Tag Archives: Pullman

The Dunes near Pullman

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The Dunes near Pullman, WA is a recreational student hangout and a lot of fun. Dear daughter and I went on a hot day just prior to school’s beginning. It wasn’t at all what I expected. It was about 40 minutes away from the dorms and there was a big, switchback hill involved. To get to the Dunes, which are actually in the small town of Pomeroy, the county seat and the only town in Garfield County. You have to actually cross the Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River. The crossing itself was a surprise. I pulled up to the gate and the uniformed attendant wrote down my license number, then I was allowed to pull all the way up and he asked the nature of our visit (fun!) and if we had firearms (no!). We were told the speed limit on the dam was 15 miles per hour except where it was 5 mph and under no circumstance should we get out of the car or take photos/videos. Well, ok. The crossing itself was more like going through a work site, which I guess it is. The gate on the other side opened automatically. In doing some research, I see this over the dam road was actually closed for six years after 911, so I guess we are lucky to have the option at all. Obviously I have no photos, but here is a link to the Wikipedia entry. Here is the link from the US Army Corps of Engineers.

If you go to visit, be aware that the dam closes at 5 and then you have to go the long way home. And good luck with that since your phone won’t have reception!

So, back to the Dunes. There is a decent parking lot, a walk through the hilly sand (wear shoes the sand gets hot!) and then a large beach area which was fairly full. There were some enthusiastic college students playing and having a time and while I didn’t see drinking or drunkenness, I won’t have been surprised. But really, not a concern. The way the river flows in that area, one can walk out to almost 1/2 way across and be up to one’s waist. See those rocks in the top photo? They are people! And then there is an obvious drop. As much as I’d like to have actually gone swimming, I just wasn’t too sure about the drop. Nobody else crossed the line and I was worried about the current. Next time I’ll bring a floaty though, that looked like fun.

So, all in all it was a lovely way to spend a summer day and I got to visit with my daughter. After going back through the gated dam, we got back into town and then went to a movie and then out for ice cream. Really, what more could one want?

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Leonard Barn, Pullman

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While visiting dear daughter over Spring Break, I had a rare day to myself and decided to go find the historic Leonard barn. So I stopped at the WSU visitor center and they told me where it is (they were so nice). I drove a long ways on a kind of paved road and missed it, but ended up in Moscow, ID. While there I asked their visitor center where it was. They were really nice too. After spending some quality time in Moscow, I went back on the long, kind of paved road and this time I actually found the barn! I would have guess that it was in Pullman or unincorporated Whitman County, but documentation shows it in Colfax.

The Leonard Barn, is located on Old Moscow Road. It was built in 1917 and restored in 2001. Originally built to house cows, horses, hay and grain, and the owner was a farmer/educator.  The restoration included replacing the cupola that was blown off during a windstorm. The barn isn’t actually round, but instead it is a twelve sided polygon. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 and the nomination form is here.

 

WSU Bear Research, Education, and Conservation Center

IMG_3829Washington State University in Pullman has a Bear Research, Education and Conservation Center that I finally got to visit when I dropped dear daughter off for her next year of college. We got to see five (maybe six) grizzly bears in their enclosures. I was hoping to see them in their larger, outdoor area (and it would have made for a better photo), but not this time. Bears that are capable of living in the wild are not situated at the center. It was a real treat to see the bears at such a close range and I couldn’t help but to notice that other people would stop by the center to spend a little time with them. More information can be found here.

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Ferdinand’s Ice Cream Shoppe

 

IMG_3846 Continuing my back and forth posting, here is the Washington State University’s famous Ferdinand’s Ice Cream Shoppe. I felt lucky to be able to go since they are only open Monday through Friday. While there I had a small vanilla and a sample of the delicious Cougar Gold Cheese. I loved being about to sit down and enjoy my ice cream while watching the workers make the cheese. There website is here.

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Technicolor Heart, Washington State University

heartJim Dine’s Technocolor Heart presides over the corner of Stadium Way and Grimes Way on the Washington State University (WSU) campus in Pullman, WA. The sculpture had been away from campus for part of 2011 and when it was reinstalled, it faced a different direction! Dine is a prolific artist in various medians with hearts being a common theme. Per the Guggenheim, Jim Dine lives in New York, Paris, and Walla Walla, Washington. There is an interview with him here. heart2 heart close up