Grand Coulee Dam to Beaver Lodge on Lake Gillette, WA

Sunday 4-25-10

We awaken to a bright sunny day, one of the few on the trip so far  (have I failed to mention all the rain?).  Fred pulls the curtains open and points out a chubby little gray bird eating the blossoms on the neighboring tree.  I grab my Phone and check my new Audubon app I downloaded just for this trip.  We discover the little bird is a White Crowned Sparrow.  During the morning walk we also identify a California Quail, a Brown-headed Cowbird and an American Robin.  Bird watching is new for us so we are giddy with this new found knowledge.

I make blueberry pancakes for breakfast while Fred fries bacon outside on the portable camp burner.

We pack things up and Fred picks a route for the day.  We head north on a scenic byway that meanders along the side of Lake Roosevelt.  But first we gas up in Electric City (clever name, huh).  Our route takes us through miles and miles of winding hills covered with some sort of grain – fields of green and brown.

We stop for gas in Colville.  Fred reaches for the gas cap key and it’s not there.  We look at each other, startled.  I open the door and look at the gas cap….it’s not there!  We have left it 90 miles back at Electric City.  I am now laughing my head off and Fred is not.  I had tried to get him to buy an extra gas cap after we had left it on our Lake Powell trip and also on our Bridgeport trip.  But no, he said this time he, “won’t ever be forgetting it again.” 

He stuffs a rag into the gas tank hole and off we go.  We now look like poor white trash driving down the highway rather than an aging hippie couple!

The sun is sinking into the west and we come upon “Beaver Lodge” on Hwy. 20.  It’s a beautiful spot on Lake Gillette - great reflections and evening light.  We take lots of photos before cooking dinner.  We sit by the campfire listening to the Canadian Geese settling in for the night across the lake.