Seattle to Walla Walla

On Tuesday, November 23 we drove over the Cascade mountains into the farm country of eastern Washington State.


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Eastern Washington is much drier than western Washington because the mountains cause the clouds which travel off the Pacific Ocean to drop most of their moisture in the form of rain before they get to the east side of the mountains.

Washington farms grow many things but they are most famous for Apples, Wheat and Grapes for making wine.







To provide water for agriculture and power for northwest U.S. cities huge dams have been built along the Columbia River. These dams provide water for huge circle irrigation systems that go around and around spreading water over the crops. In this google map you can see a dam near where we drove and the green circles of the fields around it.


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Here is what the giant irrigation systems look like.





Washington is also famous for Salmon. These fish need to make their way up the Columbia river each year to spawn. Fish ladders have been built so that the Salmon can get around and over the big dams.