Alaska 2019: Washington State

We had a busy day driving. We left Lac La Hache and drove to Leavenworth, Washington. That is about 300 miles and 10 hours of driving. When we left, the temp was in the low 50's and the sky was clear. Everything around us was green. As we traveled south on highway 97, the green turned to brown and the mountains started to get higher. We then turned on highway 97C. We drove up a hill that never seemed to end. It then leveled out and everything was green again. We passed a copper mine which was ginormous. Later I found out that it was the Highland Valley Copper mine, the largest open pit mine in Canada. We then came into Peachland. The town borders Okanagan Lake. It is a huge recreational lake that is 84 miles long. Being Labor Day, the lake was quite busy. We headed south on highway 97. This area is known as a desert, but much of it is irrigated and orchards and vineyards are everywhere. Finally we arrived at the US Customs. An agent from the Dept. of Agriculture searched our camper and confiscated a lemon and a tomato. We have no idea why, since she left an apple, banana, and a salad mix that we had. We really enjoyed being in British Columbia. It is beautiful and well maintained. We continued on highway 97 in the US, but roads were not well maintained and there was garbage everywhere. I also didn't like the road since a county sheriff pulled me over and said that I was speeding. 😧We finally made it to Leavenworth and are camping a few days at a KOA campground. The weather has also changed dramatically. The temp was 91 degrees when we arrived. We are very excited to explore Leavenworth tomorrow.