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Thursday, May 17, 2007

 

Going To Hell

Speaking of road trips, we took one last week with a group of homeschooling families. It was an exciting jet boat ride down the Snake River into one of the deepest gorges in North America, Hells Canyon.

I've been wanting to get a look at Hells Canyon for twenty years, so I was as excited as anyone to board the Beamers Tours jet boat in Clarkston, Washington, where Captain Dan waited to guide us down the river and through three states.





Right from the start we spotted osprey, eagles, antelope, bighorn sheep, and even some old guy panning for gold. The kids had a blast with Captain Dan swerving back and forth along the river at 45mph. Along the way he pointed out unusual geological formations, pioneer homesteads, and ancient petroglyphs that dated back at least 2,500 years.





The turnaround point for this half-day tour is Cache Creek Ranch, where we had an hour to lay in the grass and watch the kids play. The Forest Service runs the ranch now as an interpretive center. While we lazed around, Captain Dan was down at the river catching smallmouth bass right and left.





Even though this trip was just a taste of what the canyon has to offer, the kids absolutely loved it. They had no idea that just a few hours south of where they live is such a massive, and totally unique, wilderness area. There's so much more to see and explore. I'm definitely marking Hells Canyon down on my list of places to which we'll return.

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6 Comments:

Anonymous brettdl said...

Very cool

5:22 AM  
Blogger Kerri said...

What an amazing trip! I love the action shots from the boat too.

I found your post and thought I’d reach out to say hello and ask if you’d like to receive a free Maya & Miguel DVD. If you’d like to receive the DVD just email me at Kerri at boldmouth.com with your address and I’ll have it shipped it out to you.

I don’t know if you’re familiar with Maya & Miguel, a show on PBS in the afternoons -- http://pbskidsgo.org/mayaandmiguel -- that emphasizes cultural diversity and language learning but I’m reaching out to talk to parents about the program as part of a marketing project I’m working on with Scholastic.

If you do choose to blog about Maya & Miguel show or episodes on the DVD, please make it clear how you received the information. Our goal is to be open and honest with everyone we reach.

Kerri Roberts, BoldMouth

8:18 AM  
Blogger Philip said...

Oh man, I'm so jealous! That looks like so much funnnnnnnn!

5:57 PM  
Blogger Hann said...

And you didn't invite me!??
Same here, I'm totally jealous, that looks like my kinda fun!!

Hey, I got an interesting post re schooling up, some (shocking to me)info I found in my uni studies, I'd like you to comment too. (see I invite you!)

6:40 PM  
Blogger Mike said...

Now that is a cool field trip! Way to go

6:38 AM  
Anonymous HoorayForSaturday said...

Looks and sounds like an amazing time was had by all.
Isn't that where Evel Knievel tried to jump across in some crazy jet cycle?
Yes, I'm old.

7:58 PM  

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