My family took a small trip to Ritzville; not necessarily the prime vacation spot, but we stayed with good friends. They introduced us to a game called the Settlers of Catan, which we readily enjoyed.
We stayed the night and on Monday, we drove to Palouse Falls. I can't imagine a more "in-the-middle-of-nowhere" kind of place, but it was relatively close, and I had never been there.
Perhaps it would be more honest to say I don't remember being there, but something about it seemed vaguely familiar, like a distant childhood memory. We used to visit my uncle in Walla Walla when I was a kid, so maybe we stopped at the falls then. I also remember a childhodd dream about a waterfall pouring into a massive bathtub. The falls have that kind of effect, so perhaps my dream was also inspired by such a visit.
The falls were quite impressive in their own right and worth the drive.
We hiked a number of trails, trying to find some way to reach the base of the falls. Along the way we found a series of beautiful rapids perhaps a half mile upstream. You could see where the water carved basins and ripples in the stone. We continued downstream and found a trail that looked like it might lead to the bottom, but it seemed too dangerous, especially for children.
We did arrive at the top of the falls and saw several massive columns of stone. It was strange; I saw those stones in a dream perhaps only a month ago.
McKenna was my hiking buddy along the trail. She was so cute and just talked my little ear off. She talked forever about how trails can be dangerous; and how some rocks can hurt; and if she fell into the water she would just swim real hard until I reached her, because I'm "super-daddy" and would never let anything bad happen to her. She held my hand the whole way. It was sweet.
We stayed the night and on Monday, we drove to Palouse Falls. I can't imagine a more "in-the-middle-of-nowhere" kind of place, but it was relatively close, and I had never been there.
Perhaps it would be more honest to say I don't remember being there, but something about it seemed vaguely familiar, like a distant childhood memory. We used to visit my uncle in Walla Walla when I was a kid, so maybe we stopped at the falls then. I also remember a childhodd dream about a waterfall pouring into a massive bathtub. The falls have that kind of effect, so perhaps my dream was also inspired by such a visit.
The falls were quite impressive in their own right and worth the drive.
We hiked a number of trails, trying to find some way to reach the base of the falls. Along the way we found a series of beautiful rapids perhaps a half mile upstream. You could see where the water carved basins and ripples in the stone. We continued downstream and found a trail that looked like it might lead to the bottom, but it seemed too dangerous, especially for children.
We did arrive at the top of the falls and saw several massive columns of stone. It was strange; I saw those stones in a dream perhaps only a month ago.
McKenna was my hiking buddy along the trail. She was so cute and just talked my little ear off. She talked forever about how trails can be dangerous; and how some rocks can hurt; and if she fell into the water she would just swim real hard until I reached her, because I'm "super-daddy" and would never let anything bad happen to her. She held my hand the whole way. It was sweet.
Overall, we had a wonderful time.
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