Even though I've driven by the Ginkgo Petrified Forest located in Vantage on the Columbia River a zillion times, I had never been there. While going back and forth from WSU as a college student, I'm sure I would have thought it boring. I'm not sure why I never wanted to check it out later on our way to doing something in Eastern Washington. This summer that would change.
I would love to say that we purposefully wanted to stop there, but in truth some of us just needed to pee. I guess that's how many a tourist traps get started. We were relieved, literally, that they did have a bathroom despite the fact that the museum was closed.
We started looking around to check it out a bit, and we realized how cool it was. I would have never guessed that the terrain in the area would support a forest of Ginkgo trees much less in a way that produced petrified wood.
Probably the most stunning sight is the view from the front of the museum. Obviously you can see up and down the Columbia including the Vantage Bridge. Through the binoculars, you can see the Wild Horse statues that are displayed on the hill just east of the river. Impressive was the cliff down to the water. You might not want to get too close.
One surprise was the display of petroglyphs that were discovered in the hills not far from there. I had no idea anything like that exsisted here. It was slightly creepy to think how long those drawings had been there. I couldn't quite understand what the natives were trying to say, although KC+JL was pretty clear.
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