Moses Lake, WA

Ellensburg, WA - Moses Lake, WA
15/Jun/24 - 17/Jun/24

Miles Traveled    83
Trip Total         5508
Travel Time      2:07

States visited: FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, CA, OR, Washington

The drive from Ellensburg to Moses Lake was awesome.  The scenery was great, this section of I90 was easy, and the road was in good condition.  What a shame that what a great drive ended up at such a crappy campground!

Pier 4 RV Resort, is part of Sunrise Resorts that owns several campgrounds.  It was also the one we could find two available sites for Fathers Day weekend.  How they can even call themselves a "resort" is beyond our comprehension.   Our first clue should have been the sign in the office that said no refunds given.  As we approached our sites, it was very very obvious that their webmaster is also a master of deceit.  I do not know when the photos on the website were taken but they are very old.  The website showed nice grassy sites, a nice dock, and a great pool.  In reality there was not a stich of grass, just weeds and dirt.  The dock was falling apart and blocked off with caution tape.  The pool was green.  There was no hot water in the bath house or laundry room,  Talking to other campers it has been that way for sometime, and getting worse as time goes on.  The long term residence were very obvious from the junk piled around their RV's and the oil stains on the roadways were they park.  Good thing we were only there for 3 nights, and it has been the only bad stop we have experienced on our trip.

The one good thing about Moses Lake is how close it is to Dry Falls State Park and Lake Lenore Caves.  We spent Fathers Day exploring the two parks.  Dry Falls was carved by the Ice Age falls 13,000 years ago.  The former waterfall was four times the size of Niagara Falls.  The once mighty river is now a three and a half mile wide cliff towering 400 feet over the deep gorges and spring fed lakes.  At the visitor center we stood on the edge of the cliffs looking down into the gorge that at one time was a mighty river.  The now missing river was formed when ice dams miles upstream broke free carving out the gorge and creating the falls.  The falls started out 15 miles south of the visitor center and over time the river eroded the cliff back to its present location.

After leaving the Dry Falls we traveled to Soap Lake to have what was supposed to be an early lunch at Del-Red Pub.  While we tried to be patient, after waiting two hours for our lunch and seeing patrons that arrived after us eat and leave, we decided to leave.  When we told the host we were leaving, they said no, that our food was just coming out.  We could see our very burnt sandwiches in the window, and left anyways.  We ended up having a very quick lunch at another restaurant.

After lunch we headed to Lake Lenore Caves for what was supposed to be another "easy" 1.5 mile round trip hike to the caves and back.   The Washington Trail Guide Association rates this hike as easy with a 200 foot elevation gain.  Wow were they off base on this one. While it was not crazy hard, the elevation gain was way over 200 feet.  The climb from the parking lot up the paved portion of the trail and the stairs cut in the cliff wall  were well over 200 feet.   After reaching the top of cliff the real "hike" started.  From there the trail varied; parts were dirt paths through the brush, parts were loose basalt lava rocks, parts were steep climbs through the loose rocks, parts were narrow cliffs that you had to face the cliff and hold on to the rock wall as you passed.   The caves were all shallow and more like depressions in the cliff walls, but still very impressive.  The last cave was the largest and was in the wall of a pit at the end of the trail.  Not only were the caves worth the hike, but the view from the cliffs was spectacular.   

Monday we spent the day doing RV chores. as much as it sounds like we are on perpetual vacation, we still have normal "household" chores to do.  Much of it is the same as a house, laundry, cleaning, etc  some of it is much different like sanitizing the water system.   We also spent time getting our butts kicked by Mark & Karen in shuffleboard.   

Tuesday we are finally leaving Washington state and going to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  Washington has been a beautiful and diverse state.  We have seen everything from Beaches, Mountains, Rain Forest, Desert and everything in between.  The weather has been as varied as the terrain, and impossible to guess.  Hopefully as we head East it will get warmer.