My journey continued deeper into the Pacific Northwest
After crossing from Portland, Oregon into Washington State, I stayed with friends on the WA side to who took me to explore these cool "Ape cave" lava tubes near Mt. St. Helens. Famous for its 1980 eruption, this area also has underground tubes of smooth rock that were carved when molten lava passed through them 2,000 years ago. It was chilly underground, so I put on some long underwear beneath my shorts (fashion isn't my forte) and a helmet lamp to explore.
The entrance to the tubes Inside the tubes
My next stop was Tacoma, where I stayed with a friend nearby. Tacoma is a pleasant city on the Puget Sound, a calm alternative to its bigger brother Seattle about 30 miles north. The one thing I really wanted to see here was Stadium High School. Take a look...does it look familiar?
If you recognized the high school from the movie "10 Things I Hate About You", then congratulations, you're the winner of my admiration! That means I'm not the only nerd on the internet. :) And surprisingly yes, it is a real high school.
Also in Tacoma is the Point Defiance Park. Jutting out into Puget Sound, this park on a peninsula contained a garden and a beach where I strolled around on an overcast afternoon.
Continuing north, I reached the city of Seattle. I visited the famous Pike Place Market where fishmongers throw fish through the air as people placed their orders. I was impressed they didn't slip given how slippery those fish must be!
Pike Place Market Throwing the Fish!
I also went to a Seattle Mariners baseball game. They were playing the Toronto Blue Jays, as they do at home for one series every year. I thought nothing of this until I went to the game....and the crowd was 98% Blue Jays fans. I'm not even exaggerating. Why so many fans for the other team? Well you see, Toronto is the only Canadian team in the Major League, and a big Canadian city, Vancouver, is just a few hours up the road. Canadians of all stripes have taken on the Blue Jays, not to mention alot of people living in Vancouver who are originally from Toronto. So, I learned that this Canadian invasion is an annual ritual.
Can you spot any Mariners Fans? I can't either. Canadian Invasion...an annual occurrence
I continued north to the Canadian border, which I cover in a separate post. But I cross back into Washington State in the eastern half, which is not nearly as lush as the western half. In fact, in the rain shadow of the Cascade mountains, a lot of eastern Washington is dry, including some desert areas!
My next destination was the Grand Coulee Dam. This dam was built during the Great Depression to provide hydroelectric power, and also provide irrigation water (since eastern Washington is very dry). The dam is very big, and its cascading white water actually serves as a backdrop for a nightly laser light show that talks about the dam's history. While it brought jobs and irrigation, it also messed with the natural flow of the Columbia river and the way of life of the Native Americans living in the area.
Columbia River and the dam Grand Coulee Dam Laser light show with the
white cascading water as a backdrop
Near the dam is a town called Electric City. I assume it gets its name from the electricity provided from the dam, but I think it's a fun name! I found a bar/restaurant there where I had dinner, and after getting into deep conversation with the owner and another patron, I returned to the bar after the laser light show to have another drink. We ended up chatting until after midnight when nobody else was around. Finally I excused myself to head to my campsite and go to sleep - I did not want to go to bed so late that I'd sleep half the day away!
My night near Electric City was only one of two nights where I had to pay for lodging. There were no national forests nor BLM land nearby, where wild camping is free. I did find a campsite near the river and since the place had plenty of vacancy, was able to negotiate a discount from the owner. I ended up paying $15 for the night. (The coin operated shower was a few dollars extra.)
Eastern Washington...no lush rainforests like in western Washington
In the morning I headed east towards Washington's "other" city - Spokane. To my surprise, there was a large set of cascading waterfalls on the river that ran through the middle of the city. There was also a large fairgrounds area on a peninsula in the river where the World's Fair of 1974 was held. Everything was shut down, I don't know how much of it was still in operation.
From Spokane, I jumped on I-90 and headed east towards Idaho and Montana.