What Adventurers Do In The Tri-Cities

You might be asking yourself, "What the heck are Charlie and Amanda going to do in the middle of Washington's desert?" Good question. We wondered the same thing when we were heading here. Fortunately, this area averages over 300 days of sunshine per year, so being outdoors is always an option. And really, what more do you need?

The first weekend we got here, everyone told us to check out the Water Follies. Sounds great, but one problem was that we had no idea what that meant. After some research we found out that there is an annual power boat race on the Columbia River, known as the Water Follies. Well, if it has an engine and is racing, you know I'll watch it. So that Friday, July 27th for those keeping track of time, we headed down to the river to see what this Water Follies business was all about. I was immediately impressed. These boats go over 200mph while racing on an oval course that is marked off by buoys. How they keep those things in the water is beyond me. We took some video of qualifying, see for yourself:

If power boat racing isn't enough for you, the Water Follies also gives you an air show!

Parajumpers got things started



EVERYONE loves a jet fly over

A Coast Guard rescue demonstration

Can you believe it? This was almost too good to be true, for me anyway. Unfortunately, Amanda was losing interest at this point. She was a trooper though, and we stayed through the air show. No races were held that day, just qualifying, but it was still a really cool experience and a way to dive head first into what the Tri-Cities has to offer.

Another popular outdoor activity in the Tri-Cities is going for an afternoon float down the Yakima River. All you need is a tube, a sandwich or snack, some sunscreen, maybe a few adult beverages, and you are all set. The Yakima River is basically just a big creek, so there's no real rapids or anything like that to deal with. Just think of a natural lazy river. Plus, we live right next to the river, so it is fantastically convenient.



Here's our 5 mile, 2.5 hour float path down the Yakima

There is no better way to spend a hot summer day in the Tri-Cities than floating down the river. That is unless you are Amanda, who decided to get a giant gash in her tube about 2/3 of the way down the river on our first trip. It was equal parts hilarity and tragedy. She was trying to flip over on her tube and somehow snagged a rock, thus destroying her float. The best part though, was that she had no idea she was sinking. Despite the fact that she was chest deep in the water, she somehow was unaware that her float was completely submerged and heading towards the river bottom. The rest of the float was not nearly as relaxing since we had to share a single tube, but we made it. Amanda has since gotten a new tube and has successfully made it down the river without incident.

Coincidentally, the same weekend Amanda's raft was violently deflated, we noticed that our air mattress (yes, we sleep on our air mattress since we live in an unfurnished apartment) was losing air. We just can't catch a break with our bed situation. First, there was the duct taped bed fiasco in Olney, now we need to have a patchwork air mattress. After finding the leak, we attempted to patch it both inside and out, but it still continues to leak. We have tried everything, but have now reserved ourselves to the fact that we must pump our bed up every night and pray it makes it through until morning. Thankfully it's a slow enough leak that we have managed well up to this point, but it is definitely an ongoing inconvenience.

When we aren't floating down the river, we have been taking trips to places in the area, such as Palouse Falls, which is about an hour and a half northeast of here. Do you remember from "A Long Way From PA: Part 4" when Amanda so eloquently detailed how there was a giant lake over what is now Missoula, MT in the Ice Age that would periodically release millions of gallons of water when its ice dam broke? If not go back and read it because you clearly aren't paying close enough attention to our blog!

For those of you who do recall that, Palouse Falls is a remnant of those times. It was carved out by the massive amounts of water rushing across eastern Washington. It's even more impressive because the last thing you would expect to see in the middle of a desert is this amazing waterfall. There is phenomenal hiking around the falls and along the upper part of the river, so we had a great time exploring.

The main falls at Palouse

The smaller upper falls

After leaving Palouse Falls, we headed south to Walla Walla, WA. This is a nice little town with great wineries and an excellent downtown area. Unfortunately we didn't have much time to spend here, but we will definitely be going back to enhance our Walla Walla experience.

The reason we didn't have much time in Walla Walla was because we planned to go to an astronomy lecture and star gazing event planned at LIGO, a gravitational astronomy center outside of Richland. Amanda saw that LIGO was hosting this event because the height of the Perseid meteor shower was that night. This is an annual meteor shower that occurs when the Earth's orbit passes through the debris field left by the comet Swift-Tuttle. LIGO opened up their facilities until 1:00 am and even let people use various telescopes. The sky was perfectly clear, with "Ooohs" and "Aaahs" frequently being heard from the crowd. The head astronomer even pointed out when the International Space Station and an Iridium satellite flare could be seen.

