Leaving for Banks Lake and I-90 on Memorial Day Weekend

This was the first Memorial Day weekend Ben and I got to spend with each other since we started dating.  The first year we worked our weekends away and last year we didn't have the money or the available block of time to go anywhere.  So we were pretty excited to go somewhere this year.  I know we are suppose to plan something like this a few months in advance but we didn't know what his schedule was until last week.  We decided we wanted to go to Banks Lake over by the Grand Coulee area.  Then I remembered a few years back when I stayed at the Grand Coulee RV Park and how cheap it was for a tent site.  I called the Wednesday before and they didn't have any available spots and to try back the next day because they get cancellations. 

I went about my day at work, then went to the gym and then called them again on Thursday hoping for some good news.  They had a spot!  I took it immediately and made a reservation then did a happy dance in the Escape.  I was so happy!!  I called Ben and told him I got a spot at the RV place I told him about.  He was pretty stoked.  Now comes the part where we get ready for it and pack up our stuff.

We went shopping for groceries that night.  Ben came over, we had dinner and we planned out our food menu for the weekend. We made our chicken before we went to the store. We got home from the store, I had to get a shower in, we went through our camping stuff then we all had to go to bed.  Ben went back to the fire station and got himself a shower before bed. 

I really hate getting up at 4:30 in the morning.  It is really wearing on me and it's especially hard on Fridays.  I just want to do nothing!  Work was busy and it was snack day so pizza was brought in and I made some no back cookies for everyone.  I left around 12:15 and decided to not go to the gym just because there was so much to do before we left that evening after Ben got off work.

I went home as quick as I could and started a load of laundry and started getting everything gathered.  Then I decided to take a hard 20 minute nap.  I was so tired I really needed it.  Mom called and interrupted my nap letting me know she was almost in an accident and was avoided.  I got up and finished gathering the bedding we were going to use, my clothes and the camping gear.  I loaded some of it in the Escape and started boiling the noodles for a meal we were going to have for one of our meals and putting together a sandwich meal for the trip over I-90.  I got everything loaded into the car, a query downloaded onto the GPS and I believed I was now ready.  I left my house at 3:45 to head over to Rochester.  I got gas at the Arco first mostly to allow Ben some time to get home and start packing.

We got all of us stuff inside the Escape and we were off and onto I-5 by 5 p.m.  We had to stop by Maytown to grab the sausage he forgot.  He had one job and he messed it up.  I even reminded him three times that day.  Surprisingly traffic on I-5 and Hwy 18 wasn't that bad.  I expected a horror story.

We got onto I-90 and thought we may make it to our campsite at a decent time.  It poured down rain at North Bend.  Then we drove past one of the signs that told you how long it would take approximately to get from where you are to the next major destination.  In this case it was Ellensburg and it said 212 minutes.  Was that a typo?  We continued on roughly until 3-4 miles from the summit.  We were stuck in traffic for 2 hours. 

We moved 5-8 miles in two hours.  I was so upset!  When we finally got through it we stopped for no reason.  Construction was picked up fir the day and there wasn't an accident.  Our conclusion is that somewhere there was a bottleneck preventing people from traveling at a normal speed.

Below is the chunk of I-90 we spent a lot of time in traffic.

When we did finally did get to drive the speed limit it didn't take us long to put some miles behind us.  We crossed over the Columbia River at the Vantage bridge and then got off the freeway at George onto the 283 that turned into Hwy 28 through Ephrata, my friend Nick's hometown.  It was dark so it was a very boring ride.  Hwy 28 turned into Hwy 17 when we got to Soap Lake.  From there it was just smooth sailing.  I wish we could have seen the scenery. 

We rolled into Grand Coulee just after midnight.  While we were in traffic, Ben called the owner just to let him know we would be arriving later than we thought, he appreciated the phone call and told us he would meet up with us in the morning.  We unpacked the tent and the sleeping pads, bags, blankets and pillows.  Used our lantern and cell phones as a light source to put up the tent together.  We got it all set up and the beds made, used the restroom, brushed our teeth and put on our sweats and passed out.  I was exhausted.  I fell asleep within minutes.

Next Adventure:  Grand Coulee Dam, Steamboat Rock State Park, Geocaching and a Dam Laser Show