Visit to Snake River Canyon

Spring Break is officially over...for Greg anyway! Due to weather, we didn't get to do any camping while he was on vacation, but we still managed to find plenty to do. Friday and Saturday turned out to be gorgeous weather days, so we squeezed in as much outdoor activity as possible in those two days. Today (Tuesday), we're back to snow. :(

Our first venture last week, was a trip to Spokane, WA on Wednesday. Spokane is a pretty good-size city and only about an hour and a half away from Pullman. We discovered an R.E.I. (outdoor rec/camping supply store) there, which is where we spent the majority of the day. Greg's mile-long Christmas wishlist grew another mile while we were in the store! Afterwards, we checked out one of the many malls for awhile. Our only purchase was the board game "Encore" which we recommend to anybody who likes board games. After the mall, we headed back to Pullman.

Friday's nice weather had us itching to get outside. First, we rode our bikes around town for some errands. Then, Dixie accompanied us to the tennis courts for awhile, where we played comfortably in t-shirts and shorts. After that, we rode our bikes to the gym for awhile.

Saturday was probably the best day of the entire break. Along with our friend Jenny - and her kayak - we loaded up in the truck and drove about 15 miles outside of Pullman to see the Snake River. A few miles outside of town, the terrain switched abruptly from the rolling fields, to a huge rocky canyon as we made the descent to the river. Greg finally received his wish to see some wildlife... over the course of the day, he spotted a pheasant, some whitetail deer, and some mule deer! The canyon and the river were pretty amazing though. Check out some of the pictures below!

First and foremost... we caught major flak for not having a picture of Dixie in our last post. So... just to prove to everyone that she is alive and well, I wanted to put her picture at the top of the list. The water was still a little too cold for her to play in, but I think she was just as thrilled as the rest of us to get out of the house! She is standing on the rockbar where we sat our chairs for the day.

Jenny let me take a whirl on her kayak, so the picture above was actually taken from the middle of the river, looking down the canyon. I wish I could make these photos larger, they look so much better when you can see more detail. Greg unfortunately did not get to take a turn on the kayak because Jenny's life jacket couldn't contain his broad shoulders and beefy chest. :)

There also happened to be a crew or rowing meet at this spot on the river Saturday. Both the WSU men's and women's rowing teams were flitting across the river right in front of us. It was pretty interesting to watch how synchronized they are.

Jenny and I each took a turn and paddled the width of the river. This was a small waterfall that was hidden in one of the coves on the opposite side of the river. The canyon wall was straight up and down on that side of the river.
It's difficult to see when the picture is this small, but that little green and black speck in the water is Jenny on her kayak. She is not even all the way across the river, and my camera is zoomed almost as far as it can go to capture this shot. It puts into perspective just how high the wall is on the other side of the river.

The sunshine peeked out for a few minutes to brighten everything up. Unfortunately, the landscape is still mostly brown, although little shoots of grass and some flowers are starting to break through the ground.

And finally, a shot from the opposite side of the river. I paddled all the way across the river, and then turned around a took a picture of the spot where Greg, Jenny, and Dixie were waitng for me. I don't know if you can see the little specks of white where the water and the hillside come together, but that is the boat dock, parking lot, and a few small outbuildings! My camera was not zoomed in at all, so that's exactly how it looked to me sitting on the kayak. Good thing I didn't fall out! If anyone comes to visit us this year, this is definitely a spot worth checking out.