Moscow, Idaho

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pianocat

Lead Service Attendant
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Jul 20, 2013
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Newburgh, IN
This is more of a question about the place, rather than information to provide. My daughter and her husband are moving there, from Walla Walla, WA this week with job relocations. I'll be visiting them in late July for a few days and wonder if anyone out there knows the area and what are must-sees, etc., in this area. I will be taking a Greyhound from Spokane to Moscow since there isn't train service. It's only 2 hours. It's a well known fact that I love Walla Walla, but now I'm looking fwd. to seeing Moscow and what interesting things to explore there! TIA! What exactly is this Palouse area???? Sounds awesome, from what I've read. PS JayPea...I'll be coming through Colfax on July 23rd, but the bus doesn't stop there except to pick up/drop off.
 
Ahh, the Palouse!!! My playground......my stomping grounds. Well, ok, I do more stomping than playing these days. :D The Palouse is a farming region with rolling hills of grain, dotted with small towns and farms, with a charm and beauty all its own. OK, enough with the cheesy Chamber of Commerce bit. :lol: But the Palouse is a farming region with rolling hills with agriculture and higher education foremost among the employers of the area as Washington State University, in Pullman, and the University of Idaho, in Moscow, located here, along with Eastern Washington University,in Cheney, at the northern edge of the Palouse, also located here.

You are right, PC, with Colfax being a bus stop. The bus in fact stops right across the street from me at the Ace Hardware on its southbound trips and literally just outside my front door northbound. If I ever need to take a bus, I don't have to worry about parking.

As for what to do, the Dahmen Barn might appeal to your artistic side. I've never been in it but have been by it a bazillion times (at least) ;) If you like sightseeing, there is the McCroskey Skyline Drive. This is a beautiful drive and actually isn't as hard to navigate as what the website says. In Washington, there is Steptoe Butte. By coincidence, just last Saturday I took a drive to the top of the butte after stopping off at a nearby cemetery to put flowers on my grandparents' graves. As mentioned, though, it does require a Discover Pass as our gubment here in Washington has no state income tax so they tax everything else they can find to tax. I was all set to add my photos but for some reason it won't let me add photos from my phone to this topic so I will move on. Another butte in the area is Kamiak Butte. It is a mere county park so no fee is needed. I have never been to the top as it requires a hike, and that's too much trouble for me ;) but I have been in the lower areas and can say it is very nice.

About 90 miles from Moscow is another state park that requires a Discover Pass and that is Palouse Falls State Park. This website also has info on the Palouse region in general. The falls are at the end of a two mile dirt road that is almost literally a cow trail; the dirt portion of the road indeed runs through a cattle ranch. This is in the middle of a very arid area; average rainfall is under 10 inches a year. Just when you think you are nowhere near any water, there are the falls. Palouse Falls was recently named the state waterfall, thanks to the students in the nearby Washtucna School.

There are numerous small towns in the area and each have their own little nooks to explore. I have lived in the area all my life and probably haven't scratched the surface yet of all there is to see and do in this area. If you have any other questions about this area let me know. I can't guarantee that I will answer correctly but I can guarantee I will answer! :lol:
 
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You are right, PC, with Colfax being a bus stop. The bus in fact stops right across the street from me at the Ace Hardware on its southbound trips and literally just outside my front door northbound. If I ever need to take a bus, I don't have to worry about parking.
This is something I'll never quite understand. I live near a station that serves as the primary terminus of the Texas Eagle four days of the week. Yet there are no parking spaces provided for train passengers whatsoever. Not even a single spot for a single car. Nor are there any buses calling nearby during departure and arrival windows. These seem like such simple considerations but apparently it has never to Amtrak that the vast majority of travelers don't live anywhere near the station or that the Taxi Mafia can charge as much to take us across town as Amtrak charges to cross the entire state.
 
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