Confluence State Park, Wenatchee, Washington

Backroads Destinations-Wenatchee, Lewiston, Missoula, Chico and Eugene

This post is about re-supply towns.  Those cities that provide enough in services and gorgeous setting to spend some time re-supplying, fixing things, and enjoying the culture and restaurants in the area.  For full-time travelers it is also a place to visit the dentist, doctor, and repair the vehicles.  The town  must be small enough to easily get around.

Our poster child for this posting is Wenatchee, Washington.  Wenatchee is our home base.  But it is also a great re-supply town.  It is large enough to have all the services like Costco,  good restaurants, outstanding health care facilities Wenatchee Valley Clinic and a great campground with bike path access into town.

If you look at the picture at the top of the blog.  The wooded area in the middle of the photo is all parkland and the campground is located at the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia Rivers.  Here is the link to the State Park:  Confluence State Park.  There is a bike trail through the campground that heads to downtown Wenatchee and the Mall in East Wenatchee  Bicycle Trail.  Here is the map of the bicycle trail: Bike Trail Map.  The bike trail is currently being extended both north and south on the Douglas County side.  It will go north to Lincoln Rock State Park which is 5 miles north of Wenatchee.

If you are into the outdoors there is lots to do in Wenatchee.  Within 30 miles of Wenatchee you can go from desert to glaciers hanging on mountain peaks.  For more on non-motorized recreation check out this site:  Wenatchee Outdoors.  This web site lists the recreational activities within ONE hour drive of Wenatchee.  It is a full-time job just visiting all the recreation opportunities.

Wenatchee has lots of great restaurants.  One of our favorites are Visconti's.  Visconti's has made the Wine Spectators 100 best list.   Downtown is Inna's.  Inna's is a favorite for obvious reasons.  Whenever, I need a fix of Ukrainian food this is where I head.  Good food, make sure to leave room for desert.   Here is a guide to all the restaurants in Wenatchee Wenatchee Restaurant Guide.

There is a RV dealership that offers supplies and repairs just north of town on Highway 97A.  All Seasons RV at 509 663 6551 at 4182 Chelan Highway 97A North, Wenatchee.   They were more than helpful in getting our new trailer to fit our truck. 

For transmissions we recommend Wilder's Automatic Transmission at 1601 Pine Street, Wenatchee 509 662 6733.  After getting estimates of three thousand dollars from other dealerships on two different transmission repairs our costs at Wilders for the two repairs was $50 and $10.  Well, with the $10 bill I did go and get them a box of donuts the next day so the cost was a little higher.  Ten dollars covered coffee, but you really need donuts to go with coffee.

Other towns that we enjoy visiting include Eugene.  A college town with a Grateful Dead feel to it.  Great town to visit.  Here is a campground close to town:  Armitage County Park.

Lewiston, Idaho has a Costco and a campground just south of town, but linked to it with a bike trail.  Hells Gate State Park.

Chico, California is a great stop just off the I-5 madness.   We camped on the other side of the valley at Black Butte Lake.  This is a Corps of Engineers campground.

Missoula, Montana is another great spot.  There are National Forests campground some distance from town.  Our campsite, however, was here about 40 miles east of Missoula.  Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Area

So those are our current picks for towns.  What are your favorites??

Oh, we forgot to mention that it is steelhead season on the Wenatchee River.

After a hard day steelheading this is one of our favorite "soft places to fall".  Here is the review:  LaFuma Review.