Being Dumb has its Benefits

No one is dumb who is curious. The people who don't ask questions remain clueless throughout their lives.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Yesterday I left Sammamish and made my way out to Lake Chelan, Washington.  Before leaving, I stopped for lunch and devoured a giant greasy chicken cheese-steak sandwich, salty fries, and a chocolate malt from a place called “XXX Rootbeer.”  The “XXX” in the name had piqued my interest, but unfortunately it was a bit misleading as there was nothing really “XXX” about it, other than the portions of food that they serve.  Figuring that I’d be back in spinach-and-quinoa mode once I was on the road, it was worth the grotesque amount of calories and fat for lunch.

BeeBe Bridge outside of Lake Chelan

I took highway 2 on my way over to Lake Chelan State Park. It’s a scenic highway that passes through the mountains and past apple orchards.  It even goes past the Applets and Cotlets candy factory.  My grandparents, who lived in Washington, used to always have these candies around their house and would send me home with them every time I visited.  I had considered stopping, but the overload of cheese-steak calories combined with a lack of Starbucks on the way was making my eyelids heavy, so I figured I’d rather get to the lake where I could catch a nap.  (Yes, surprisingly there were no Starbucks along Route 2 through the mountains!) I finally arrived at the park and found a nearly empty campground.  I backed into spot 26, and took a brief walk around to explore before settling in for the night.

This morning I woke to unusually warm air compared to the past several days in Washington.  Weather.com was predicting a literal “heat wave” of approximately 75 degrees with few clouds today and zero chance of rain.  I decided it would be a good opportunity to get out for a quick bike ride before heading off to Court De Alayn… Coere De Elaine …  Cord Dalane Coeur D’alene in Idaho.  Kevin had tuned up my bike while I was visiting him, and he also gave me one of his old bike computers (the one he gave me has only 300 functions, and that apparently was not adequate for his needs any more).  I spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out how to turn it on, and then another 30 minutes 

Lake Chelan reminds me a little of Lake Tahoe

decoding what the buttons do, and finally I was ready to head out for a quick ride.  I had only gone about 10 miles before I realized I didn’t set it up correctly.  It is a pretty fancy one that has a wireless transmitter located near the wheel, and I forgot to synch the transmitter to the computer, so I headed back to the park and went exploring a bit on foot instead.  I walked along the shore of Lake Chelan. The water was incredibly clear and incredibly cold.  I followed a small beach and found First Creek, which feeds into the lake.  It was a narrow creek with fast moving water, and lots of mini waterfalls that caused the water to burble and babble as it washed over them.  I followed a small trail alongside it for a bit before noticing that the sun had started rising a bit higher.  I wanted to make sure I had enough time to stop at a Starbucks on my way to Cuore...Core...Idaho, so I headed back to my campsite to pack up and leave.

The drive from Lake Chelan to the city with the funny name took me through a very diverse landscape in only about four hours.  Whereas western Washington is very mountainous and lush with trees and lots of different kinds of plants, it quickly settles into a vast, flat ocean of grasses and expansive skies that made me think I was in the middle of soy bean fields in rural Minnesota, where my other grandparents lived.  It looked much more midwest than I had expected.  For a while I thought that Google had taken me on the wrong route as it told me to turn onto seemingly deserted streets with generic names like “Road 14 NW,” “Road C NW,” and “Road 15 NW.” 

Stood right in the middle of the highway for this...

The non-descript roads stretched for visible miles in front of and behind me with no cars in sight, and at one point I was able to stop my van in the middle of the highway and get out to take a picture of a lonely building in an apparent ghost town called Mansfield.   Google directed me along Highway 172 to Highway 17, until it finally put me back on Route 2.  When I hit Highway 90 and rolled through well-populated Spokane, I knew I was on the right track. I even managed to find a Starbucks right outside of Fairchild Airfare Base, where I redeemed my points for a free S’mores Frappuccino. 

Eventually I made it to Idaho (I’ve given up on trying to spell the name of the city), and pulled into Blackwell Island RV Park.  I went in to get a spot, and a friendly lady behind the counter noticed my “Stanford Swimming” shirt as I walked in.  “Hi there!  Did you swim at Stanford?” she asked cheerily.

This would have been a great opportunity to tell her a good story, but I stayed honest. “No, I didn’t.  I coach swimming, and I swam for a long time, but not at Stanford.  A friend gave me the shirt.”

“Yah, you gotta be either

You can see my van on the right side there...discounted!

real smart or real rich to go to that school,” she commented.  I wasn’t sure if she was calling me dumb and poor, but she was friendly and smiled, so I don’t think she had intended it as an insult.

“Well, I’m really not either of those, I’m just a guy driving around in a van,”  I told her. 

She laughed.  “Well, we welcome everyone here.  How long are you staying with us?”

“Probably only one night.  How much is it per night?” I asked.

“It’s $55 for a site with full hookups,” she told me.

“Ok.  Are you part of the Passport America program, or any other discount clubs?” I asked, figuring it never hurts to try to get a discount.

“We aren't, but I’ll tell ya what. I’ll upgrade you to a premium spot by the river and I’ll even give you a discount on it since we’re pretty slow this time of year,” she told me.  I guess asking questions when you are dumb and poor has its benefits.

I got setup, and went out for a quick bike ride to explore the area.  Coeure….CDA is a bustling little town right along Lake CDA (while this place is nice, I’m looking forward to leaving so that I won’t have to spell that impossible name again!).  I found a path called the Independence Trail that went around the North Idaho College campus, through the downtown area of CDA, and right alongside the lake.  It was peppered with people roller blading, parents pushing strollers, people jogging and walking dogs, and people just sitting by the side looking at the lake.  It felt like a midsummer afternoon as everyone was out enjoying the fantastic weather. 

Tomorrow I’ll be heading to Glacier National Park.  It’s about a 4-hour drive from CDA.  I haven’t quite picked a spot to stay at yet, but wherever I end up, I think I’ll play dumb and ask questions about discounts.

Obligatory Selfie at First Creek by Lake Chelan