Hanford?

We left Lake Kachess and headed East, out of the Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest and through the Wenatchee National Forest, stopping briefly in Che Elum to do some laundry and update the blog.  Tyler tried downloading another book to the kindle with little success.  It was more temperamental about signal quality.  We were done in under an hour, the high powered machines cleaned and dried quickly.

With time against us we have been doing more highway miles than we would like.  The Jeep is holding up well, screaming to maintain 65-70 mph.  I suspect that is responsible for our poor gas mileage.

We traveled along the Lewis and Clark Trail, or Clark and Lewis Trail depending on who’s your favorite.  I don’t see why Lewis got top billing.  We drove Rt12 through Eureka, Prescott and Dodge to Clarkston.  Clarkston, Wa is adjacent to Lewiston, Id and significantly smaller.  Clark gets disrespected again. 

We drove by Hanford Reach National Monument and saw nothing.  Just a small sign indicating it existed and nothing more.  No Visitors Center, no explanation what it is.  When we get an internet signal I’ll have to look it up.  Perhaps it has some historical significance.  It borders a large area under control of the Department of Energy.  I am not sure what they do in there, but it is a massive expanse of land surrounded by fences and gates. (figured it out...Hanford Nuclear Reservation)
At any rate we made it in to Idaho today and camped (after a long day of driving) at Castle Creek CG in the Clearwater National Forest along the South Fork of the Clearwater River, surprise!  A nice campground of ten sites we shared with four other families.

Unfortunately the Kindle has stopped working, Tyler’s last attempt at downloading a book was the last time it worked.  We suspected he left the wireless antenna powered and the battery was just dead, but even after a long full charge the screen stays blank.

 
Clearwater on your Google Maps: (45.82857,-115.96885)