From Grand Coulee to Leavenworth on Highway 2

One last glance back at Coulee Dam before we start back home. We go at our own pace because
nobody’s behind us pushing, pushing, pushing. However, we’ve got to make good time because I told Michele we’d be home by noon. With the dam behind us, we breeze through three towns whose existence is owed to the building of the dam: Coulee Dam, Grand Coulee, and Electric City. None has a population much over 1,000. At the same time we welcome the sight of a new body of water fed from the dam; it's called Banks Lake.

The road cuts through a wide treeless canyon with steep vertical basalt cliffs and evidence of volcanic flows. Our first of only two stops rises from the lake like a ship. It’s called Steamboat Rock and stands 700 feet above the surface of the water. Early travelers through here used it as a landmark. It’s now a state park. Normally a pool in front of the rock known as the Devil’s Punchbowl would be filled, but it remains mostly empty from a very dry winter season.

Banks Lake ends abruptly at an earthen wall that holds it back. The road crosses over the embankment and puts us right onto Highway 2 which will take us home. But first we stray off to visit Dry Falls, our second and last sightseeing stop. It’s called Dry Falls because water no longer runs over it. But when it did it would be the largest waterfall in the world at 3.5 miles long and 400 feet high. The visitor center is closed but the coffee kiosk is open. Marc and I walk to a lookout that puts you right over the cavernous gorge. It’s a spectacular sight. Marc and I take in the full breadth of this place in absolute amazement. I snap a shot of a large black bird I thought was a raven. The ranger, who was right there, said it was a golden eagle. It never returned.

Highway 2 crosses through the heart of the state which looks more like Oklahoma with wheat fields and silos; a type of region foreign to me. Settlements and some large wooden structures stand windowless

and abandoned. We pass through Douglas, so small that you should refrain from blinking if you want to see it. In the distance, far from human habitation burns a large brush fire.

At Waterville we take it slow and stop at every old building and every opportune view of downtown. The entire downtown is a National Historic District. Some buildings along the fringes appear very run down. The high school football team is known as the Shockers. We get a laugh from that name but I know they take their football seriously in these parts. From open range we head back into the trees and deep canyons, and rugged beauty.

We’d left the Columbia River far behind at Coulee. Somehow the river has found its way in front of us at Orondo. We cross it and head over the Cascades.

On this trip and others, we’ve seen some hard scrabble towns. Logging built and maintained many of these towns. It’s now up to them to figure their place in the future, post-logging. Leavenworth, located in the Cascades is a success story. Back in the 1950’s it was an empty shell of a town. The community leaders got together and decided to model their town after a Bavarian village. I believe they used Solvang as their inspiration. Leavenworth is a success. Every building and business from the McDonalds to the 76 gas station keeps with the Bavarian theme. We saw crowds of happy people, walking, joking, shopping, and generally enjoying themselves like in no other town. It takes work and vision to re-invent a whole town, but build it and they will come. We're home by 12:20 p.m.