Summer Holidays 2008

Summer Holidays

Summer Holiday
	In August Spencer, Louise and I headed to the Gorge for a holiday. Between high fuel costs and limited remaining holidays - we decided to make a quick trip in the van. This was the first time in probably 15 years that we had not gone to Nitinat for our summer holidays. We sure missed spending time with our friends from Nitinat; but we had a great time in the Gorge. Our friends Neal & Sandy had just returned from Coeur d'Alaine, and raved about Silverwood Amusement Park - so we thought we'd "check it out" on the way down. We arrived at Silverwood around 5 p.m. - and had a great evening in the park - in spite of the long lines. Spencer and I rode all of the big roller coasters. No question, the After Shock was the best!!! Hanging from your harness, 177 feet in the air looking straight down, and then dropping. WOW! We even talked Louise into joining us on one of the big timber roller coasters -- Apparently she did not enjoy it as much as we did, (turns out it's the last roller coaster ride of her life). After closing down the park, we drove and drove and drove trying to find a hotel. We eventually found a Super 8 which had one smoking room left. It wasn't a nice hotel, but it had a bed! (Spencer got to sleep on the floor....) The first thing I did the next day was book the hotel for that night.

The After Shock Roller Coaster opened only a few days before we arrived.	"The last Roller Coaster ride of Louise's life" (See top left..)
Spencer at the Hatchery	Although we did a fair bit of sailing - the wind did not blow as consistantly as we would have liked. Most likely because of the warm temperatures (110). We sailed at Roosevelt Park, the Hatchery (yes - Louise sailed the Hatchery), Swell City and Bob's Beach. We rented a basement suite in a hillside home for the week; so, thankfully we weren't too hot. Spencer and I had fun playing ping-pong in the garage. It was interesting spending this time in the States during the Olympics... we sure saw a lot of Michael Phelps, and George Bush on the TV. Apparently none of the other countries showed up...
We went on a great rafting adventure one afternoon, and even convinced Louise to stay in the raft while we went over the 12-foot waterfall (our guide assured us that after plunging beneath the surface of the water, our raft would pop back up). Interestingly, she enjoyed the ride and would definitely do it again. Spencer and I went for a jump and a swim at Punch Bowl. Unfortunately, we couldn't convince Louise to climb down the 100 foot cliff wall with us (it wasn't as bad as it looked from the top).
The 3 of us also hiked in to HorseTail Falls. Very nice, but very crowded. I think one of our favorite finds was PonyTail Falls; which is a fair hike up to a pool - well above Horse Tail Falls. It was well worth the hike. A very nice, relaxing holiday! For all our Holiday Photos Click Here
Spencer's Coke Commercial At the bottom of the Cliff - ready to jump..	The Punchbowl Cliff


Pony Tail Falls... Don't get sucked over the cliff...!	Horse Tail Falls Canyon	Pony Tail Falls (Looks like a girls pony tail)

View from the Pony Tail Falls Trail	Ted and Louise under the washout	Pony Tail Falls - That's Cold!!!