We passed through the small town of Oakesdale while driving through the Palouse in eastern Washington State, on our way to a vacation cabin in the Idaho mountains. It was our first road-trip after the CoVid lockup and we made a point of stopping and looking around often, as we’d missed the opportunity to do that.
Oakesdale has about 400 residents, is located 50 miles south of Spokane, and is part of the Palouse Scenic Byway. It’s one of the oldest communities in the state and has several buildings on the National Historical Register (like the Barron Flour Mill in our top photo). The town is surrounded by beautiful rolling hills of wheat, hay and lentils.
I like to walk around small towns like this, enjoying the old buildings and the taste of some local activities and color — a good to stretch the legs and clear the mind.
The kids who were graduating high school that year had to do without a formal graduation celebration. Still, it was nice to see them proudly recognized by photo banners on the downtown street lights.
