Sept 29 (Tue-day 54)-through Oct 7 (Wed-day 62)
Cheney, Washington
Weather-low 23(-10C) to high of low 70s (12C) frost most mornings with clear to partly cloudy and dusty skies



We settled in, checking out the area and anticipating a nice warm sunny day. Unfortunately the temperature dropped all around us, with wind and clouds….it felt like we were on the wet coast again, even though we were in Eastern Washington.



During the last ten days we’ve explored a good deal of South East Washington, from Cheney south to Steptoe Butte, then west to Palouse Falls, and north to Ritzville. Our adventures led us to several trips through the Turnbull NWR (just south of our RV campsite). We were still hoping to see a moose on this trip, and the NWR Ranger said they had just completed an aerial survey and counted 30 moose in the NWR, so our antennas were up for any large, dark, ugly animals. We saw lots of beautiful scenery, but no animals.



As luck would have it, later in the week, we did spot a bull moose just a few minutes south of Cheney. It was late, almost dark, and “Bullwinkle” ambled across the road in front of us. That was cause for lots of celebration and laughs at how far and long we had travelled before seeing one.



We’ve also seen a bald eagle (really didn’t anticipate seeing one here), several hawks, many pheasants, quail, a porcupine, about 50 deer a day, numerous coyotes, a totally unexpected pelican, a huge set of tracks that belonged to the BN & SF railroad, abandoned Milwaukee rail lines, wheat fields in various stages of growth or harvest and many old barns and abandoned farm buildings. There was so much to see we kind of fell into the trap of staying out until there was no light left, then we photographed the moon.



Photographing the animals in this area has been challenging. From the birds to the deer they all are very shy and disappear quickly at any sign of people. Most of the animals that we’ve seen are a fair distance from the roads and with the whole region either fenced or posted with ‘No Trespassing’ signs getting close to them is next to impossible. The other challenge has been the lighting. Passing clouds create shadows, dust is often rising from the fields, the fields, canyons, and gullies all are a similar colour and it makes it difficult to get good sharp contrast and depth. In short, you couldn’t ask for a better learning experience!



On Tuesday, Oct 6th there was a great dust storm that caused the closure of the I-90 freeway between Moses Lake and Ritzville for about 17 hours. There were several accidents as visibility was ZERO at some points. We’d noticed the windy conditions, but at the time were near Steptoe Butte and the dust wasn’t an issue there. On Wednesday Oct 7th we were near Ritzville and saw the dust coming so we headed east. We checked with some of the local people to see if we should expect a problem….their response was “it gets dusty this time of year”. No storm developed, so guess it was a fairly normal occurrence.



Three times we’ve visited my Aunt Babe and we had some great chats with her. She’s 100 years, 8 months old, still lives alone and cares for herself. We enjoyed a few hands of pinochle, her favorite card game, and she beat us handily. She’s a great lady and it was a treat to spend so much time with her.



One thing we’ve really enjoyed about the Palouse is all the back roads we’ve been able to travel on and the minimal amount of traffic we’ve encountered. Another has been seeing all the old barns, equipment and historical buildings. The Palouse is full of contrasts, old and new overlapping into a blend that makes the whole work for the people and the times. The adventure continues.....




To see our images of Southeast Washington click HERE