We didn’t have plans for today since we had done all there was listed on several places. But on Friday I was looking at the Lewis & Clark app and scrolled in on the map and saw Canoe Camp. We decided to go there today. It is back the way we came, along Hwy 12, 57 miles, in Orofino, ID. Gorgeous drive along Clearwater River. The weather was absolutely perfect today. This park has signs explaining what happened around here and is right along the river. The Corps of Discovery (Lewis & Clark) was almost starving from their ordeal through the Bitterroot Mountains and then ate way too much food once through. They were very sick for several days. Nez Perce here taught them how to make long canoes out of Ponderosa Pines by burning the insides. As we walked around this park reading signs, Kevin stopped and chatted with an elderly man. The man said he comes to this park and watches the river 2-3 times a day. He told about the Dworshak Dam and said the Dworshak National Fish Hatchery was the largest in the world. Seaman (footnote 1) showed us around. HA
Dworshak Dam, Ahsahka, ID 08/26
As we approached the lower part of the dam, I said, “It would sure be neat to see some water coming out of the dam” and Kevin laughed. No, I don’t mean through the dam, I mean down the spillway! LOL So neat to see where it hooks into the sides of mountains. It is almost as tall as Hoover Dam, this one is 717 ft tall. We were able to walk along a pathway and down some stairs to the water.
Next we went over to Dworshak National Fish Hatchery. The place is set up wonderfully for visitors! They have displays of details and then you can follow huge yellow fish that are painted in the sideway and point the way. Cute idea. We saw the nursery doors and then went inside to a video of fish hatching. We went upstairs and you can see where fish are actually taken to take out the eggs and milt. They aren’t running right now but nice they have the overlook inside the building there. Outside continuing on we saw the areas with huge fish in them and sprinklers of water. Another huge section we saw thousands of tiny fish just a few inches long. We were very happy to have stopped at this place. With the day still nice out and sun we went to a cemetery and did some Find A Grave (footnote 2) work.
Today, being the Friday before Labor Day Weekend, Kevin had a slow day at work so we loaded up and headed out. It was a Travel Day to Pasco, WA. He did a great job of sweeping the sides of HOWE (footnote 3) and the top to get spiders and webs off. The drive west along Hwy 12 (I think we have been on this road since Williston, ND) was hilly and some very steep sides of hills. Very dry, as this is the Columbia Plateau. We saw a lot of fields on steep hills that have been harvested from grain and the tracks are crazy! We couldn’t believe the combines don’t tip over! Later, Kevin looked it up and found videos of the steepest farms. Sometimes the equipment actually slides down the hill while working the field!
I thought about what to do here and thought to look up baseball games. Sure enough, the Los Angeles A’s feeder team is here, Tri-City Dusty Devils, and they are playing games tonight and tomorrow. We should go! We got to the campground in Pasco, WA. This entire complex, owned by the county, includes an ice arena, GESA stadium – for minor league baseball, tons of soccer fields and baseball fields, lots of parking, plus other huge buildings. It is a very nice complex. Our site is on the end and backs up to nice grassy park strip. I didn’t know until we got here that the MLB field is literally behind us and across the road! We sat outside on the grass and read and rest. We also bought our tickets online – there weren’t a lot of empty seats! Then at 5:30 p.m. we walked a short ways – had to go down and around to the fence opening – to the baseball park. The game was fun to watch. When it was done we just walked home (footnote 4). A fence was opened for vehicles to get out so much shorter walking distance for us. So fun!
Sacajawea State Park has kept the spelling of her name on the signs here. It says that was the first way historians thought it was spelled. There are numerous ways her name has been spelled because she lived with two different tribes with no written language and plus in the US, spelling wasn’t standardized until the dictionary came out in the 1820s.
Oh a funny: I knew that we had to have a state parking pass for our next campground and wondered if that was included in the price we have paid in full. As we entered this state park, we saw you have to buy Discover Pass. Let’s ask. So we went to the small visitor center and asked the ranger/volunteer. I told her we were staying in Stub Stewart SP the next day and did that cover our parking for here. She looked puzzled. Then she said she wasn’t familiar with that state park. Well, if you buy a pass for one state park does it cover for another. Where is this park? I said “Buxton…oh my gosh, that is in Oregon. Where are we? Are we in Washington?” We all laughed so hard and Kevin continued to laugh every time he thought about it. The poor lady was much relieved to have the mystery of the state park figured out. It was so funny. So yes, we had to pay $10.00 for the discovery pass. LOL
Columbia & Snake Confluence, Kevin & Seaman Doing The “Lewis Stance,” Sacajawea Historical SP, Pasco, WA 09/26
This is a small visitor center but really had a lot of information. One display had a text of a speech Lewis gave to the Oto tribe. It is very long (could hardly fit in the camera view) and says can you imagine communication through two or three languages with this?! The tribe here, along the confluence of Snake and Columbia Rivers lived in mat lodges. There was a great display about the myths of “A Literary Heroine” about Sacajawea. She became popular through moves, books, plays, and songs. Most aren’t true, just myths. I am glad they tell the truth about her.
Watching MLB Stadium Fireworks From Our Chairs At Campsite, Franklin CO RV Park, Pasco, WA 09/26
I knew from a poster that the MLB game would have fireworks tonight, as this is their last game of the season. So we sat in our chairs on the grass park strip behind HOWE and watched. Literally 8 minutes.
Here is my September yard flag that I quilted:
*The blog posts are taken from my daily travel journal. Would you believe – it takes me a 1/2 day every week to whittle down a week’s worth of journal so it won’t be too long for the post each week. HAHA Thank you for reading!
- Seaman – this is a toy dog we bought at the start of Lewis & Clark Trail. He is like the real dog that Meriwether Lewis had and took on the Trail with him. We thought it would be fun to take pictures of our Seaman as we travel along the Lewis & Clark Trail.
- Find A Grave – https://www.findagrave.com/about
- “HOWE” is what we named our Alliance Avenue 36-ft 5th wheel. See: Home On WhEels and we pronounce it Howie. We live and travel in it full-time around the country. HOWE has stayed at least one night in all 48 continuous U.S. states.
- “Home” is where we park it. Home is our 2022 Alliance Avenue, 36 ft, 5th wheel.
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