For the inner adventurer

Floating on an inner tube just got more exciting in Spokane Valley.

The Cannon Bowl, a red and white contraption visible from Interstate 90 at Splash-Down Water Park, opened Monday to the approving yelps of a steady stream of children waiting to be launched clockwise into its gushing fiberglass basin.

“I think it’s probably the best one they have,” said Travis Chulos, 13, tube in hand, as he waited for his next ride.

Perched high on a hill above the freeway, a lifeguard pushes riders into a gurgling tunnel. A sharp left turn angles unsuspecting bodies up the slick walls, in the dark, just before a drop that elicits shrieks and howls from more riders than not.

“You feel like you’re flying,” said 10-year-old Connor Odle, dripping as he scrambled to get in line again.

The enormous peppermint-looking bowl catches riders from the tube and spins them against its walls for as many rotations as they have momentum. Once out of oomph, between 3,500 and 4,000 gallons of water per minute push the tubes around the bottom and through another short slide and into a shallow pool.

“We wanted to do something that was unique and something that hasn’t been done in the area,” said Geoff Kellogg, who owns the park with his wife, Melissa.

The slide finally opened after four months of construction and delays.

The attraction, which he said cost upward of $500,000, is the park’s first new slide since it opened in 1983.

Splash-Down is open seven days a week, weather permitting. Admission is $13.50 for those 12 and over, $11.50 for riders 4 to 11 and free for children 3 and under.