eastern washington...the ever brown part of the ever green state

I've been thinking for awhile (every time I drive to grand coulee) how beautiful this part of the state is. it's not the beautiful green that western washington is, but I think there is something just beautiful and majestic about the sun beating down on the dry ground. and no, I am not being sarcasting...I really do think it is beautiful. so, I decided to take my camera with me and take some pictures of this beautiful state. unfortunately the sun was not out, so while it's still pretty...these pictures really don't do justice to the drive.

so this is banks lake...just past soap lake

and I stopped at dry falls. this is the plaque thing that marks the rest stop (it's on wood...which is kind of cool. it says (if you can't read it):

"story of dry falls: these cliffs are the skeletal remnants of what was once the world's largest waterfall. they bear stark witness to the tremendous power of catastrophic floods that swept over eastern washington at the end of the last ice age. the falls began 20 mi to the south, but receeded upstream through powerful erosive action. the retreat of the falls gave birth to the canyon below. the lower grand coulee. with the enormous force of the floodwaters spewing several cubic miles of rock over vast areas downstream. today dry falls remains as one of the most spectacular geologic wonders of the ice age."

dry falls

again...dry falls. you really can't get a full picture of how massive this place is. you really have to be there. but if you were to take this picture and multiply it by four across, there would still be more. it's absolutely breathtaking.

this is just somewhere on my drive. the sun decided to come up and I thought I would take a picture. it's pretty.

in this picture, the rock in the center is called steamboat rock and you can actually get out there or close to it (there is a road that I have never taken). but you can kind of get the feel for the road that I drive on toward grand coulee. there are "cliffs" on both sides of the lake, and the road is obviously on the side that I am on (I can't say right or left as it would depend on the direction...I actually think its kind of on the east side....???)

the grand coulee dam. a huge feat of engineering...and is the largest concrete structure in the united states (12 million cubic yards of concrete). the hospital is in grand coulee which is above the dam, and st. rita's is below the dam in coulee dam.

this is st. ritas...the place that I stay in coulee dam. crazy story. while I was here during this trip I tripped the circuit breaker and met the lady who takes care of the facility, and her husband. they told me all about the building. it (and the building across the street...not pictured, but a mirror image) were dormatories for the workers during the building of the grand coulee dam. the building that is now st. rita's used to be the women's dormatory...for the secrataries... and the other building was for the engineers. apparently there is a tunnel that actually connects the two buildings and goes under the road. I was told that it has been boarded up...but it wasn't back then....hmmm????

and this is my room (for this trip) at st. rita's. most of the rooms are the same (this one is especially bright). all of them have beds, televisions, chairs...

sinks and dressers.

this is actually a view of the dam from my window. I don't know if you can see the dam this well from any other room...so I really lucked out because...

it allowed me to take pictures of the laser light show without leaving the comfort of my room. every night during the summer they let the water run down and actually have a show with lasers and music. my favorite is "coming to america" by neil diamond...every time I hear it I think of the laser light show. it's really cool and lots of fun. this picture is of two hands cupping the earth...I think or maybe of water. the camera didn't work quite as well as I might have hoped...but better than expected.

this picture I do know. you can kind of just make out a silhouette of the state of washington with an eagle and a tree. perhaps you should squint your eyes...

this is coulee community hospital. and clinic. and long term care. the clinic is the red building on the left of the picture. the hospital and LTC are actually just one long hallway, but the hospital part is on the left, and the LTC is pretty much left of that last tree in the picture.

and this is the statue in front of the hospital. I have no idea why the artist decided that the kids should be on eachother's heads...but they are. it's kind of cute...

so, that is my trip. well was...I took these pictures weeks ago, and actually the return trip was even prettier because the sun was out, but I really wanted to get home. but I hope that everyone now has some appreciation for real beauty.