15. Thursday August 21-enroute Lacey

Made it. To Leslie's. But first......

The Best Western Plus in Prosser, Washington is not a desirable location. Period.

We got underway at 9:00 and headed out toward the end goal of reaching Leslie's place in Lacey Washington in the afternoon. Still determined to take smaller back roads, we made a minor mistake in direction that resulted in finding a gem in Zillah, Wa. See below.

Teapot gas station, restored from original location 

Gas pumps from a bygone era

We left Zilla and, still on back roads, drove through Toppenish, Wa. Another unique town off the main road. There must have been 50+ murals spread out over the town. A sign posted outside town said "Toppenish, Where the West Still Lives!" Does that mean everyone is packing heat?

All over town

One of 50

Beautifully done

We drove through downtown Yakima and it is quite a town to see. Very clean, nothing boarded up, people everywhere.

We wanted to see Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier so we drove a circular route around Mt. Rainier, on route 410 through Chinook Pass. This whole Cascade Range is magnificent!

View from the road on the way around Mt. Rainier

Mt. St. Helens

 We got to Leslie's around 4:30 and got the car unloaded before she got home from work. Tomorrow, the car gets cleaned!!

Stats to date:

Total miles driven: 3874.8
Gallons of gas: 99.8
Motels: 9
Money spent: Lots
Arguments: Lots
Arguments lived through: All
Sights seen that have not been seen before: Tons

Good trip so far, probably about 1/4-1/3 of the total we will be doing. We will be at Leslie's for several days and then head south to McMinnville Oregon to visit some good friends. This blog will be updated just a few times over the next week or so, but more pictures will be added to the 'extra picture' blog posting from time to time.