Palouse Falls, Washington

As our Pacific Northwest road trip continued between Spokane and Portland, I brought up the idea of heading off the interstate to find Palouse Falls in Washington. About a week before our road trip kicked off I saw a picture of the falls online and became curious about whether we could make it happen. I did a bit of research and realized that it would only be about an hour or two out of our way to see them. In the end, Palouse Falls were well worth the detour, and Mike and I had a lot of fun exploring the site.

We left the main trail that faced the falls to walk closer to the edges of the cliffs and see Palouse Falls from above. Some of the vantage points were fairly precarious, and Mike was more eager to test his luck than I was, but I captured some amazing shots of the falls and surrounding cliffs. 

What's amazing about the location is that the surrounding landscape looks like fairly common prairie, so the reveal is fairly dramatic when drive down to enter the canyon along the river. You then walk up to the edge of the cliff to see this 198 foot waterfall spilling into this picturesque basin with people swimming below. It was an awesome surprise, and completely surpassed my expectations.

This post was featured on Washington State Park's official blog, Adventure Awaits! You can see that post here.

Me taking Mike's picture from the far side closest the falls.

Mike taking my picture from the other side.

My view looking down from where I snapped Mike's picture.

This is the view right above Palouse Falls.

Evergreen Aviation Museum: Part 1

Located in McMinnville, Oregon, the Evergreen Aviation Museum (in addition to the Space Museum) features some incredible aircraft spanning over a century of flight. While the entire collection is absolutely amazing, the main draw is obviously Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose. Mike and I drove down from Portland and we probably could have spent the entire day touring this place if we didn't have other plans. This museum is a must see if you're ever visiting the area.