Spokane, WA

On July 19th we loaded up two vehicles and headed to Jump Off Joe Lake. It is above Loon Lake and about 37 miles North of Spokane along highway 395. We should have taken the boat but my son in law wanted to check it out before hauling the boat along.

We packed a picnic lunch and threw in pillows, a couple of chairs and swim suits. It was a beautiful day and we had pleasant drive. Normally we go to church Saturdays but right now we are between churches and seeking but we took along our bibles as well. I took my camera along to in case I might get in some interesting shots of wildlife or flowers.

We got to the area and there were no picnic tables but the was a nice big pine tree with lots of shade and a place to spread our blankets and set up chairs. There was a place to launch a boat and some shallow wading areas for the children to play in the water. The area was full of dragonflies of varied colors and red winged blackbirds and loons. We even saw a bald eagle in the distance and a covey of quail came across the road.

After a nice lunch and a children’s bible story and appling ample sun-screen they ran to play in the water and search for pretty pebbles and play in the sand. They had a lot of fun and had brought along a couple of balls to play with in the water as well.

After some adult bible study I went down to take a swim in the lake. It was a bit weedy at first but once I got out past the water weeds the swim was warm and quite pleasant and my son in law determined we would bring along two boats next time one a small row boat we can hook to the larger motor boat and tow. That way we could swim or fish and relax next time we go and bring along floating devices and life jackets for the kids.

My husband walked along with my camera and took shots of some of the wild life and later I took a photo of a loon on the lake. We really had a pleasant time. There are sanitary chemical toilets nearby for use. We suspect the few picnic tables that were supposed to be there had been pilfered by others but it was a very nice and pleasant day over all and we plan to return later this summer with the boats and spend a longer day there.