Monday, August 23, 2010

Texas Rapids, Snake River , Starbuck, Washington


Yes, Virginia there is a Starbuck, Washington.  But more on that at the end of this blog.

The Snake River in Washington is the site of the infamous Snake River Dams.  It is also home to some of the best camping and fishing in Washington state.  The river provides fishing for steelhead, salmon, sturgeon, both smallmouth and largemouth bass, catfish, and a host of other species.  You can even fish for money by catching the northern pike minnow.  Northern Pike Minnow Fishing Reward Program.

The Army Corp of Engineers manages the recreation facilities along the river.   There are lots of campgrounds and boat launches.  Camping is allowed at most boat launches and is free.  The campgrounds Lyon Ferry and Central Ferry are managed by concessionaires and are expensive plus the Golden and Inter-agency passes are not accepted.  My recommendation is to skip the campgrounds until the management settles down.  Right now, most close early in September.

The best time to visit is September and early October prior to hunting season.  The area is very popular with hunters so do not forget to bring your hunter orange!

Four bars cell service with Verizon at Texas Rapids.

Here are the google earth coordinates for Texas Rapids.  46 33 45.59 N 118 06 01.24 W.  You can camp on the breakwater, but first be sure you can back up your trailer in a straight line!   There are additional camping areas up and down the river.  Here is the link to the Army Corp of Engineers web site: Walla Walla COE Recreation Web Site.  There is potable drinking water at Little Goose Dam along the fishing wall.

For lunch or dinner I would go here:  Patit Creek Restaurant.  Be sure to call ahead for reservations.   This area is only a short drive from the Walla Walla wine country.  We will have additional posting in the near future on all the activities in this area. 

The Snake River Country of eastern Washington is in the middle of that all important "somewhere".

Last April 1st I saw the following article in the local paper.

Starbucks Loses Trademark Case

(Yakima) Starbuck Corporation has been very aggressive about trademark infringement suing many small business owners throughout the world.  Today it found itself on the losing end of a trademark lawsuit.

In a stunning decision in the eastern Washington District Federal court Senior District Judge Quackenbush ruled that the company formerly known as  Starbucks must stop using the name Starbucks as it infringes on the community of Starbuck, Washington.  In a statement the mayor of Starbuck, Olivia Newton stated that they have tried for years to get the large corporation to change their name.   "We are a community of wheat farmers, cowboys and retired folks that spend their time fishing.  When the corporation formerly known as Starbucks started using our name we started having all these yuppie people showing up looking for the FIRST Starbucks coffee bar, asking about wi-fi and generally making a nuisance of themselves.  We want our community back.  We are sorry it came to a lawsuit, but the corporation formerly known as Startbucks just refused to listen".

The corporation formerly known as Starbucks stated that their name came from the novel Moby Dick and was not picked from a Washington State Highway Map.  Judge Quackenbush did not accept that argument and stated that the town of Starbuck has been harmed by the corporation formerly known as Starbucks using their name.  He gave the corporation formerly known as Starbucks one year to change their name or face contempt of court.

In related news, the Board of Directors for the corporation formerly known as Starbucks held a closed door meeting in Port Townsend today.  Ms. Adna a waitress said "They were pretty glum coming into the meeting this morning.  However, as they left this afternoon they were high fiving and laughing.  When I went to clean up the meeting room there were Washington State Highway maps everywhere and on every map the town of 
Humptulips was circled".

There is no expresso in Starbuck.  The local cafe does serve coffee.....black.

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