Petrified in Vantage

The rain and wind kept us awake last night, but this morning there were little patches of blue sky and soon it was sunny and warm.  Kathe and Jim went for a hike in the Petrified Forest after breakfast, but I couldn't go with them because of the rattlesnakes!  Wow, first it was poison oak and now it's rattlesnakes, not exactly a fun place for doggies.  I did get a few loops around the campground as the ranger said that was safe.  They only see two or three snakes a year down in the campground. Yikes!



The Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park is three miles from where we are camped.  There are 7,500 acres of fossilized trees dating back some 10 to 17 million years.  Unlike other petrified forests, these trees were encased in lava.  There were 30 species of trees identified here, but it is the only place in the world where petrified
ginkgo has been found.  After watching a film in the visitors center, Kathe and Jim took a two  mile hike to see some of the "trees."  The visitors center also had a display of petroglyphs that were found in 1959 when the Wanapum dam was built.

Next, they went to the Wildhorse Wind and Solar Farm where they toured the facility and got to walk inside a windmill.  There are 149 wind turbines on top of  Whiskey Dick Mountain and they produce 273 megawatts of electricity.  That's enough power for over 700 homes.

Well, that's about all there is to do in Vantage, so I guess we'll be on the road again tomorrow.