Trip to the Coulees

We just got back from camping in Dry Falls. We invited the Felix Family and the Tenney Family. It seems that even with the herd of kids we can have a pretty good time. To quote Sierra Tenney, "This is the Greatest thing ever!"

We started off the "tour" by stoping in Soap Lake to see the Hippies laying in their precious mineral mud. The kids had fun wading in the water. But I gotta tell you, the "mineral mud" is stinky and pretty yucky.

A few miles later we were at our campground at Dry Falls. (informational break: Dry Falls, A remnant of what was once the largest waterfall known to have existed on earth. Viewing the 3.5 miles of sheer cliffs that drop 400 feet, it is easy to imagine the roar of water pouring over them. (Niagara Falls by comparison, is one mile wide with a drop of 165 feet).)

The campground is pretty nice, we got a convienient spot next to the bathrooms/showers. There was a lake there too and we all enjoyed going swimming. It was a balmy 102 degrees so the dip was refreshing. We had a campfire and made s'mores.

We attempted to get some sleep but the HUGE party in the neighboring campsite went on and on and on playing their german dance music untill 3am and it was very hard to sleep that night. We woke early the next morning. The party left out tons of garbage and the seagulls were all over their campsite squaking and carrying on and waking up those jerks. They left around 10 we were all glad to see them go.

We went to Grand Coulee Dam at 2 and toured the visitor center they have there. Which is similar to the waiting line "rooms" at any big theme park with mock set ups of work sites and audio storytelling of conditions at the dam while they were building it. After that, we hiked down the hillside to the park area and set up our spot so we could see the dam show! The kids had fun playing games and singing songs. We had snow cones and faces painted. It was very hot again, the park had some water spouts and we drenched the kids a few times to cool them down.

We took down our sun shade so people behind us could see the show and started to haul stuff we wern't using anymore back up to the cars. At the beginning of the second trip hauling stuff a huge storm cloud rolled in from the topside of the dam. Gigantic rain drops fell and the people in the park scattered to get out. Evan, Edna and I hiked the stuff up the hill. Nate and some kids got under a small blanket they had brought to sit/lay on, Lori scrambled under a bush and Kenny and the rest of the kids sought refuge under a thin blanket. The rain was thick to say the least, the water was rushing down the path as a small stream. We loaded the stuff up and the rain stopped and the cloud rolled away. We went back down to see the damage :) Nate and the kids made it through okay and pretty dry. Lori was pretty dry, Ken's group got a bit wet... the loading crew was victim of a suprise wet t-shirt contest. I'm not kidding ALL my clothes were soaked. The chairs were wet but the show was about to start and we all plopped down in the chairs and since there were no more dry blankets or ground for the kids to sit on we all grabbed a kid. About half of the kids passed out from exhaustion right when they sat down to watch the show. The laser show was the usual boring informational presentation put in lasers and projected on the huge mile long dam which made it cool. Ammon said later, "WE SAW THE LARGEST LASER SHOW IN THE WORLD!" It's funny because he fell asleep for the laser show :)

Immediately follow the 30 minute laser show the fire works started. It was one of the biggest and best fireworks display I've seen. If you want a good show, it's always a good bet to go see one sponsored by the local tribal casino. When the fireworks lit up the dam it was pretty awe inspiring.

Worried that the campsite was drenched, some had left windows open and flys off because of the heat, we hurried back. Luckily, the site was dry. A bit windy but dry. And the park was empty too, I slept good that night.

The next morning we packed up our stuff and headed out. We stopped at the Dry Falls informational center, looked at the beautifull carved landscaped and some of the exhibits there. Our main destination on the way back home was the Moses Lake Family Aquatics Center. We spent the whole afternoon splashing in the water, going down the waterslides and just having a great time with the kids.

On the way out of Moses Lake, 60 miles from home, the Tenney car wouldn't start. We had to replace the battery. It made for a 2 hour layover, but the computer scientists pretended to be mechanics and they got the car working. Everyone went right to bed when we got back and most had trouble waking up the next morning. It was a fantastically fun trip. The kids had a blast, I'm sure they'll remember it for a long time