WA -– Sprague Lake, 5 & 6 June 2011

 

We are headed to Montana!  Arleen’s Mom, Ellen was diagnosed with cancer in December and spent the winter in Kansas with her other daughter, Kathy, while going through chemotherapy.  She flew to Washington for our retirement ceremony.  Now having whipped cancer, Ellen is ready to go home to Roundup, Montana. 

Our first stop is Sprague Lake, Washington.  It’s located just off I-90 west of Spokane.  This is our first trip “loaded down” and the Dodge went 10.5 miles per gallon of diesel.  It cost about $130 to fill our 34-gallon tank…yikes!  Oh well… you have to pay to play.

Our campsite was level grass right on the lake.  We had full hookups and Ellen was right next to us in a “cabin”.  The “cabin” was on older trailer (30 years?) that had full amenities but had trouble hiding its age by looks and smell.  I don’t think Ellen got her money’s worth, but she was comfortable none the less. 

   

Arleen and I were very comfortable in our new home.  We were quite at home with unlimited water and electricity, a means to dump our tanks whenever convenient, plus satellite TV, internet, and a well stocked refrigerator.  In our case, I wouldn’t call it “camping”…I’d call it “living”.  Life is good!

Sprague Lake has good trout fishing, though we didn’t give it a shot.  We heard reports of 18-24 inch rainbow caught while we were there.  There was a nice fishing pier, small boat dock, and a fish cleaning station.  Next time we will give it a shot!

The highlight of our 2-day stay was the bike ride.  We did a 15-mile loop that was evenly split between hard-packed dirt farming roads and smooth asphalt.  The terrain was rolling hills with sweeping curves to keep it interesting.  We only saw one car heading the opposite way…the driver waved at us!  I love being “in the country”.  I also watched a small crop-duster plane do multiple passes over a field.  The way they come in real low and bank hard has got to be a blast!  I’ll keep crop-dusting in the back of my mind for my next career.

   

The only draw back to this place was the noise from the highway and active railroad tracks.  Arleen and I both rated it a “1” for tranquility (on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the best).  However, that wouldn’t stop us from going back.  There are more bike rides to check out and trout waiting for me to catch!