By the way, Iridium satellite flares are no joke. When they come into view, they light up the sky for about 5 seconds, but they are amazingly bright and almost look like a UFO. The reason they are so bright is because they reflect the sun off of giant antennas that are attached to the satellite's structure. Basically, they act like a mirror and during this brief time they reflect the sun and are the brightest thing in the night sky. And no, we are not ashamed to say that we got excited about an astronomy lecture. If that makes us giant geeks, then so be it. Surprisingly, we ran into one of our new co-workers there, so it was good to know we weren't the only science nerds working at Tri-Cities Home Health.

So as you can see, we are definitely keeping busy and having some fun here in the desert. However, we did recently take a trip away from the desert. But you'll have to wait for Amanda to tell you about how we climbed Mount Rainier. Ok, maybe we only climbed half of Mount Rainier, but you still have to check back soon to hear about it.

A Long Way from PA: Part 4, The Finale

I'm ready to bring it home...here goes nothing!

I will begin with a fun fact:

American Bison (aka buffalo) were near extinction in the 1800’s due to Westward expansion and human greed.  The bison population decreased from the hundreds of millions to <1,000 by 1890.  Luckily, the remaining bison were accidentally trapped in Yellowstone when it became a National Park in 1872, ultimately saving them!

Thank you Yellowstone!  Those beasts are impressive and Bucknell would be lost with an extinct mascot.

They might have tiny legs,
but they can run >30 mph...don't get too close!

We sadly said goodbye to Yellowstone on Saturday, July 21st.  Day 10 of our trip led us into Montana.  We drove through Bozeman, Butte and finally Missoula, which was our last planned stop on this cross country trip.  A highlight of our drive through western MT was lunch at Joe's Pasty shop in Butte.  Charlie insisted we make this stop because Man vs. Food was there; luckily he didn't participate in a food contest.  He did, however manage to scarf down a very heart unhealthy pasty while I dined on a grilled cheese sandwich.  Interestingly enough we found out that Joe's really is the place to be in Butte because an entire wedding party squeezed in the small restaurant while we were there.   


Clearly one's first choice of places to eat.

I've given into eating meat,
 but this I can't put into my body.

With full bellies we were ready for a shower at the luxurious Motel 6 in Missoula, MT.  It took some time to get checked in because their computer system had just crashed (to be expected), but we were rid of our Yellowstone grime before 4pm and ready to experience Missoula.  We loved this city - hitting up local breweries, a weekly farmer's market, and window shopping at the artsy/eclectic downtown shops.  Missoula is a small city of 67,000 people located in a valley along the Clark Fork and Bitteroot rivers.  The Northern Pacific Railway runs through this city and it is home to the University of Montana, which includes an excellent School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences.  Additionally, Lewis and Clark met just south of Missoula not once, but twice, splitting-up in hopes that they would find a cohesive river that traversed across the continent to the Pacific Ocean.  No such luck.



Lewis & Clark's Expedition: 1804-1806.
Pretty impressive.

Okay, time for another fun fact:
Common day Missoula was covered by water just 13,000 years ago.  The lake was approximately 950 ft deep and called Glacial Lake Missoula. This lake caused major flooding throughout western MT, ID and WA as its natural glacial dam would give way and release massive amounts of water ultimately emptying into the Pacific Ocean. 

At this point in our trip we'd already been given the news that my job wasn't going to pan out due to Washington's slow licensing process.  Ironically we found out 2 days later, before arriving in Missoula, that we had officially received our WA licenses.  Now the question was, where will we be in WA?  With it being the weekend we knew we'd be in the dark until at least Monday, so why not stay an extra night in Missoula?  We went back to our camping lifestyle and hit up our first KOA (Kampgrounds of America).  If you are looking for luxurious camping, we highly recommend a KOA, especially the one in Missoula. They have hot showers, a swimming pool and hot tubs, mini golf and a nightly ice cream social!  I got a little too excited about the ice cream and ended the night with a stomach ache...ugh. 

