Kettle Falls and a step beyond to Colville

In my haste I had us staying in Kettle Falls. The name comes from a location on the Columbia River
where the Indians would gather and catch salmon. The falls hemmed in the fish for easy harvesting. Only after making reservations did I find out that the falls are under water. They are no more. They became submerged when the Grand Coulee Dam was built and the Lake Roosevelt reservoir created, about 1942. That explains the old pictures.

What’s more, Kettle Falls doesn’t exist either. When the dam was built the town had to move to Meyers Falls. The folk from Kettle Falls outnumbered those from Meyers Falls so the name Kettle Falls was retained. I was told there are still falls to see. Just take a right at the Visitors Center, go straight and there you can see - Meyers Falls.

It was over 100 degrees when we arrived to our motel room. Best of two places to stay in town. We had two rooms, A/C, and a kitchenette. The motel is part of a small RV park and rather dreary. I felt bad but Michele was fine with it and didn’t mind the no streaming Internet rule. At first Aaron was not happy. That changed. I took Cecilia and Marc and we went swimming in Lake Roosevelt.

Came to find out that Colville has better accommodations, restaurants, and a Walmart. We drove over for dinner. In the middle of Colville, center stage, is a huge sawmill with a gigantic 120 foot tall crane. The claw can empty a semi-truck full of logs in one grab. What a monstrosity to have as the centerpiece of the town. Some of these towns really need to transition to a tourism based economy. On the way home a cloud at near ground level was dropping rain.

The next morning we were greeted by cool temperatures and packed up. We’d begin our slow return by following the Columbia River (Lake Roosevelt) southward. Michele had noticed on the map a way to cross the lake by ferry. That would be our goal. If it worked out we can then make our way to a little town called Nepselem in the heart of the Colville Indian Reservation.