With rapid fire speed I'm going to get you all caught up with what we've been up to. Enough of this lagging behind. No more playing catch up. Here we go!
After our amazing trip to Mount Rainier, we decided to stay local for a weekend. Luckily we had the Benton-Franklin County Fair going on here in the Tri-Cities. So Saturday afternoon we headed to the fairgrounds to "Rock with the 'stock". This fair comes complete with big name music acts, carnival games, rides, livestock shows, and a smorgasbord of food. The food was calling us, and it did not disappoint. We got burritos, bacon wrapped hot dogs, ice cream, and kettle corn. Unfortunately we didn't have room for the ever popular elephant ears, which are basically fried dough covered in sugar and cinnamon. Our bulging stomachs and quickly clogging arteries thanked us for passing that one up. However, the highlight of the fair ended up being the Dock Dog Competition. This involved trained dogs jumping off of a makeshift dock into a pool. I know it sounds weird, but we sat there for a good half hour watching these dogs launch themselves into the air. The current world record holder can jump over 31 feet. Watch the video below and tell me you aren't impressed.
After a nice weekend in the Tri-Cities, we were ready to hit the road again for Labor Day Weekend. This time we were off to Portland, OR. Amanda wanted to hit up an outdoor art festival, and I was more than happy to tag along. Portland is the kind of city that just has a really nice feel to it. Sure there's a bunch of hippies running around who may or may not shower, but it's safe, clean, and has most anything you need right within walking distance. Assuming you know where you are going that is. We got hosed on a cab fare because we thought the area we wanted to be at was near our hotel. Oops. Two $30 cab rides later we learned our lesson.
Following our unexpectedly pricey night on the town, we drove north, back into Washington, for a kayaking and wine tasting tour. This unique adventure was Amanda's brainchild, since she discovered it on Groupon. First, we enjoyed 2 hours of guided kayaking on Silver Lake, which is just west of Mount St. Helens. Here we learned about the 1980 volcanic eruption, how this lake was formed from a previous eruption, and all sorts of other fun facts about the area's wildlife.
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| The view from Silver Lake |
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| Here's our crew cruising along |
This was immediately followed by a private wine tasting at Mount St. Helens Cellars. When I say private, I really do mean private. We were at the owner's house, literally doing the tasting in their garage. All tolled, we got thirteen wine samples, which was completely ridiculous.
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| Welcome to the garage... I mean tasting room |
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| Amanda checking out the wine making process |
As an added bonus, we even made some new friends on the trip. Kayla and Nate are a couple from north of Seattle who, like us, enjoy a good adventure. Needless to say, we got along quite well. We are currently planning some trips with them, so you'll be sure to hear more about them in the future. This day though, Nate stole the show. The owners of this winery were looking for someone tall to don a Bigfoot suit and pose for the label of their newest wine, Sasquatch in a bottle. Nate was a natural and played the part perfectly. Everyone is eager to see what the label will look like, but here's my vote for which photo to use:
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| Nate: Part Sasquatch, part stud |
That night we set up camp deep in the woods of Gifford Pinchot National Forest. We were nowhere near civilization, in complete solitude, surrounded only by the enormous evergreens Washington is known for. It is such a welcomed escape to find places like this.
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| Yep, that's the view we woke up to |
That being said, we immersed ourselves in the hustle and bustle of big city life by travelling to Seattle the next weekend. We were attending a physical therapy course on shoulder rehab, but it also worked out that our good friend Kate Rook was visiting Seattle at that time too. She used to live in Seattle, but now works in Philly at MossRehab. So after sitting through hours of lectures and lab work, we met up with Kate and she gave us quite the tour of Seattle. She was full of all sorts of facts including history, geography, economics, and current events. You'd be hard pressed to find a better Seattle tour guide. Plus, it's always nice to see a familiar face from home.
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| Best. Guide. Ever. |
Unfortunately, on the drive home from Seattle, we came across a wildfire. It was crazy. We just turned a corner and saw a whole hillside in flames.
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| Just one of over 200 fires |
As of this posting, there are over 200 wildfires actively burning in Washington. There are some mornings we wake up to what smells like a campfire, ash might be laying on our cars, or we see a haziness blurring the skies. This is all a result of the thousands of acres currently burning up. It is a very different place we live in here.
It is also a land of dramatic contrasts. While you have fires consuming forests, you also have glaciers feeding ice cold rivers. Last weekend we decided to take advantage of the latter by going whitewater rafting on the White Salmon River. Once we arrived at Wet Planet Whitewater we got geared up and ready to hit the water. However, we noticed we didn't quite fit in with the rest of the people there. This was even more evident when they had roll call, which went like this:
-Guide: "O'Malley, group of 2?"
-Us: "Here."
-Guide: "Chi, group of 28?"
-The Chi Family: "HERE!"
Yeah, that's right, Amanda and I were the only white people on this rafting trip. There were two other couples rafting as well, but they were a mix of Indians and Asians. So all together our rafting group consisted of 29 Asians, 3 Indians, and 2 Caucasians. Go us.
It ended up being a great group though. We paired up with the other couples while the Chi family divided themselves up and we headed down the river. This river consists of Class III and IV rapids, with one Class V rapid. So yeah, it gets rough at times and you definitely get wet. Oh, and did I mention the water temperature is only about 40 degrees? The splashing of the rapids will definitely wake you up.
At one point along the trip, there was an area where we had to get out and hike through the woods to avoid a waterfall that was too dangerous to raft over. Once you hiked to the top of the waterfall you had two choices, jump off a cliff about 30 feet above the water into the frigid river and swim to your raft, or keep hiking to get back to your boat. We made the obvious choice that any sane human being would make, we jumped!
Luckily, they don't even give you time to think about it, they just say "1-2-3, JUMP!" and off you go. Next thing you know you hit the water and are being swept down the river as you struggle to swim back to your raft. It was pure exhilaration though. And yes, the water temperature is still only 40 degrees. It's only after you get back into the boat and you see other people doing it that you think, "Maybe that wasn't such a good idea."
At the end of the raft trip, you are given one final choice, you can either hike back to the Wet Planet headquarters or ride over the only Class V rapid in this section of the river. This rapid is known as Husum Falls. It's not so much a rapid, as it is a 12 foot drop.
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| File footage of Husum Falls |
Of course, Amanda, myself, and our group agreed to attack Husum falls. The guides do a great job of preparing you for how to brace yourself and reduce your chances of falling out of the raft. No one from our boat fell out, but it is scary because after you reach the bottom of the falls, your whole raft literally goes underwater before you pop back up and continue to float downstream. It was one of those moments that leave you speechless because you can't possibly describe what just happened. I have always wanted to go whitewater rafting and this trip was everything I hoped it would be. I loved every second of it. It was easily one of the best experiences we've had thus far.
We haven't gotten the pictures from this trip back yet (we took a waterproof camera), but we will post them as soon as we get them. In the meantime, you can check out Wet Planet's video about the White Salmon River trip to get an idea of what we experienced.
As a little something extra, here is a great video I found on YouTube that is a compilation of rafting groups going over Husum Falls. Thankfully, we were more successful than the groups featured in this video. Enjoy!
Well, there you have it. All caught up. We've been trying hard to keep you in the loop with where we've been going and what we've been doing. Every time we thought we gained ground, we just kept slipping back. But finally, you are all caught up with our adventures. Hopefully we'll be able to stay on task and give you up to date information, as opposed to old news. Thanks for being patient while following us on our journey.
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