Day 3: Keller Ferry to Steamboat Rock State Park

You would think all of today's pictures had a sepia filter added. No, just the smokey skies of forest fire season in the Pacific Northwest. 

We took the road less travelled in order to have a free ride on the Keller Ferry which crosses the Columbia River east of the Grand Coulee dam. And, the road leading up the southern shore goes up a nice road with deliciously tight switchbacks. The highways department must have been on a strict budget because they did not use any more asphalt than absolutely necessary. If there is a narrow road to travel the Gypsy Wagon knows how to find it. 

The plan was to travel south to avoid smoke. As previously mentioned our trip is now called Plot Twist. Instead of finding less smoke we found more. This just might be a short stay at Steamboat Rock. 

We stopped in the town of Grand Coulee to pick up some fresh ingredients at the local Safeway. No pies here. We have been on a quest for pie. 

After settling in for the night we went for a stroll to check out the plethora of interesting tents and RV's in the park. 

Perhaps tomorrow the skies will clear. 

Drive south on Highway 21, cross the Columbia River on the Keller Ferry and off we go!

Coffee makes everything better. 

Car for sale near the park entrance. 

Highway 21 south of Republic is a delightful country road. Do not expect to have cell service or to set any land speed records. There are all manner of small homes and farms. A herd of longhorn steers paused their chewing to raise their massive horns to gaze at us as we trundled by. 

So there were these signs flashing a bit of this and that at the turn off to Highway 21 at Republic. We noticed that no one turned down this highway behind us. Interesting.  Neither of us actually read the sign because we were chatting about important things. 25 miles down the road another sign. . . . 8' 6" width restriction.  What?!  Hmm, how wide IS the Gypsy Wagon?  

Apparently, we are just skinny enough.  That's all that matters. Seriously!?

For the record we are 96" (8') wide. Yikes!

Smoke clings to the valley floor.  Quiet and creepy. 

This area has seen fire in the recent past. 

This is the line up for the Keller Ferry. No fuss no muss. No attendants - nothing. We peeked around the corner and saw that the 'on demand' ferry was just approaching our side of the crossing. Perfect. 

We just had time to appreciate this very large cricket/grasshopper before loading up for this 10 minute crossing. 

Two cars disembark before we load. 

This ferry can handle vehicles up to 100' in length. At 47' we take up half the length of one lane. Super easy to load though!

So sorry, Mr. Motorcycle, you will have to wait for the next boat. 

What are these?  Wild grouse? 

They were big. They were wild.  They were birdies. 

Ah, the fun part. Climbing up out of the Columbia River Valley after the Keller Ferry. 

Here is that nice switchback turn that I had scoped out on Google Maps before we left home. With no traffic we could stop in mid-turn to survey our domain. 

Going up!

We popped over the rim to see endless wheat fields. 

Grocery stop at the Grand Coulee Safeway. 

Sasquatch!

The approach to Steamboat State Park. 

We may not be staying here too long with this choking smoke. 

This is a well-appointed state park. Beautiful facilities. Many families in large groups enjoying their annual vacations. 

Soft tacos for supper. Left overs from last night that only needed reheating. 

We are grateful after a long drive.  

Our brother Jeff and his son Anthony are racing in the Squamish 50/50.  50 miles of extreme mountain trail running one day and 50 kilometres of further nastiness the second day. We slurp up some cell phone data watching the finish line live stream at the end of Day 1.  We thought this looked like Jeff but no. Both finished each day well before the cut-offs and did themselves proud. Go, Team Loenen!

We perused the snack shack by the day use area. Deep fried ravioli!  Who knew that existed? 

If you know this area and can enlarge the image enough this is a delightfully humorous map.

We are off to bed, hopeful that the skies will be clear come morning.