When Monday rolled around we were ready to head further west, closer to our final destination: ??, WA.  But before we left we had one more thing to do in Missoula, climb the infamous Mount Sentinel "M" trail.  This trail leads to a now concrete "M" that was originally made from stone and created by the University of Montana's Forestry Club in 1908.   We climbed the 620' zigzag trail with many other locals out for some exercise then hit the road.



Mount Sentinel's "M"

View of Missoula from the "M"

Unfortunately the new week did not bring with it immediate answers to our location & work dilemma.  Thus, we felt more nomadic than ever before and found ourselves trying too hard to enjoy the end of our amazing westward adventure.  As a result I won't take much time to cover the end of the journey which included a single night of camping in Spokane, WA that felt like an eternity.  After a lot of back and forth with our travelling recruiter we were finally given the okay to head to the Tri-Cities where we would both be doing home care PT. 

Luckily our original destination was the Tri-Cities so we had a head start on our housing situation.  We were in Kennewick, WA (1 of the 3 "Tri" cities) by Tuesday evening.  We spent all day Wednesday hunting for apartments (that are mostly filled to capacity!  What the heck?!), locked down our sweet digs Thursday morning, camped out one more night, then moved into our unfurnished apartment Friday afternoon.  A bit of a whirlwind, requiring the purchase of 2 stools and microsuede saucer chairs from Target/Walmart for seating, but we had a place to call home before we started our new jobs on Monday morning.  Whew!! 

Our 10-11 day trip turned into 15-16, but like we've said before, we signed up for this crazy life and we can't expect everything to work out like we plan. 

In summary, we drove >3,500 miles, visited some great friends, have a new appreciation and uncontainable excitement for our National Parks, became more efficient campers, and found a new home away from home in arid, eastern Washington.  Most importantly...we are still happily married.

We miss you! 
Come float down the Yakima River with us!

A Long Way From PA: Part 3

Before we get into how incredibly awesome it was to see Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone, let me just say that it is really difficult to condense a 14 day cross country adventure into a handful of short posts. I admit now that I was a fool to think that we could share all of our experiences, sort through/post all of our pictures, and get settled into our new place all in a week's time. Stupid!

So unfortunately you'll have to wait a little longer to know what we are currently up to, but as a nice consolation prize you get to hear more about our road trip across America. I hope that will suffice.

One quick note about The Badlands before we move onto Rushmore, The average amount of time visitors spend in The Badlands is 45 minutes. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? The park rangers say most people pay the admission, drive the loop, and then leave. That, to me, is a travesty. I could have spent days there. I urge you all to take time and enjoy our national and state parks, don't just do a drive-by, that's a cop out.

See how happy I look? That's because
 I spent more than 45 minutes at The Badlands!

After The Badlands, we trekked over to Mount Rushmore. I have always been intrigued by Rushmore and had to see for myself what it is all about. Sure, you always see it on TV, but let me tell you, TV doesn't do it an ounce of justice. The size and the detail are stunning. The fact that Gutzon Borglum looked at this mountain and visualized carving four faces in it just blows my mind. The fact that they pulled it off is almost impossible to comprehend, especially when you see it in person. As you walk along the Presidential Trail, the signage and displays do a really great job of giving you insight into how Rushmore came to be and why Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln were chosen. While this was one of the shorter stops on our drive, it was definitely one of the most interesting. This place is truly a marvel of ingenuity and creativity on an incredible scale.

Fact: You can't fully appreciate this until you see it in person

After Rushmore, we headed southwest to Cody, WY to get some rest before we entered Yellowstone. Cody is this great town best known for being founded by Buffalo Bill Cody. While it is obviously a modernized city these days, it still gives you the feel of being in the Wild West. There is a nearby rodeo, the Irma hotel (built by Buffalo Bill) is still in full operation, and in true Wild West fashion there are gun fights every night. It was the perfect layover before entering into the otherworldly experience that awaited us on the other side of Yellowstone's gates.

Let me start off by saying Yellowstone is enormous. Its 2.2 million acres is larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined. We did our best to see as much of the park as possible in the 4 days and 3 nights we were there, but it is really just too big to see in that short amount of time. In order to do it right, you'd really need a full week to see most areas of the park without having to frantically run from place to place. However, since we didn't have a week, we chose the plan that included frantically running from place to place. Thankfully, we got good advice from a family friend, Fran, who told us the best path to take through the park so that we could maximize our time there.



