Hometown Meme

Tagged by the delightful Miss Cellania, it falls to me to come up with fascinating foursomes of interesting things about my hometown of Moses Lake, Washington. (Miss C. cheated and used her whole state. However, my hometown is about twice as big as hers, so I don't think I can plead that excuse.)

Ya gotta understand, most people who even know where Moses Lake is think of it as a cluster of Stop-n-Rob stores and truck stops on I-90. If you're driving from Seattle to Spokane, you stop to pee and get coffee in Moses Lake, and that's about it. But Moses Lake is more than just the Land of Java and Urine. Here's a few things I'll bet you didn't know about Moses Lake:

Four things about Moses Lake
1. Despite Washington's reputation for rain, Moses Lake gets an average of 330 days of sunshine a year.
2. Interstate 90, which runs through Moses Lake, is the longest interstate in the country, running from Seattle to Boston.
3. Moses Lake made national news when the first of the school massacres occurred here in 1996. I waxed longwinded about it here and here.
4. Moses Lake is a fairly recent development as cities go, even for Eastern Washington. There is only one building over two stories in town, and it's less than ten years old. The oldest house in town was built in 1905. The city wasn't even incorporated until 1938. (And my uncle was the first mayor!) History here is measured "before the water" and "after the water," referring to the Grand Coulee Dam, which brought irrigation in 1952. If your family arrived here after the water, you're a newcomer.

Four things even most Washingtonians don't know about Moses Lake
1. Evel Knievel made his first jump here, back in 1965.
2. Something like three-quarters of McDonald's french fries come from farms around Moses Lake and are stored here for processing. In your face, Idaho!
3. We have one of the biggest airports in America, and the second-longest runway west of the Mississippi. We're an alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle, although so far none has ever landed here. But we can always hope!
4. At one time, the largest brothel in Washington was located in Wheeler, which is now part of Moses Lake. The joint is still there, I'm told, but it's a lot smaller than it used to be. I can't say for certain; I've never been there. Honest.

Four cool things to do around Moses Lake
1. Concerts at the Gorge Amphitheater, just outside of (I am not making this up) George, Washington.

2. Cliff diving at Deep Lake.
3. Staring in awe at Dry Falls. Scroll down and look, but the photo doesn't do it justice. You have to stand at the top to appreciate it.
4. Dining at the top of the Space Needle, shown at right.

Four people I'm tagging with this: Pilgrim, Scott (that one ought to be interesting!), Hindu, and Patrick. Except for Hindu, they all live in bigger urban areas than I do, so there should be a lot more material to choose from.