Putting On The Ritz

 

With only one full day left before we flew north, this time in row 4 to Seattle and row 1 to Anchorage we decided to take a car road trip to the thriving community of Ritzville and Sprague.

Sitting there watching the scenery go by on I 90 We were wondering why Spokane has a street

Along Interstate 90 In Eastern Washington

Named Sprague, and just to the west a town named Sprague, and are they related? A quick Google search supplied the answer that both Sprague Avenue and the town of Sprague were named after John W Sprague who was a Union Civil war general and an executive of the Northern Pacific Railroad, who apparently was enticed to route the rail road through Spokane, for having a street named after him, and the town of Sprague changed its name from Hoodooville to Sprague to honor the general who just by chance put the railroad right through their town.

My gas meter is also named Sprague, but it was named after Henry Sprague the fellow who invented gas meters, and I was going to see if Henry and John were related but we passed the turn off for Sprague and since I was sort of navigating, I quit googling and we made a unanimous decision to go to   Ritzville first.

John Sprague did not name Ritzville, but he did put the railroad right through the town named for Phillip Ritz.

Pulling off the highway Ritzville looks like a regular small town, with the chain hotels and gas stations just off the ramp. The Lasting Legacy Wildlife Museum  is right there on the other side of the highway.

Venturing further into town is the Ritzville Water Park, and golf course. No one was at the water park, but maybe it was to early, and no one was on the golf course on a Saturday morning. That seemed odd. The town boasts a Carnegie Library built in 1907 and still in operation, but it was closed.

A Real Carnegie Library Still In Operation

The town was founded on the grain grown in Eastern Washington and the grain elevator is indeed an interesting building.

Ritzville's Grain Elevators 

The door was open to the building, but we saw no one there. If fact the only person we saw was a grumpy fellow painting a building, who could not say good morning, and could only glare at us.

The Pretty Good Grocery

The pretty good grocery was the only thing in Ritzville that appeared open even though we saw no one enter or exit.  The town had the feel of a movie set from the Twilight Zone

Now Showing Twilight Zone

We spun our wheels and spewed gravel getting the hell out of there and got back on the Interstate heading east to Sprague.

This Saturday morning Sprague was a happening place. We found the two classic pickup trucks that we followed on the highway right in the middle of a classic car show. There was a parade. There were unmasked people in the park selling Covid on a stick, and children rode noisy dirt bikes back and forth on the closed street, but no one paid them any mind.

Ritzville's Fixer Upper Fleet

Besides the restored classic cars Sprague has plenty of vehicles in need of restoration. We stumbled on two yards full of vehicles. I want the GMC. We even found a in the rough antique store and bought a couple of treasures after negotiating the price.

It was a great afternoon in Sprague, and an early great evening at our favorite The Park Lodge. There was even time for a nap before rising at 0 dark 30 for a seat in row 4 on a Boeing…