Our Road Trips

6/14/14

We spent Friday the 13th traveling to & from Spokane, WA, which is about an hour away. On the way we took a scenic route on the Idaho side which also took us through 2-3 little towns and then a ride into Spokane on I-90. It was a fun ride, and included several side trips through small towns and even a Huckleberry milk shake that Barb let my share with her (pretty tasty). Small town America is always a fun adventure, as people with an imagination, not too much of a budget, and time on their hands, try to place their stamp on their hometown. We also rode through an area that most folks would not view as 'nice', but literally 100's of folks had attempted to turn into their idea of a 'Resort'. Cheap cabins, trailers & campsites piled like cord-wood around a little lake, so they could drive their boats in circles and try not to run over the neighbors. It was pretty amazing. But we looked in awe and moved on. NW Idaho is an amazing place.

So is Spokane. It is spread out into a huge area, seemingly with not too much planning. Houses set between 2 businesses, lots of non synchronized traffic lights & one way streets. The main exit from downtown was US 2, lined with businesses with driveways connected to the street and a stop light every block...we must have hit 20 or more that were red. It took forever to get out of town. We realize it is probably the 2nd biggest metro area in Washington, but the planners were clearly asleep during the time they were supposed to be at work...what a mess. Downtown is centered on the 1974 Expo Park, that looks the same as it did 40 years ago. But there is some new construction, but mostly it looks like 1974...we saw the pictures.

We found a parking spot & went to the Riverside Park, which is 100 acres of grass, paths, buildings & the Spokane River Falls as the river slices through town. The train driver said it was a very ugly place before the great upgrade happened prior to the Expo...when they made it nice. Then they forgot about it. The day before was the last day of school, so our guess that Friday, being a workday, it would be quiet, was not correct. Seems a lot of parents had taken the day off and were giving their kids a day in the park as a reward for finishing their school year. We stood in line and bought a ticket, and it included a Skyride over the falls, a ride on a train, a carousal and a visit to the I-Max theater, today showing a film about the Lemurs of Madagascar...how interesting :/. But we took all the rides and sat through about 1/2 of the movie and went across the bridge to eat an early dinner (happy hour was in effect) in an old flour mill on the banks of the river that had been turned into an office/retail/eating establishment. The view of the river was nice, the food was fine, and the wedding party gathering for dinner was the entertainment. We walked back to our car through an almost vacant park at 445 on a Friday afternoon. The parking lot was mostly empty too...they were all on US 2 on the way north...lol. But we enjoyed a nice, mostly quiet day visiting Spokane.

We lit a fire, and sat down to talk about our day and make plans for the next week, to only have it start raining. We moved under the awning until it stopped. It didn't rain enough to affect the fire much. We waited for the fire to burn down and then watched some NCIS episodes. Nice way to end the day.

Two other subjects we need to mention. Peggy (my oldest sister) went home from the hospital yesterday after almost a week's stay. Her doctors have given her a new way to get her medication 24/7 directly to her heart through a port near her collar bone...sounds fun, eh? But that is the only way...keep her in your thoughts. She is living every day one day at a time. We hope she can make a trip to Upper Peninsula of Michigan with the rest of her family...she deserves that pleasure.

The other is that the entire rest of our family is on the road starting today on a trip to Yellowstone and back. This includes both of Barb's sisters & their kids & grand kids, our two kids & Dan & our two grand kids, all 12 of our family minus our 2 brothers in law...please hope for safe travels for them all. They will be on the road for 2+ weeks. Thank you.

Today is get ready for Coeur D'Alene day. It is raining so that works good...nice reason to just stay inside. The campground is not full like we expected, so we will do a few things we were planning to do on Monday. Monday we move back south to meet the group we will be leaving for Alaska with on Thursday morning.

Steve & Barb Larson