Wanapum Pics & Car Fixed - Oct 2009

We're still enjoying our camp hosting position at Wanapum State Park. The campground is quite pretty, the rangers are great and the campers are generally pleasant and usually very quiet.
This part of Washington is very arid and the land surrounding the park is a sagebrush filled desert, but the park is an oasis of green grass and trees thanks to the constant maintenance by the park staff. Here's our roomy site just at the entrance to the campground.
The park is located next to a dammed up section of the Columbia River (Wanapum Reservoir) and many of the large campsites have beautiful views of the water.

Being only 3 miles off Interstate 90, we get a lot of overnight campers -- folks just making a stop on their way to Seattle or Spokane. From the campground, we can see the I-90 bridge across the river.
The weather was a bit too warm (at least for us) when we got here in mid-September, but autumn arrived soon after that and the temperatures have been delightful ever since. The only thing that gets old is the wind. About every other day we get at least 12 hours of constant 20 mph winds with gusts reaching 40 mph. When the campground gets busy, we have built-in entertainment as we watch campers trying to secure their tents, awnings, rugs, shade covers, tablecloths and chairs. One particularly windy day, this young girl was trying to fold up her sleeping bag. It was threatening to carry her off like a big pink sail.
After struggling to contain the bag, she finally gave up and let the wind wrap it around her.
Several kites have becoming permanent tree ornaments.
And forget about hanging anything outside like a lantern.The good news is that wet towels will dry in an instant -- if you can keep them from blowing away.There are a few trails around the park. This one took us up to a nice overlook of the river.
Oh yes -- good news this week -- the repairs to our car were completed and it looks good as new.