This is Yellowstone, enough said

Since detailing everything we did in Yellowstone could be it's own 3 part blog series, I'm going to try to condense our trip into the Cliff's Notes version.

• Should we at some point have children (holy crap that's a scary thought), my mission is to bring them to Yellowstone. If we don't have children, my mission is to bring myself back to Yellowstone. You guys can come along too if you like, but I'm definitely going.
• By having Grand Teton National Park just south of Yellowstone, it's like getting two parks for the price of one. We were fortunate enough to have time to make a day trip down there to see the scenery. We were not disappointed.

Well worth the extra drive south into Grand Teton

• Yellowstone is the perfect way to see first hand how nature is equal parts beauty and destruction. There are the rolling hills, picturesque mountains, lush valleys, wild animals, and crystal clear waters contrasted with boiling hot springs, bubbling mud pots, geyser eruptions, and the most foul smelling sulfur vents you can imagine which are all fueled by a super-volcano that lies just 3 miles beneath the surface of Yellowstone.
• That's right, Yellowstone is actually one giant volcano. The magma chamber beneath Yellowstone starts just 3 miles underground and extends to 410 miles deep. That's a lot of liquid hot magma. It hasn't erupted in 650,000 years, but if it does, I think we are in trouble.

Even Dr. Evil knows that's a lot of magma

• I (ignorantly) just thought Yellowstone was filled with wildlife and beautiful scenery. I had no idea the extent to which geothermal formations played a role in the park. In fact, if it weren't for the geysers, steam vents, mud pots, and hot springs, Yellowstone probably wouldn't be a national park. The scenery and wildlife are just icing on the cake.
• When you see these geothermal features, and the surrounding land, you'll feel like you are on another planet. It's kind of creepy, but really cool.



Mammoth Springs



A mud pot in the
Sulfur Cauldron

A steam vent in the
Porcelain Basin





The massive, but unpredictable Steamboat Geyser

• I think it's pretty neat how they can predict Old Faithful's eruptions, but overall I was a little underwhelmed. Too much hype. There are, in my opinion, way better parts of the park, such as Grand Prismatic, Upper and Lower Falls, and Mount Washburn.

Old Faithful, eh.

Grand Prismatic, now that's what I'm talking about

Yellowstone's Upper Falls

• Speaking of Mount Washburn, the view from the top of this 10,223 foot mountain makes you realize just how massive Yellowstone is. For as far as the eye can see, you see Yellowstone. The best part about it though, is that it's a hike just about anyone can do. It'll take some time and effort, but there are great trails that are not overly strenuous. If you are there, do it. Do it.

10,000 feet above Yellowstone

• One of the things I said to Amanda during our trip was, "I need to see an animal that could kill me." I'm not saying this was one of the most intelligent comments that has ever left my mouth, but there was something inside me that wanted to see a predator in the wild, preferably from a distance, but I wanted to see one nonetheless. While we didn't get to see a wolf, my wish was granted one morning when a black bear came into our campsite looking for food. I would say the closest it got was about 100 feet away, so not a real threat, but I think it is important to recognize that we are not above nature. Seeing an animal that powerful helps you to respect nature and understand your place in it.

I'd like to thank this bear for not mauling us all

• Another night while camping, there were coyotes outside the edge of the campground. We just sat in our tent in silence and listened to their howls. You simply can't beat that experience.
• Fun Facts: 
• People used to use the hot springs near Yellowstone Lake to cook the fish they would catch.
• Also, other people used to put dirty laundry into Old Faithful so that when it erupted, clean clothes would fly out.

My last comment about Yellowstone is this, each year thousands of small earthquakes occur at Yellowstone. These impact all of the geothermal features that the park is known for. Therefore, the park is ever changing. If we go back there 20 years from now, it could be totally different, or if the volcano erupts, it might not be there at all. So if you get a chance to go to Yellowstone, I truly recommend it. If you can't get there, then watch some of the documentaries about it. It's really just an amazing place. I can't say enough good things about it.

