41 - Entiat City RV Park, Entiat Washington
On Monday 8/22nd, broke off with Jim and Anita for a little over a week (will meet up with them again in Boise Idaho) and drove to Entiat, Washington. Mike's grandfather, Herman Bick, lived in Entiat in the late 70's and early 80's. Unfortunately, he could not get an address, but he did have a picture and drove around looking at areas it may have been in. It's a beautiful area and assume it was just as, if not more, beautiful back then. We then drove about 15 miles north to the Lake Chelan recreation area just to see the sights. We were happy we did that cause we weren't sure why the GPS routed us a way that took about 45 minutes longer but found out when we got to a tunnel that was only 13' 2" which was too low for the RV.
Interesting Facts about Entiat Valley
For generations Chinook Indians hunted and fished the Entiat Valley, which they called "entat-qua" meaning rapid water.
In the late 1800's settlers arrived, attracted to the valley's rich graze land and timber resources. Ferry and railroad transport allowed saw mills and tree fruit production to florish.
In 1913 the original town site was destroyed by fire and rebuilt closer to the railroad.
In 1960 the second town site was flooded upon completion of the Rocky Reach Dam, and moved to its current location on higher ground.
As we were driving there, we were struck by the mountainous desert and many fruit orchards (apples, cherries, pears) which were so green. The orchards are able to grow because of the dams along the Columbia River providing the irrigation. I guess I have not been in a lot of desert areas but expect it to be totally dry. But for 3 days we followed the Columbia River which brings a very interesting twist to the "desert". This scenery was some of the best I've seen along the trip. I had only been to Seattle Washington previously so had no idea about what to expect in this part of Washington. I was not disappointed.
In 1902, the United States Bureau of Reclamation was established to aid in the economic development of arid western states. One of its major undertakings was building Grand Coulee Dam to provide irrigation for the 600 thousand acres of the Columbia Basin Project in central Washington. With the onset of World War II, the focus of dam construction shifted to production of hydroelectricity. Irrigation efforts resumed after the war.
Today the main stem of the Columbia River has 14 dams, of which three are in Canada and 11 in the US. Four mainstem dams and four lower Snake River dams contain navigation locks to allow ship and barge passage from the ocean as far as Lewiston, Idaho. The river system as a whole has more than 400 dams for hydroelectricity and irrigation.
Interesting Facts about Washington State
Washington was named for George Washington and is the only state named after a president. It was admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889. Olympia is the state capital; the state's largest city is Seattle.
Washington is the 18th-largest state, with an area of 71,362 square miles, and the 13th-most populous state, with more than 7.7 million people. The majority of Washington's residents live in the Seattle metropolitan area.
The state is the largest producer of apples, hops, pears, blueberries, spearmint oil, and sweet cherries in the U.S.
Washington ranks second only to California in wine production.
There are 29 federally recognized Native American tribes in Washington.
Seattle is by far the largest city in Washington. Just over half of all Washington residents live in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area, or Greater Seattle Area. Washington’s other largest cities include Spokane, Tacoma, and Vancouver (not to be confused with Vancouver, Canada!).
At over 80 percent the state has significant amounts of hydroelectric power generation.
The airplane manufacturer Boeing was started in Seattle, Washington in 1916. Today it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, but its Washington facilities employ more people than anywhere else.
During WWII, Boeing became a significant aircraft carrier, while Hanford Works atomic energy plant in Eastern Washington played a role in developing the atomic bomb.
The roots of Microsoft also began in Seattle, where Bill Gates and Paul Allen grew up and started working together. After officially founding the company in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1975, they moved the company back to Bellevue, Washington in 1979.
Jeff Bezos started Amazon from his garage in Bellevue, Washington. It officially founded the company there in 1994.
The world-famous parcel delivery service UPS started in Seattle in 1907.
Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee chain was founded in Seattle. Its logo, the Siren, represents the city’s closeness to the sea. The original store is found at Pike Place Market.
The official state fruit is the apple, as the state produces more than 50% of the country’s apples.
The official state vegetable is the Walla Walla sweet onion, named after Walla Walla country, Washington.
52% of the state’s total land area is covered by forests, mostly to the west of the North Cascades.
Washington is home to 3 national parks: Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks.
Mt. Rainier, a stratovolcano, is the highest point in Washington at 14,410 feet above sea level.
Mount St. Helens, one of the 10 volcanoes in Washington state (5 of which are active). When it erupted on May 18, 1980, it was the deadliest, most famous, and most remembered volcanic eruption in US history, killing 57 and destroying hundreds of homes. Ash covered nearby states and BC in Canada, turning day into night.
Western Washington has mild and often rainy weather. Meanwhile, Eastern Washington can experience up to 300 days of sunshine per year, with hotter summers and colder winters.
Kennewick Man, one of the most famous human skeletal remains in the US, was found in Washington. It dates to around 9000 years ago.