Grand Coulee

Petrified Gingko wood
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Today I started heading east. I took Interstate 90 from Seattle, giving myself a break from the 2 lane roads for a little while. I did make good time, but missed all the little sights along the way.

My car has a vent window with a mind of its own. Today it kept opening, especially when I exceeded 80 mph, maybe trying to act as a governor. I had to keep rolling down the main window to push the vent shut from the outside. This is fine, unless its raining, when you have to decide whether the few drops from the open window are bad enough to suffer the deluge from opening the main window and fixing it. I eventually grew quite angry at the window, and bought some tape for a ghetto repair. It hasnt opened since.

The Columbia River
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I stopped at the Gingko Petrified Forest, where minerals (mostly volcanic) penetrated the prehistoric wood and the wood underwent petrifaction. I touched a lot of the trunks, and they are definitely rocks now. But the best part of the park is the view of the Columbia River. From here I turned north to get back on smaller highway, and to drive straight through the middle of the Coulee.

The most surprising thing about Washington State is the Moses Coulee. I had no idea this thing even existed. Its a large gorge with huge cliffs on both sides, formed during humongous floods from Montana at the end of the last Ice Age. The place is incredible.

Grand Coulee
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Next I checked out the Grand Coulee Dam. I was curious to see how a hydroelectric plant is different from the Navy power plants where Ive worked. They are pretty different. Hydropower is awesome the Grand Coulee Dam generates power for 12 northwestern states, and provides extra to Southern California in the summer.

Oddly, the dam was originally built as an irrigation system for Washington State by the Bureau of Reclamation. Power generation, its primary use today, was only factored in later. I was the only person on the tour, so I got to ask all the questions I wanted, exhausting the guide.

Grand Coulee Dam
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I started heading west again, stopping in Spokane for the worst Chinese food ever. The only good thing about my dinner was the Alaskan Amber, one of my favorite beers!