Trip Report

On September 10th, twenty-five Obsidians and friends headed off to explore eastern Washington, NE Oregon and the beautiful Columbia River gorge. As always, we enjoyed our travels aboard a MTR luxury motor coach with our skilled driver, Augie Bergman. Our first stop was at Lewis and Clark State Park, where the Sandy River converges with the Columbia. Then on to our lunch stop at Bonneville Dam, where we enjoyed the opportunity to view many sizes of sturgeon and salmon that are being raised to stock our rivers and streams. The weather was perfect, beautiful blue skies and very little smoke made for fabulous views. Crossing the Columbia on the Bridge of the Gods we headed east on Hwy 14 to the Klickitat River and Hwy 142, allowing us a great view of Oregon’s side of the gorge. Following the Klickitat gave us spectacular viewpoints and a good sense of the beauty Ewart Baldwin loved so much about this extraordinary area. Many memories of Ewart were shared as we traveled on to Goldendale for our first night’s stay. Tuesday morning found us heading north on Hwy 97 to Yakima, Ephrata and Grand Coulee. We made an unplanned side trip to the small town of Thorpe to shop and explore a huge produce and antique mall – a great find that we all enjoyed. As we meandered through the countryside, we next began to follow the Yakima River on Hwy 821 – another spur of the moment decision to explore more. The road was quite crooked, but very scenic with lovely views. On into the Scablands and Grand Coulee, with a surprise stop along Banks Lake where a gravel road follows a creek up into a canyon filled with trees and other lush vegetation. This is Northrup Road leading seven miles up to a homestead, where the Northrup family lived. After becoming a widow, Mrs. Northrup raised her seven children here among the rock cliffs, lush vegetation and many rattlesnakes. This is the only place in Grant County that has green vegetation year round. Jim Northrop was surprised by this find and of course we had to take his picture by the Northrup Road sign. After checking into our motel, we made our way over to Grand Coulee dam and enjoyed a pizza dinner while waiting for the laser light show to begin. As darkness set in the music began along with laser light images flashing across the water on the spill way. Each evening they open the spillways long enough for this grand performance. We also enjoyed the very interesting visitor center on site. In the morning we drove over to the dam for a guided tour, this is a very high security area. We were allowed inside to see the huge generators producing millions of kilowatts of power 24 hours a day to serve most of the western states and parts of Canada. Thanks to this great power project millions of acres of once dry land are now producing crops for the world. It was surprising to learn that out of twenty-five bus riders only six had been to Grand Coulee Dam before. After leaving the dam site we drove up to Crown Point for a great view of the dam, the town and the amazing array of power lines heading out into the countryside. After picking up lunch supplies we sat back and enjoyed a video about the Scablands and the millions of years the formation took. Soon we arrived in Spokane for a two day stay near Riverfront Park. This allowed time to explore the city and the park; highlights were riding the gondola and the carousel, marveling at the beautiful old buildings, a raft trip on the Spokane River and of course finding excellent restaurants to dine in. Friday found us on the road again towards Hwy 3 and the Hells Canyon on the Snake River. Traveling down this winding road, crossing the river and then climbing back up to the top on board a huge bus was slow going, which allowed time to enjoy the spectacular views. Arriving in Enterprise we visited Erl McLaughlin at his 600 acre ranch and private Sunrise Iron Works Museum. It is hard to believe this wonderful collection of restored tractors and other farm equipment is a one man show. He has acquired his collection from all over the country; some came as boxes of parts which he cleaned up and reassembled into whole machines. Most are brightly painted and look like new. They are stored out of the weather in a huge aluminum building. It was hard to tear ourselves away from this awesome collection and Erl’s engaging personality – he loves his collection. Our evening destination was the River Lodge and Grill at Boardman. This is a beautiful new facility right on the Columbia River. The huge log pillars, rock fireplace, grand stairways, fantastic views of the river and great food made for a lovely evening. Our last day together (Saturday) found us at the WAAAM in Hood River. This Museum has an amazing display of antique cars, trucks, motorcycles and airplanes from the early 1900’s – all are in working condition. TACAERO pilots met us in the museum and we separated into groups of two or three for an airplane ride over Hood River and the Columbia gorge. We enjoyed the patchwork beauty of the many orchards and farms surrounding Hood River, as well as a great view of Mt. Adams. What a fun way to complete our week long excursion. We drove the scenic route around Mt. Hood to avoid the congestion of Portland, traveling through Sandy and Woodburn before picking up I-5 to Eugene. Another great trip with a great group of riders.