Weekend in Spokane

July 15th, 2007

We spent the weekend in Spokane, visiting family and enjoying the 100 degree weather. My brother Jonathan and his family are in town, so we went on a walk, kicked the soccer ball around, and gawked at David's sweet computer. On Saturday we went to Hauser Lake, one of several beautiful lakes scattered around Spokane's East Valley near my parent's house. Hauser is on the Idaho side of the border, which means it's free where other lakes like Newman require a Washington permit. We had Jon and Stephanie's three plus my two boys. Kayla was up here coordinating a river float for her church group. We swam around and took turns on the tube with Grandpa towing in his little fishing boat.

After lunch I convinced David to hit the Spokane River with me. The water was perfect and the rapids were excellent. We took turns piloting my kayak with the other person on a tube behind. It worked fairly well, though some the rapids were tricky with the two craft tied together. We did wreck several times. Dipping into the water was just beautiful in contrast to the heat of the sun. It was the first time that I've floated the entire stretch from Harvard Road down to Sullivan Road.

With the persistent heat we've officially moved down into our basement. The temperature is about 85 upstairs and something around 70 underground. Our lawn is really taking a beating... there's no way to keep up with the watering with our very low water pressure. The city has promised increased pressure but the project was delayed, and I'm not sure when that will happen. I have to water everything at least every other day to avoid parching... and that includes three garden areas and who knows how many soaker hoses, sprinklers, and flowerpots. I'll be glad when it cools off!