Day 15 - Mead, WA to Boardman, OR

We've found that each day on the road is unique. Some are fun, some are exciting, some are ... well, you get the picture. Today was certainly different from any we've experienced.

We woke to an overcast day. We received travel alerts on our cell phones while we were getting ready to leave. High winds, dust storms and limited visibility were forecast along our route to Oregon.

The Route
We traveled 212 miles from Mead, WA to Boardman, OR. We took US-2 to I-90, then followed I-90 west to Ritzville where we connected with US-395S. We picked up I-82 at Kennewick, crossed the Columbia River into Oregon and finally got onto I-84S which took us to Boardman.

Along the Way
We left Spokane aware of the weather warning. Wind gusts began to increase as we left town. We drove through two areas that had really high winds and dust storms. The first between Spokane and Ritzville (60 miles) and the other between Pasco and Umatilla (30 miles). The weather became sunny and windy elsewhere along the way.

Leaving Spokane

The gusts increase and visibility drops 

The weather began to clear near Ritzville

We've driven this route a number of times and are always impressed with the expansive view. The fields and open plains appear to stretch forever. We could see rain showers in the distance on one side of the road and sunshine on the other.

The scenery is breathtaking

Second dust storm envelopes
the bridge at Kennewick

Further south on I-82

The scene brightens as we enter Oregon.

We've wondered about a huge tree farm along I-84 east of Boardman for years. Today we learned that it's the largest irrigated tree farm in the country (7.5 million hybrid poplar and alder trees on 25,000 acres). It's owned by Greenwood Resources who plans to use them for biofuel.

The Campground
Carol found another dandy stopping place at the Boardman Marina & RV Park in Boardman, OR. The grounds are attractive, the sites are huge and the facilities are well maintained. The campground is located on the Columbia River and is next door to the Boardman Bombing Range.

Site #63

Barge shipping on the Columbia River

We took a walk along the river and around the campground at sunset. 

Boardman marina at sunset

Boardman park at sunset

Carol at sunset

We met another Airstream family during our walk. Davis and Heather Cook have a sparkling 2013 25' Flying Cloud. They're from Amity, OR (near McMinnville). They were returning from a Wally Byam Caravan trip.

Observations
We faced a day of high winds and a night in a campground next to a bombing range. Thankfully, we haven't been blown away or blown up.

We've passed a large number of RV sales companies along I-90 in Montana and in Washington. Many of the companies are side-by-side. There are many thousands of rigs on display. This is just a small sample of what's for sale, but what are they going to do with all of them?