The Road to a Dam Fine Day

21 days, 5 provinces, 9 states and over 10,000 kilometers. We are on the home stretch.
What a difference a day makes. We took the I90 from Post Falls, Idaho to Spokane, Washington. Along the interstate it is very similar to driving through the lower mainland - urban sprawl for about 75 kilometers from start to finish. Whizzing past Spokane we can see part of the downtown core. It looks like it might be an interesting city with its historic brick buildings next to modern office towers and a large Gothic cathedral next to the McDonalds golden arches.
Just past Spokane we turned off onto US2 and we are back into the scenic part of the drive. This part of eastern Washington has some very unusual and interesting geography. Not far along the highway we were driving through miles and miles of rolling farmland. Green fields,yellow canola, golden fields ready to harvest and brown fields ready for planting.
We saw unusual wind funnels creating dust eddies that spiraled skyward. The temperature was also climbing. 32, 33, 34, thank goodness for air conditioning.
Soon we were driving through rough, barren land, sage, scrub and the occasional spindly pine.
We had a quick stop lunch in Grand Coulee City Park beside Banks Lake then started the drive along the road that is between Banks Lake and the Coulee Walls. A coulee is a valley or drainage wall. We learned today that these canyons were formed by unique geological erosion that was created by cataclysmic floods that swept periodically across eastern Washington down the Columbia River Plateau 40 - 60 million years ago. This area is called Grand Coulee because it is - majestic and grand.
Next stop, Grand Coulee Dam. Ed got a real charge out of visiting this.
Temperature now 37.5! Too dam hot.
We left Grand Coulee Dam and were soon driving in an area known as Channeled Scabland. During the great floods millions of years ago, large boulders were scattered across this dry, desert-like landscape. The canyon, the walls, the lake, the river, the boulders have been in this same spot for millions of years and we are only passing through for a minute. How fleeting our time.
We crossed the Columbia River at 4:15pm and the temperature was now 38.5. Now we are really cooking. We arrived in the Okanogan Valley, Washington - not BC. I had to keep reminding myself that we were not driving through the Okanagan, BC. The fruit trees, fruit packing plants, the small towns could have been in Oliver, Peachland or Osoyoos. The lushness of the area is an example of how the Grand Coulee dam has helped to irrigate this region.
Winthrop is a town from the old west. The storefronts (all 34) have been preserved to look as they did back in the mid-1800's. It was originally a gold mining town. When the minerals were depleted it became a trading post for farmers and trappers. When the scenic highway was opened in 1972 they encouraged travelers to stop by putting up the old west facades and turned the sidewalk into a wooden walkway.
We enjoyed walking around the town and stopping in at the local pizza place for our regular Friday night pizza.