Underway

With much too much last minute activity, we finally caught the 5pm ferry on August 15, and, despite some traffic, made it to the Wenatchee National Forest for our first night out.  Although we have lived in the Northwest for 6 years now, this is the first time we have been in this area.  Our Golden Age Pass (one of the few benefits from the Federal Government these days), allowed us to enjoy a campsite only a couple of hundred yards from a river for $8.50.  With no electricity, the next morning we headed on to the quaint, touristy town of Leavenworth for our coffee.  Then on to the prosperous farming area around Wenatchee, with Sand Point Idaho in our sights for the second night out.  Sucked in by the term resort, we headed for the Best Western resort campground in the center of the city.  If you like parking lots this is a real winner, but at $40 a night, one of the worst bargains around.  The town is cute but it was late and only bars were open.  The Coldwater Creek mothership is buttoned up, as are the independent shops.  The many trains passing but a few yards away were a preview of the Great Northern route we would follow for the next several hundreds of miles.  As we passed Bonners Ferry, we were disappointed that we did not see any evidence of either the polygamous sect relocated from Canada nor the survivalists said to populate the area.