Watery Wednesday - Hiking in Washington

I don't remember exactly where this waterfall is.....just that this is what I came across when taking a little hike while on a home exchange on the Hood Canal in Washington back in 2007.

Be sure and check out some other great photos over at "Watery Wednesday".

 

Washington State on Dwellable



Watery Wednesday - Lake Tahoe

If there is one thing I like more then waterfalls, it's hiking to the top of waterfalls!



Eagle Falls, Lake Tahoe, California

I love going here and this was one of my trips back in 2006. 

Time sure does fly when you're having fun!

I am participating in "Watery Wednesday"

Watery Wednesday - Burney Falls

Burney Falls is one of those waterfalls I must see everytime I travel Hwy 89 in northern California on my way to, well anywhere.

Burney Falls is not the highest or largest waterfall in California but at 129-ft, Burney Falls, is possibly the most beautiful.

Burney Falls' additional water comes from springs, joining to create a mist-filled basin. Burney Creek originates from the park's underground springs and flows to Lake Britton, getting larger along the way to the majestic falls.

To see more beautiful watery pictures taken by some very talented photographers, please click here "Watery Wednesday"

Water Wednesday - Horseshoe Falls, Niagara Falls, Canada

I spent two days just enjoying these magnificant falls!

Yes, I did take a ride on that boat!

And this was the view from the front of the boat!

Visit "Watery Wednesday" to enjoy some more amazing pictures!

Driving the Great Northwest - A Day in Great Falls

During our stay in Billings this past April we took the drive up to "Great Falls" to visit a couple of Stijn's high school buddies from when he was an exchange student in Billings.

It was a beautiful drive through this part of the State on Hwy 191 and Hwy 87 to Great Falls.  I love seeing wildlife and we saw plenty of Pronghorn Antelope along the way.  Sorry no pictures, but Click here if you're curious about these beautiful animals.

After we arrived Cliff and Jared took us out to see the "Great Falls" of which this city is named for when Lewis and Clark arrived here on June 13, 1805.

There are five falls along this portion of the Missouri River.  Today we were were able to see a few sites while following the Lewis & Clark Trail along the Missouri River.

The first stop we made was at "Black Eagle Memorial Island". 

This is actually a man made island and is located downstream from "Black Eagle Dam".   It opened to the public in the summer of 2005 and has a 1,500 foot path that links to a viewing area at the tip of the island.

When then headed downstream to "Giant Springs Heritage Park".

Rather then me trying to explain the beauty of this place, I will let you read what William Clark wrote  when he first laid eyes on this spring.

.......the largest fountain or spring I have ever Saw, and doubt if it is not the largest in America ever known, this water boils up from under the rocks near the edge of the river and falls immediately into the river 8 feet and keeps it's colour for a mile which is immensely Clear and of Bluish Cast....

......William Clark

There is a concrete walkway in which you can take a stroll right between the Giant Spring and the Missouri River.   

  

Here you will also see the shortest river in the country.  The Roe River ranks as one of the shortest rivers at 201 feet in length, flowing into the longest river in the country.  The Missouri River is  2,540 miles long, 200 miles longer than the Mississippi River.

It is entirely way to cold and windy on this day to endure too much more.  But we did get a glimpse of one more site along the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Trail.  This folks "Is" the Great Falls!

 

I can just imagine what ol' Lewis and Clark thought when they saw the waterfalls in Oregon!

If you would like to see more pictures of our day just Click here and then click the album "Great Falls"

Driving The Great Northwest - Waterfalls, Waterfalls and More Waterfalls

Okay, it's already April 10 and two days of rest is enough!

I'm not sure if you know this about me, but as much I as love lighthouses, I love waterfalls even more!  So today we headed for the "Columbia River Gorge" to explore and enjoy the waterfalls! 

We start towards the Gorge on I84 heading East, but decide to exit onto "Historic Route 30" which brings us to our first waterfall of the day!

Wahkeena Falls is a 242ft waterfall with a great trail that takes you to the base of the waterfall.

Our next stop is Multnomah Falls and here we take the 1.25 mile trail to the very top of the waterfall.

There are 11 switchbacks on the way to the top of this 620ft waterfall and on the way we have some amazing views of the Columbia River and Washington in the distance.

After we reach the top and have a look over the edge, we decide to continue on the trail that takes us along the upper part of the falls.

  

But as beautiful as this is, we need to get back down to the car and see some more waterfalls.  And within just about 10 minutes down the road is "Horsetail Falls".

Here you just park and walk across the street and you are feeling the mist of the water of this 176ft fall.

Our last waterfall of the day comes as a complete surprise as we were driving West on  Historic Route 30 on our way back to Vancouver.

Latourell Falls has a couple of great options for getting some great views of the 249ft fall.  We of course did both.  First the little walk of 0.1mile to the bottom where we could just look straight up at the fall.  Then we also took the little walk from the parking lot to the viewpoint.

Okay, back on the road to get home.  But then we end up with one more unexpected stop.  Built between 1916-1918, "Vista House" was built as a memorial to Oregon Pioneers.  This is a great place for unbelievable views of the Columbia River Gorge.  However the wind was blowing about 50 miles per hour up here, so we took a quick tour and some pictures and headed home.

 

Of course there are more pictures to see of all the waterfalls we saw today at "Where's Debbie".  Just click on the album Waterfalls.

Driving The Great Northwest - A Home Exchange in Vancouver Washington

It was so exciting for Stijn and I to plan a driving trip through the Northwest part of the United States and decide on some of the key places we wanted to visit and the things that we would want to do while on our trip.  During our planning we thought that it would be a great idea to see if we could do a home exchange somewhere in the area of Portland Oregon and stay awhile.  There is just so much to see and do in this area that it made sense to stay longer than just a few days.

I began searching on Home Exchange.com to see if I could find a place that would suit our needs and our dates.  After reading a few profiles I wrote an email to someone in Vancouver Washington and proposed a possible home exchange for April.

A couple of emails back and forth and April 8 through April 22 are the dates that we agreed upon for our exchange to Vancouver Washington.  Lucky for us, Terri was happy to do the exchange!  Vancouver is perfectly located just across the Columbia River from Portland Oregon.  Within just minutes or a few hours we can be in downtown Portland, on the Columbia Gorge hiking to waterfalls, shopping at Pikes Place Market in Seattle, or maybe doing a little snow skiing on Mt. Hood.  So many options!

So on April 1 we packed up the car, loaded our bikes on the back and started our trek north!

Washington State on Dwellable