Well, I'm getting all worked up thinking about Yellowstone, so I'm going to sign off on a high note. Amanda will be bringing you the dramatic conclusion of our cross country story when she's feeling more in "blogging shape". Until then, just know that all is well here in Richland, WA. Work is going smoothly, and we have lots of good stuff that's waiting on the back burner for us to share with you when we finally get caught up.

A Long Way From PA: Part 2

So after our fond fair well to our first home away from home, Olney, IL it was time to set forth into unknown territory, heading northwest to Omaha, Nebraska.  Like Lewis and Clark, we headed toward the Missouri River, following it north on the Iowa side until we crossed into Nebraska where we were greeted by my long time friend Ian Aeillo.  He has lived in Nebraska since college, but now has an amazing family of his own and they went out of their way to welcome us into their home and show us what Omaha has to offer.

Ian (nothing has changed, but he's a dad!), Mary Clare Sweet (yoga extraordinaire - look her up!) & Tallullah (the most well articulated 4 year old I've come across)

 In the short amount of time we had (Saturday night & Sunday) we fit a lot in: fine dining at a sushi restaurant in downtown Omaha, entertained by a Nashville musician flown into Omaha for a very impressive house party, a drive-by of Warren Buffet's neighborhood, monkeying around at the Henry Doorly Zoo, Yoga Rocks the Park (see video below), and fun with friends at Ian and M.C.'s Sunday night family dinner.  

Quite the warm welcome

Desert Dome at the zoo. At 13 stories tall it's the largest geodesic dome in the world!

We left the comforts of Omaha Sunday morning and were ready to see the wild west.  Day 6 & 7 of our trip were designated to South Dakota's Badlands National Park and the infamous Mount Rushmore.  We heard praises about a "corn palace" in South Dakota so we kept a lookout for such a thing and turns out it was conveniently en route!

Interesting concept, but we were slightly under impressed.

We kept moving and were entering the Badlands before we knew it.  Before I continue, I need to note that one of the best parts of this trip was doing it in a car because it is unbelievable to look out the window and see so many varieties of landscape, geology, and topography unfold.  This is unfortunately also one of the most challenging things to describe.  Luckily we took a lot of pictures, which helps, but doesn't do it justice.

So we went from rolling hills and hay bails to the prairie where you suddenly see an enormous wall of eroding spires, which is Badlands National Park.  We entered the park, found the visitors center to gather some information and then reserved a camp site for the night.  We were both in awe, jaws dropped at this place.  The best I can describe the land is like drip sand castles you make in the wet sand at the beach, but with magnificently colored sand.  There is a large loop that you can drive to see the park from various perspectives and make stops along the way to explore.  We couldn't believe our eyes when we saw bison in the distance.  Then we realized we were standing in a field of burrows, which is a prairie dog town!  Incredible.  We were excited to find that the parks offer free education programs led by park rangers.  We attended a short afternoon session about fossils and archeology within the park and were really excited for an evening program on astronomy held under the stars where they end by giving a tour of the amazing night sky.  Unfortunately, as the sky darkened clouds rolled in and lightening was striking in every direction.  Due to the inclement weather, the session was cancelled and we headed back to our wind tossed $20 Walmart tent which was now only attached by 2 of our 4 stakes.  I was slightly concerned at the "shelter" we had as the wind picked up and the thunder roared.  I held down the tent with my body as Charlie was out in the elements being a good neighbor to the family camped beside us that had all sort of gear blowing away.  I made sure to ground myself with my sneakers and prayed.  Somehow we made it through the night with only minor leakage into our tent (we now have adhesive along the tent seams - live and learn!).  We were up early to catch a sunrise and to go on an early morning hike before the temperature rose (it was 106 degrees the day before) and before it was time to continue west to Mount Rushmore and Cody, WY. 



Welcome to the Wild West!

Layer upon layer of different sediments deposited 34 to 67 million yrs ago.  They are now eroding sedimentary rocks.

He's got his eye on us.

 

They just make you smile.

With that, I must say goodnight!  I'm out of blogging shape (not sure if I've ever really been in it, thanks to my overzealous husband).  Stay tuned for part 3...   

A long way from PA: Part 1

And so begins the tale of the O'Malley's attempt to be like Lewis and Clark...minus the dystentery of course.

