Random Scenes from Washington State

From Andy Cole & Dave Brigham:

While on a long drive in north-central Washington recently, Andy Cole, a guy I grew up with and traveled across the country with in 1988, found himself looking at this structure by the side of Route 2, next to the Methow River, near the town of Pateros.

Closer examination revealed it to be an old cable system of some sort.

Noticing that there were apple trees on both sides of the river, Andy speculated that cable was used to send boxes of apples across the Methow. That might be true, although in doing a little research, I found this on the web site of the Quad City Herald, talking about the history of orchards and the apple industry in this area of the Evergreen State:

"Apples went across the river to the railroad in Brewster, or downriver to Pateros, on a barge or by steamboat. The boats would tie up at the Central Ferry landing. The apples came down the hill to the shore on a conveyor belt, operated by a pulley."

A little further along on his trip, Andy drove past this place:

This long-abandoned restaurant is in Orondo, WA.