29 May Revisited: Wenatchee to Ephrata

First, I need to return to my walk out of Wenatchee; I didn't do it justice the other day. It was beautiful, a gorgeous morning, and the green hills, while not the lush and varied hues that I am used to from the west side of the Cascades, were nonetheless pleasant to behold. On my right was the Columbia River in its modest beginnings, much humbler than the areas I have traversed it further downstream. To my left, the terrain quickly became drier and less verdant, and spots of brown sparsely populated by sagebrush began to appear. A few miles out of town I stumbled upon a "hydro park," a curious term I'm not sure I've encountered before, that conjured images of water slides and dunk tanks in my head. I took the paved riversife path and discovered that it actually connoted (in addition to the path), a swimming area and a public boat launch. I walked the path for about a mile, grateful for the break from the highway. At one point the path was flooded (the rivers are very high here in Washington and Idaho due to extreme snow melt), and a couple trepid cyclists who had passed me minutes before were turning around, disappointed. I decided to explore the extent of the flooding by stepping four inches up on the landscaped wall and walking a bit further up the path, and discovered that it was only flooded for about fifteen feet. It was easy to get aroung it, and I think most of the cyclists I know would have been more adventurous than the pair I encounterd and checked things out before turning back, discouraged.

I rejoined the highway, and about ten miles out of Wenatchee, in Rock Island, I happily crash-landed in a truck stop booth where a pretty, country waitress slathered me with huns, darlins, babes, and a delivery of somewhat better than mediocre (why oh why did I do it?) fish and chips. Of course, after all that I needed a nap, which the waitress pointed out several times in addition to tellimg me she had seen me walking. While I ate I had taken note of the sleepiness of the truck stop, so instead of the nap that everyone including those without a say agreed I needed, I walked out to the highway and in ten minutes I had caught a ride to Ephrata with Nina.