Southeast on Highway 195 and Others - Part I
This is a three-part series on a trek down Highway 195 and others in southeast Washington. This area of Washington is rural, and there's lots of land between towns.
Just a note: If there are computer links to any of the towns I mention, I've listed them below. Chances are there aren't for most.
How many of you like to hop in the car and go exploring on roads less traveled?
It's my favorite thing to do.
This particular day we headed south of Spokane on Highway 195. We began our journey to visit places we had not been, a fun trek for a Washington junkie.
It wasn't long until we came to Spangle, founded by pioneer William Spangle, smack dab in what we call Palouse country, lots of rolling hills blanketed with wheat and other crops.
This area is a beautiful, tranquil slice of Washington State that reminds one to slow down and smell the roses. No hurrying here or you'll miss something. The Palouse name comes from the Pelusha tribe and also "pelouse," which means ground covered with short, thick grass. Apt name for this farming area.
Spangle is small; about 240 people live in the area. The town was named after William Spangle, a Civil war veteran. In 1881 it was rated the second-best town in the country.
If you take time to slow down you'll see the Harvester Restaurant on your left, opened in 1982. We stopped to get a Coke and some fresh-baked homemade cookies at the restaurant. It's definitely a place we want to go back to try later. I love to bake pies and eat pies and this looked like a place to explore later.
Back on the road we continued our journey past Spangle, Plaza, Rosalia and Thornton, more small towns you'd miss if you blinked. Rolling hills blanketed with wheat in beautiful shades of green and brown under a billowy clouded sky surrounded numerous barns. An interesting concrete arch railroad bridge awaited us. I don't know about you, but I think bridges are beautiful. They glisten in the workmanship of those who designed and worked on them.
"Bridges are America's Cathedrals." Author unknown.
This concrete arch railroad bridge is a photo shoot I returned later to get - didn't have my camera ready as we quickly passed by the first time. This is only half of the bridge; my camera wouldn't capture it all. The entire bridge is rounded and the other half, to the left, completes a semi-circle. Imagine a train on this and you'll then be able to imagine the size.
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