Friday Sep 15, 2023 - Haystack Reservoir Campground to Chewelah WA

Nobody came in last night so it was just us and a guy in a tent, and there are two more campgrounds down the road so this is a pretty underused campground. We did notice what looked like a campground host set up in the corner of the blacktop with all of the maintenance goodies \like lawn mowers and rakes so I’ll bet this is busy during the summer.

Long day today as Deb contacted her childhood friend Todd Friends who’s at his camp up in Chewalah, WA. Good old Google Maps took us all day up big roads and small roads and we went through more rolling open hills. Any place flat enough for a combine to not rool over had the remnants of wheat fields as the harvest had already happened. At one point we saw five or six huge open piles of what must have been wheat piled up. How do they keep them dry or do they not have to worry about them? We tried to find breakfast but the towns were too small to have a diner. We hit the Columbia River and turned east on interstate 84 which runs along the south edge of the river. I have been here a couple of times on the motorcycle but I usually ride on the other side which is a small 2 lane road. There are huge dams on the river and it seems like a good place for boats.

We found a BBQ restaurant named the River’s Edge Grill in Arlington that was open for breakfast, but we had to hunt for it since it had moved (no longer on the river). We were the only ones there so the owner took good care of us. He recently started as the new owner and was just getting up and running. He was waiting for his signs to get painted and put up.

Somehow we crossed the river twice today which still hurts my head. I’ll figure it out when we look at the map.

So Todd messaged Deb that we should meet them for a drink at the local watering hole since their place is up a hill outside town and they were thirsty. So a quick stop at Safeway and then over to the Quartzite Brewery. We got there just before Todd and April but were already meeting some locals before they arrived,  and of course they knew everybody. They’ve been coming here from Spokane for many years to ski and boat, and this seems like a nice tightly knit community.

Todd and Deb left, and I gave April a ride so nobody would get lost and we wiggled up the back roads to their camp. Wonderful place with lots of beds for family and friends’ ski weekends, and a big open room with a wood stove and comfy chairs. Even a chair lift chair hanging in front of the woodstove. Wonderful.

Todd is a great cook and we had salmon and gazpacho, and spend the whole night catching up about family and friends in upstate New York. Then laundry and out to the van for the night.

Wonderful to meet friends old and new and catch up.