What Mountains Can Do

Who knew that one state could be so diverse?  Sure, Alabama has beaches and mountains, but Washington proved to be like none other that I have yet visited.

Spokane, where I spent last night, was only about a five hour drive across to get to my friend, Stephanie, who is just outside of Seattle in Auburn, Washington.  However, Stephanie was not going to be home until later in the day and besides that, there were fires burning in the middle of the state that I wanted to avoid at all cost, so I chose to take the scenic, northern route, despite the nine hour length of the drive.

Soon after leaving Spokane and I-90 (again), I entered two-lane highways which I stayed with for most of the day.  My drive started through pastureland as far as the eye could see.  It wasn't flat, but even the word "hill" seems a bit extreme.  Most fields were planted with some sort of grain, but a few shown bright yellow with canola.  I even wondered how I could be heading toward a National Forest considering there seemed to be virtually no trees whatsoever on the journey.

The scenery changed dramatically and suddenly I felt as though I was in a different state: one of those that borders our southern line rather than Washington which borders our northern neighbor.  The barren fields where only desert plants could grow up against rocky hillsides gave the impression of deserted lands, emptiness, not a state that is home to one of the world's dampest cities.  The constant supply of Mexican restaurants as I passed through each of the very small towns only added to the illusion.

At the edge of this part of the state, things became a little bit greener and I began to see orchards, full of apple and cherry trees neatly planted in rows.

Again, the scenery changed dramatically as I was suddenly amongst great forests of tall trees, small fields, lakes and rivers, before entering Okanogan National Forest and North Cascades National Park, a truly beautiful place which somehow combined beauties of both the Black Hills and Glacier National Park because of the tall dark trees on the mountainside and the rushing turquoise rivers, gorges and lakes.

I stopped at Cascadian Farms market stand which was brimming with homemade ice cream and smoothies, freshly picked berries and some of their other products (I often eat their granola bars and cereal!) before heading back to the interstate and heading south to Auburn.

I'm so very excited to be here with Stephanie and Christy, fellow Fulbrighters!  It is wonderful to catch up after a year apart and so lovely to be with friends again!  And I thoroughly enjoyed my northern route today as I saw just how much control over a land a range of mountains can have.

Miles traveled: 406
Gallons of gas purchased: 13.2

Hours in the car: 9.5
States: Washington

Best Line: "War Eagle!"
Whilst in the middle of the North Cascadian Mountains, about as far away from Auburn, Alabama as you can get in the continental US, a man saw the Auburn tag on my car and yelled out this glorious phrase.  So nice to have "family' all over the country!