Two thousand miles and a great view

GRAND COULEE, Wash.--After 11 days on my Road Trip around the Pacific Northwest, during which I've encountered any number of wonderful and improbable things, I really enjoyed a particularly serendipitous moment Monday.

I found myself at Crown Point, a lookout point from which one is afforded just an outstanding and unobstructed view of the Grand Coulee Dam, the largest power generation system in the United States.

And as I sat there in my Subaru, staring out at this work of genius human engineering, I could only smile while looking at my odometer. It signified the distance since leaving home in San Francisco. And at this particular moment, it read exactly 2,000 miles.

I'd been keeping an eye on the odometer for well over two days, wondering when I would hit the two grand mark. And on Sunday, I had even entertained thoughts that it would be at Grand Coulee Dam. But at that point, I was too close to the dam.

But, a few wrong turns here and a couple detours there, I suddenly found myself in striking distance and began to think it might be possible.

This would be momentous since, at 1,000 miles I was only in a turnout in a beautiful, but nondescript spot along Highway 101 in southwestern Washington state.

And now, here, at 2,000 miles I was staring at what some (dam partisans) have called "the eighth wonder of the world."

It seemed worth mentioning.

And oh, by the way, I have to 'fess up to something. The shame would be too much to bear otherwise.

The odometer actually read 1999.7 miles when I entered the outlook point's parking lot. I drove back and forth across it three times to roll it over.

There. I said it.