Talons Tips and Tales from the seat of my motorcycle

HWY 2 - Day 11 - Wilbur, WA - Cashmere, WA

Peaceful sleep last night in Wilbur.  Hope they get the relaxation bed fixed before my next visit.  The Columbia Basin has been the centerpiece of massive project dams and reclamation projects.  Beginning in 1934 Grand Coulee Dam is one of the civil engineering wonders of the world.  At the southern end of the dam project HWY 2 crosses Grand Coulee.  A big body of beautiful blue water.  The area is a popular spot for boaters and anglers.

One of the last of eastern Wahington's unirrigated landscapes is the Moses Coulee.  The Coulee is an 800-foot deep gorge bounded by vertical walls of brown and black volcanic basalt.

From the rolling plains above, HWY 2 cuts down into the coulee, then back up the other side, passing through some of the Columbia River Basin's sole remaining sagebrush and giving a strong sense of how profoundly irrigation has change the region.

Standing at the center of fertile wheat fields 10 miles east of the Columbia River backed off the throttle entering Waterville.  The town was built in 1886 with a population of 1162 strong individuals today.  Stopped for gas, but the pumps weren't working.

On the road for eleven days now.  Rhythm of the road is deep in my soul.  Been missing some good fresh fruit.  Feil Orchard...The Good Fruit People.  Two brothers growing some of the best peaches, apples, and pears in the greater Wenatchee area since 1906.

Pulled to a stop. Put the kickstand down, had one of the sweetest, run down your arm juicy as you bite into it,  peaches I have ever eaten.  Size of an apple, absolutely melted in my mouth.  Could go on but I won't.  Wenatchee is the commercial center of the Wenatchee Valley, and one of the world's most productive apple growing regions in the world.  Not to mention peaches!

With the rugged Cascade Range on the horizon HWY 2 left the lower plains and headed directly into forest covered hills and glacier carved peaks.  Stopped in Cashmere tonight.  World famous for Applets and Cotlets.  Visited the factory.  Ate my way through the sample room.  Highly suggested when you are in the area.

Hard to think about putting the kickstand down on Ol' Sport tomorrow at the end of HWY 2.  Actually...don't want to even think about it yet...

Kickstand down Cashmere, WA. 162 Miles.

be strong, be safe, Talon