Highway. It is a country farm road but paved and pretty so….no problem…just a slight detour. Things are getting much more loosey goosey as we do more of this RV travel!
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This was yesterday’s route.
The following is a pictorial drive.
Winding irrigation channels as you leave Boise.
Wide open highway.
The mountains look like velvet.
The first time I’ve ever seen such a red train. Also, the camera lens isn’t dirty….the windshield is!
Beautiful snow capped mountains.
A lovely lunch stop at the edge of the Columbia River.
Unusual rock formations.
They are grinding up the pavement and repaving the Columbia highway so there were some big delays. A huge amount of truck traffic on this road. We think we might come this route when we head south next year. 
Bridge over the Columbia just before Pascoe.
Grape vines in the Othello, Washington area.
A fuel stop in ….Moses Lake. We always miss our preferred fuel stop heading north but this time we found it. You can’t see the station heading north so this time I made better notes for next year. Easy to get in and out of and just the nicest people running the station so we always stop here heading south.
Moses Lake?
As we get closer to Soap Lake the terrain is just covered in boulders left over from the Dry Falls. You couldn’t farm this land….unless you were growing rocks!
Parke under the trees in the sunshine in beautiful Soap Lake.
Our view out the front of the rig.
Relaxing and lovely and we will stay here today and perhaps tomorrow as well.
Have never stopped at Moses Lake s the CG is always closed when we come thru. Have stayed at the Walmart in Moses Lake thought.
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