We just got back from a fantastic little holiday in the US of A! Katie, Nicole (her sister), Andrew (her brother - visiting from London, Eng), Ian (Nic's BF) Marcia, Marc and I headed down to Steamboat Rock this past July 1st. It's about 4 hours south of Penticton, and it would be totally desolate except for the fact that the Columbia river has been dammed!
Not really knowing what to expect except for cold beers and Frisbee tossing it turned out to be an awesome little getaway. We drove thru the Osoyoos border crossing where we were interrogated as to why we were coming to America. I referenced the song, and used my Jedi mind tricks and everything went smoothly. Just a quick note here, if they ask you a question, don't lie, they already know the answer! It also helps if you went to highschool with the border guard.
We drove down thru Omak (pass the Stampede) and on to the Grand Coulee Dam! It was just amazing and the little town was straight out of the fifties. About 10 miles south we got to the Steamboat Boat Rock campsite. Let me tell you it was freakin' hot, we basically went straight to the water to cool off. That night we made glorious hamburgers and smores and threw the football about 50 times too many so that all our shoulders hurt the next day.
The following day we went on the Grand Coulee Dam Tour, it was so impressive and very educational (yeah I know I'm a nerd) We were allowed to ask dam questions after
the dam tour!! It is the 3rd biggest concrete structure in the world!
That night we went to the "Laser" show on the dam, it ended with Neil Young's "Coming to America". Awesome!!
The next morning we made the trek up Steamboat Rock. It took about an hour round trip and was really cool, there were some great views and some really neat geographical structures, just completely different than in Penticton. After that we packed up and tried to pawn off milk and beer. The milk was a tough sell but the beer was accepted with open arms!
On our way home we were once again stopped at the border, it only took about 25 minutes so no worries. What a great trip, and everyone had a pretty good time!!
GW
ps: we only got passed by minivans full of children
I Love Grand Coulee, the dam and everything it stands for, The laser light show is world class I belive. Thanks for representing the Team 'down south' while we were up north.
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