On the Road to Coulee City

So, after finally getting my new Fuji GFX camera and lens sorted out I decided I needed a "shakedown cruise" to learn my way around using the camera. Looking about a place to drive that wasn't too far away, I settled on a visit to Coulee City and Grand Coulee to see what there was to see. Nominally, this was a trip to the dam and Grand Coulee, but I discovered much more.

I took US 2 all the way. On the west side of the Cascade Mountains, I detoured toward a fish hatchery not far from Gold Bar (actual town name) where I could get a clearer look at the mountains in the clouds and fog. As you can see above, the weather was pretty thick.



In Gold Bar proper, I found a train of tanker cars sitting on a siding with dramatic clouds and fog. This seemed like a good place to have a shot. To match the dreary day, I toned down the saturation on the foreground and gave the scene a big of a surreal feeling.

At the turn-off for the town of Index, there is this view from the road side. It was a bit unexciting in color so I perked it up a bit in B&W. As you can see there are still peaks with snow on them in May (!).

Once past Stevens pass and the high point of the drive, I stopped along the Wenatchee River for a photo of an area once burned. This is a long exposure with blurry and over exposed water in the river.

Emerging from the mountains, I came to Leavenworth. This town has decided to be a Bavarian town with everyone adhering to the German theme. Perhaps some fun food and beer, but I did not find it appealing on this particular journey. I'll have to go back for more thorough visit one day.

It was then on through Wenatchee and across the plains to Coulee City. This region is gently rolling land that is farms as far as you can see. Interestingly enough, there are no ditches. The fields are plowed right to asphalt of the road. I took this to mean it doesn't rain much here.

But it was raining when I was there. By rolling down the window and pulling over, I was able to get this image of what seems to be an old school house now sitting in a plowed field.

I finally arrived at the luxurious accommodations (!) for the evening in Coulee City.  Judging from the fancy sign out front, it is hard to understand why there are vacancies, eh? Most of the visitors were fishermen here for a tournament so there was a line of trucks pulling boats by the rooms.

Tomorrow, we begin to explore the area around Coulee City. Stay tuned.