After we said our goodbyes and loaded up our gear, Amanda and I headed out on the road again Wednesday, July 11th. Our goal was to head back to Olney to pick up the rest of our belongings, which we left in the apartment there. Along the way, we planned to make a detour to Louisville, KY to see the Louisville Slugger Museum. Wednesday night we camped on the outskirts of Louisville in Jefferson Memorial Forest. While there we stumbled across a disc golf course, and we felt obligated to play. Little did we know it was league night (really? disc golf league night?) so we accidentally got mixed up in tons of hardcore disc golfers. We clearly did not belong, but we stuck with it, had a good time, and managed not to embarrass ourselves too badly.

Advice: Avoid disc golf in KY,
those guys mean business.

Following disc golf we retreated back to our campsite where I proceeded to build an oversized campfire. The campground dropped off way to much firewood for us and I felt obligated to use as much as possible, hence the barely controllable blaze.

Only YOU can prevent forest fires!

The next morning we headed out to the Slugger Museum downtown. I highly recommend going there and taking the factory tour. First, they demonstrate how bats used to be made back in the late 1800's (and it was actually a guy originally from Philly who did this) and then they take you around the factory to show you the modern ways used to make bats for current Major League players. It's a must see for any baseball fan. There's also some really great exhibits there too, including one where I got to hold a bat owned and used by Babe Ruth, and then take a replica Babe Ruth bat into the batting cages. I have a whole new respect for the Great Bambino now, his bat is like a cave man club. It's enormous and incredibly heavy. I was exhausted after just 10 swings.

After Louisville, it was time for our last hurrah (for now anyway) in Olney. Luckily, we got to see all of our new found friends from Richland Memorial Hospital again because they were nice enough to meet us for lunch on Friday. It was so good to spend time everyone again, but at the same time, we were excited for the next leg of our adventure. It was definitely bittersweet.

Team RMH: We'll miss you guys!

Before we officially left Olney, I compiled a list of observations and random thoughts from our time there:

• I miss Wawa. I knew I would, but I really do. The closest thing to it is called Casey's, but it's really more like a 7-11 than anything. And we all know that 7-11 has got nothing on Wawa.
• Casey's best quality is their amazing windshield squeegees. Now, you wouldn't think that would be a big deal, but Southern Illinois is one of the buggiest areas I have ever seen. There were times while driving where you are hitting so many bugs that it literally sounds like rain. So a good squeegee goes a long way. 
• Another thing I missed from home were Tastykakes. You will not find a better snack cake. It's impossible.
• There are some interesting street signs around here, such as this one:

Gotta love the
white squirrel

• The streets are also uniquely organized. Every road has both a number (eg. 1250 Ave.) and a name (eg. Walnut Street). However, the name is written so small under the number that it is impossible for any mere mortal to see it at normal driving speeds, thus rendering a GPS useless.
• Then there's the ridiculous occurrences where two roads intersect without a traffic light or stop sign to be found. Now generally this occurs on very rural roads so there is rarely an incident of two car crossing paths at the same time, but it is still kind of scary.

Do you see any stop signs?

• The pastor at St. Joseph's Church in Olney looks exactly like Carter Pewterschmidt from Family Guy. I tried to get a picture but was unsuccessful, so you'll have to take my word for it.
• If you have any desire to live to be 90+ years old, move to Olney. I have never seen so many people over the age of 90 who are still in relatively good shape. They must be putting something in the water.
• Olney, IL has got to be the per capita vanity license plate capital of the U.S. Seriously, everyone's got them.
• People over the age of 60 here refer to Walmart as: "The Wall Marts". It just sounds awkward and wrong when they say it like that.
• There's a lot of love for Abe Lincoln around here. Illinois calls itself "The land of Lincoln", Indiana is "Lincoln's boyhood home", and Kentucky is "The birthplace of Lincoln". You'd think he wouldn't be that popular in the South, what with the Civil War and all.
• Pork burgers are one of my new favorite meals. Envision a sausage patty crossed with a hamburger and cover it in BBQ sauce. I dare you tell me that doesn't sound amazing.

Finally, I'd like to leave you with a little slideshow recap of the highlights from our time in Olney, IL. Amanda will be bringing Part 2 of our westward journey to you shortly, so be on the lookout.