Day 63 Concrete, Washington Rasar State Campground

Captain’s Blog

Tuesday

August 4, 2009

We planned on renewing our campsite for another night when Ron noticed that a sign had been placed on the post that the site was reserved. Oh - oh that meant we couldn’t renew this site and would have to move. Ron went to the station and they told him they didn’t open until Noon and we would have to wait too see if they had any other sites. He told them we were hoping to head out for the day so the woman graciously got us into another site within the hour. (directly across from the site we had)

By the time we headed out if was 10:30 AM. The weather was great with the temps in the high 70’s. About 20 minutes into our drive Ron asked where the box was with the camera – oops – I had moved it and it did not get put in the car. Back to the CG and 24 miles later we were back on the road to Baker Lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Driving through the forest was like driving through Jurassic Park. The tree are huge and many are covered with hanging moss that gives the forest a scary look. The moss is killing the tree by smothering them.

We stopped at Baker Lake and got a great view of Mount Baker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking for a place to have lunch was a challenge because everywhere in the Forest there was a five - dollar day use fee. We weren’t going to spend the day just one hour to eat our lunch. We finally found a turn-off along the lake with a nice view and small waterfall. We ate our lunch there and enjoyed the scenery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We drove over Baker Dam and got a great view of Mount Baker. There was an odd shaped building in the water behind the dam. Ron asked a young man who worked at the dam what the building was used for. It was a fish reclamation project with nets to catch the fish and then transport them downstream so they could continue their journey safely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we drove into the town of Concrete.The Town of Concrete started as Washington Portland Cement Co. in 1905 on the east side of the Baker River, in what was then called "Cement City." Three years later, the Superior Portland Cement Co. completed a second plant across the river in what was called Baker. The two towns merged under the name Concrete in 1909, and Superior bought out Washington in 1918.
All three schools are concrete, Most of the buildings on Main Street were built in concrete after they burned down over the years.

As you drive down Main St in Concrete Washington, you pass some unique silos, once holding 100,000 bushels of Cement, these were part of the large Superior Portland Cement Co plant, behind you can see the remnants of the Business office, and Transformer Substation. It was sad to see what once was a bustling productive company now just a skeleton of its former self.

We outdid ourselves again on our seven-hour journey over 100 miles. It was good to get back to the MH and relax.

Tomorrow we will be joining our family in Auburn for an extended visit. Yeah!!! Kelly has to work a thirteen-hour day tomorrow so we will be meeting her for dinner on her break with Patrick and Megan.

 

 

 

(r0n NOTE: Adeline check out the Baby frog, there was a whole Army of them!)