Yakima, Washington

Friday, we had a nice scenic drive of about 230 miles from Coeur D' Alene, Id. to Yakima, Wa. The majority of the trip was west bound on I-90 which made for a relatively easy pull. I was a little apprehensive about traffic through Spokane, but was not an issue. We arrived at Suntides RV Park, which is adjacent to and associated with a nice golf course, about 2:30. The RV park is a gem with full hook ups and large paved sites. It's one of the nicer parks we've visited and for $37/night is a good value. This area is in a large valley that is well known for it's fruit orchards with apples being the primary crop grown here. The population of Yakima is about 95,000 with over half being of Hispanic descent and are primarily employed as workers in the orchards. This valley is in the middle of a desert region and would be a desert as well if not for one interesting fact. The snow melt from Mount Ranier runs into the valley and is primarily used for crop irrigation. They have constructed a reservoir so they do have some reserve.  I have no idea the acreage in orchards, but it's huge. There are orchards everywhere you turn and we saw many apple packing houses.

We're staying here two nights with our primary objective being to visit Mount Ranier. Had we known how scenic this valley was, we would have booked more than two nights, but we have reservations for our next stop, so we couldn't stay longer. This is my main objection to making advance reservations, but that's the way the RV life is now. at least in this region. Our visit to Mount Ranier was very enjoyable with perfect weather and reasonable crowds. I do have some pretty decent photos to share with you guys. I'm not sure if I mentioned in our previous blogs or not, we are traveling with our Cajun friends, Terry and Kathy who finished their work camping gig at Rollins RV Park in Montana. Terry and Kathy are good people and we enjoy their company. Kathy is posting a blog of their journey and can be seen here.

Our location in Yakima, Washington.

 Blackwell Island RV Resort in Coeur D' Alene, Id.

Our Site 145. $40.52/ night for full hook ups.

Our Site, B-5, at Sun Tides RV Park in Yakima, Wa. $37/night. That's Terry and Kathy's Class A motor home beside our rig.

Entrance to park

South East Entrance. Our America the Beautiful card (old fart's pass) was welcome here and got us in free. 

The Happy Campers at Mt. Ranier viewpoint.

Last years blog followers will remember Terry and Kathy. For our more recent  followers, meet the Derouen's from Sulphur, La.

Cloud cover over Mt. Ranier known as a snowcap. The mountain stands at over 14,000 feet and can be seen from miles and miles.

Different viewing angle. You can see the many layers of the cloud cover.

Pretty lake on way to Visitor's Center.

Chevy Shot!

Reflection Lake. There was too much wind for a reflection today.

Paradise Jackson Visitor Center. This is about as close as you can get to the top.

One of the waterfalls we saw in the park.

Another different viewing angle. The snow cap has diminished somewhat, but is still visible.

Apple orchard in Yakima. I've never seen apple trees growing like this before. The foil on the ground is used for reflecting the sun's rays to the bottom section of the tree. The apples are still harvested by hand. The fruit on the ground is not used.

We saw countless orchards similar to this one.

Seems like a waste of good apples to me.