Farewell to Coulee Dam (?)

Family Search's question for August 5 was: What were your most common childhood vacations like - road trips, visits to grandma's house, camping trips, weekends at the lake or the beach?

I'm going to use this question to talk about my family's most recent trip to Coulee Dam, Washington for my mom's family reunion; because it most likely was our last. My mom grew up there, and my grandparents still live there. I spent almost every summer there as a little girl. This trip was special because not only was it most likely my last time there (my grandparents are getting ready to sell their house), but also it was my first time taking Gerson and my kids there.

We stopped at my great-grandmother's house in Idaho like we always do. Gerson and Benjamin have been there before, but it was Luna's first time at her great-great-grandma's house. Since our family has grown over the years, we all couldn't fit in my grandparents' house. So half of us stayed at my grandparents' house, and half rented a vacation home at Banks Lake resort, which is nearby. My family slept at my grandparents' house, but all of us spent each day in the vacation house.

On the first day we kind of toured the Grand Coulee Dam. I use the words kind of because it's different from when I was a little girl. When I was little we used to be able to go inside and walk around with a guide. We also used to be able to drive across the top, stop, and get out and look over. Security has increased and what the general public can see has decreased over the years due to the influx of terrorism in the country and around the world.

The new tour puts us on a bus and drives us around the perimeter of the towns while we learn about the building of the dam and the affect on the environment and the local Native American tribes. We got to go in one part of the dam, go down the elevator to look at the giant pumps. Then they took us to a picture spot, and then the tour was over. We then ate dinner at our favorite restaurant The Siam Palace. My cousin Trisia was there. We haven't seen each other since my wedding! 7 years! It was so fun to spend time wit her again. After dinner we went to Crown Point to take a picture with the dam on top of the mountain, then we went to the visitor's center to watch a laser light show on the dam. It was a different show from when I was little, and I miss the old show.

The second day we rented a boat and spent the day at Banks Lake. The beach are was really small. Benjamin liked playing in the sand, and Luna liked floating in the water. On the boat ride Benjamin did great sitting on my dad's lap, but Luna wanted to run around and look over the side (don't worry, both were in life jackets); so by the end of the ride Luna was cranky from being restrained. During Luna's nap (my aunt who was tired stayed at the house with her), we went back on the boat to go tubing. It was Gerson's first time tubing, and he stayed on! They went slow for me since I was 19 weeks pregnant. My mom was going to take Benjamin with her for a slow ride, but he didn't want to. So then my mom tried skiing.

On the third and last day we went shopping for souvenirs for the first half, and swimming at Spring Canyon for the second half. Benjamin picked a toy ambulance and Luna picked a pink Hot Wheels car. I got a book about Chief Joseph and some earrings. We went to the tribal museum and looked through it and met a local artist.

Spring Canyon is a beach at Lake Roosevelt. Lake Roosevelt is actually apart of the Columbia River. It's the part behind the dam so it's deep and wide - which is why it's called a lake. The beach and the swimming are is much bigger than the one at Banks Lake, so we had a lot more fun. Benjamin and Luna were more comfortable going into deeper water and floated on their backs.

I'm not sure if I'll get to go back there, it could take my grandparents a while to get their house ready to sell, and even longer to sell it. It's not exactly a town people are dying to move to. But I'm glad I got to take my family this one time.