July 4th

Drove west then south from Castlegar, and crossed the border south of Christina Lake. Poor US Customs guy had to work the Fourth of July! Drove south on a nice winding highway towards Spokane through a progressively drier landscape as the mountain forests gave way to arid scrub. Lots of bluish sage bushes and other desert-y plantlife. As the landscape became flatter the winds began to pick up until we were getting blown back and forth across the road. We then headed east to Ellensburg, a nice town nestled into the first green valley we had seen in a while.

Met Tina and Jerry for a fabulous BBQ meal with the first fresh corn we’ve had this year, followed by a view of the July 4 fireworks from a nearby roof. Actually, we’d climbed through the theatre building at Central Washington University (where Tina is and Jerry will be profs). It was neat to see the inner workings of a theatre (circa 1930, recently renovated to add lighting catwalks and brighter lights), crawling up above the seats and stage area, then up another ladder to the roof.