We
spent a great night at Spring Creek Campground on the shores of
FDR Lake on Grand Coulee. Our plan was to head west toward
Plain, WA and the NWOR site.
The photos below are what we saw.
A view
of FDR Lake with Grand Coulee Dam visible at the far right of
the photo above.
A
portion of the power created by Grand Coulee Dam is used to fill
a nearby Bond lake with water for irrigation. Note the
large basalt mesa on the far side of the lake.
The lake
was many miles long and was surrounded by huge basalt
cliffs. The lake was created by filling in a coulee with
water diverted from the Columbia River.
The
highway was cut into the basalt cliffs which produced steep
grades and slow going for us.
We
traveled west through central Washington state and did a lunch
stop in Wenatchee, WA at a local winery. The food was
outstanding. After lunch, we headed west into the Cascade
Mountains toward Plain, WA the site of the NWOR. Above is
a tight curve on the grade above Plain.
Vince's
truck passes a cliff near the highway.
From the
highway coming into Plain we could see the rally site.
There were plenty of attendees. We checked in, paid and
got our assigned campsites.
The
following morning was truck chores. We had some drawer
catches that had failed and needed to be glued. And when
we finished that, we rotated the tires on Thor. We were
well past the suggested rotation interval and the tires were
starting to cup on the front. When we completed the tires,
I had to tilt the cab and change the fuel filter as the truck
had been experiencing smoky starts in the morning. The
filter, as it turns out, was only moderately dirty, but we
changed it anyway. The following morning, I got into "show
mode" and started walking around the venue looking at
things. Small camp trailers with roof tents were popular
at this show.
We
spotted a number of vintage Land Rovers at the show. Note
the offroad training course being used in the right of the photo
above.
Another
style of rooftop tent, this one was on a recent model Land
Rover.
A nice,
albeit small, camper with lifting roof.
This
LMTV was converted into a rolling advertisement for its owner.
There
were plenty of vendors selling offroad equipment.
This
LMTV had a trailer mounted on it in a very similar manner to
Thor. Kathleen went inside and reported that our setup was
nicer.
This was
unique. The owner of this rig sought us out and we talked
for quite awhile. This is a HEMTT 8x8 truck running
16.00R20 tires (which are huge) and uses a Detroit Diesel 8V96
two-stroke motor. The specification on fuel mileage is 2.6
to 4 mpg.
Having
that huge motor right behind your ears would likely be quite
uncomfortable and loud.
His
living quarters were from a high-end toy hauler. The rear
deck was the access hatch for toys. A sub-frame was
fabricated and the toy hauler was mounted on the HEMTT.
This rig weighs in at 50,000 pounds and 8.5 feet wide.
The "belle of the ball" was this MAN 6x6 expedition truck. Very nice, very big, very heavy and very, very expensive.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2019, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.