I moved from Lubbock, TX to north of Spokane 20 years ago. The first time I drove across the state, I thought I had been transported back to the Texas Panhandle when I got past Ritzville.

Just don’t drive then… rarely a wait for pedestrians or cyclists

My last day before leaving Seattle, I took the ferry to Vashon. It's charming and the people are lovely.

Oh my. I only lived there for five months but my favorite thing was riding the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston to see my daughter. An excuse to wax nostalgic.

Much of Central WA is semi arid, you're right... no desert. I'm in a shadowed area somewhat, but even going 10-20 miles west, the precipitation drops dramatically as you go towards the basin.

I go to Vashon twice a week in a semi hauling a tanker. It cost 158.00 round trip. Sometimes have to wait a hour for a return ferry on winter schedule. Sucks Sometimes but it is the only way to get there. It is an awesome trip on a sunny warm day! I go early so I get alot of moon on the water pictures.

I lived 5 and a half years in North SnoCo/Island Co in Western WA and currently live almost as far east as you can get before going into Idaho. I moved here almost three years ago.

In both places: Western WA = West of the Cascade Crest / any of the counties west of the Cascades. Eastern WA = All of the remaining counties east of the Cascades.

A subregion of Western WA could be the Puget Sound Region or another example, SW Washington which aligns more with Portland. See Clark County as an example.

Central WA = Central Washington University in Ellensburg - nice little town. The Central WA area is more like a subset or subregion of Eastern Washington as a whole. If you really want to know what counties would consider themselves central, here is a map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Washington#/media/File:Central_Washington.svg

For the counties that are light pink in that link... I don't really consider Kicklitat (despite being in the center of the state), Benton / Franklin (Tri Cities), or Adams (the county that looks like a backwards Idaho or Utah) to be Central WA.

The main difference is Eastern Washingtonians call it the "East Side" whereas in Western WA, the East Side refers to the eastern Suburbs of King County.

True…

Considering the 35-minute ferry trip from Bainbridge shaves 2 hours or so off a drive to Seattle, yes.

Anyone know about Washington Pass? I thought that ridge had a name, and it seems like it should, but I can't find one.

Would you rather be driving or relaxing?

i used to live in port orchard and either drive around through tacoma or take the ferry. i always liked the ferry because i got to get out and relax, look at the mountain (on a clear day) and occasionally do an hour long power nap. Id say its worth it, but definitely check the scheduled times so that you dont pull up right as a ferry sails off, leaving you waiting for an additional hour- gotta time it just right!

If you need to travel from one side of the sound to the other quite frequently, then yes. It'll save you time,gas and depreciation of your car. For some trips, driving around would be faster, but then you're busy driving instead of relaxing

It is desert-like. It is not desert. It is shrub-steppe. There are grasses, sage, phlox, and many other plants that grow naturally. You don't have that in a desert. The only deserts in the u.s. are the Mohave, Great Basin, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan.

Worth it? Dunno about you but I love the boat ride! Where’s your value proposition about that part? I either roll up and right into the boat (score), roll up and see it just leaving (so sad) or roll into the waiting lot for 2-3 boats (in the summer). No matter the scenario, I always get a boat ride and don’t have to drive for a while. Once I’m committed I never bail (because boat rides) but there was one Thanksgiving I thought it would be easy towing our trailer onto the ferry to go camping along Agate Beach but there was a “Huge” line so we went around and took the ferry home. There was another time I was golfing at McCormick woods and it was late and I was hot and I didn’t want to deal with traffic so I took the Southworth-Vashon-Fauntleroy and it was glorious and cool.

I would think its safer and that makes it worth it.

😁 👍

Where I live (Pullman, WA) my house is 2450 ft ASL. There is a definite drop on HWY 26 around Hooper (historical route of the Palouse River), but it goes back up quite a bit after Washtucna. From there to Kittitas its extremely dry, and isn't viable for farming without irrigation.

It may not be "High Desert" by definition, but it is Desert nonetheless.

The ferry is always fun. The price one pays for joy is worth the cost.

Thanks, I thought so.

I almost left out the Mt. Baker and non-winter shots.

I also have some from the Stevens Pass area, Mt. Rainier, and St. Helens areas...but these North Cascades ones are more unique. Easy to catch sunrise on Rainier...

Most don't realize the "Great North American Desert" isn't relegated to the Southwest US.

It actually stretches through central and eastern Oregon straddling the OR/ID border and comes to a point traveling through central WA state. It's northern tip is sandwiched between the Kittitas valley and the flats west of Airway Heights, WA. It very roughly follows the route of the Columbia river. In fact, if you look at the area near Grand Coulee Dam and Banks Lake you will see the extreme northern reaches of the GNAD.

Following the river as it flows south will take you through high-desert areas around Yakima and Tri-Cities. Note how most of the area farms in this region rely on irrigation. Without the dams and irrigation canals/projects, this land would not be as productive at best, and would revert to unfarmable deserted lands at worst.

If I might, I want to throw out how WA state has many very diverse bio-regions, including a rainforest on the Olympic peninsula, and all the lush rolling hills of farmland of the Palouse region south of Spokane.

Aside from the occasional mountain blowing up every 500 years or so, WA state is awesome!

Why would the coast Salish peoples have anything to say about mt Adams, in the Yakama Nation?

Hops does the same thing, but TPTB celebrate it.

it diverts water from food crops…maybe thats why?

Born and raised in Spokane playing hockey. Spokane was when I played the only us team we played Canadian teams and traveled allot to Canada. I couldn't believe being hours from the border and most Canadians didn't even know of Spokane. Lol