Day 1 in Spokane

Red Lion River Inn

Sleeping in is a rare privilege.  After finally turning in at 3:57 AM body time, (12:57 PM PST) I felt like it was worth it to sleep till about 9:30.  My body has adjusted to the time lag and hooray!  We're ready to go see the town of Spokane.

After a good breakfast buffet at the Red Lion River Inn, we set out to walk to the Visitor Center to find some things to do.  Michael and I have often used this strategy when we travel.  The folks we find there are always helpful and pretty soon we have a full itinerary.  Our helper this time, found us some maps and made some great suggestions.

We've decided to rent a car and head southwest tomorrow morning to the great Columbia River Gorge.  We'll leave as early as we can get the car and return when we're tired of driving. On Wednesday we'll take the car northwest to the Grand Coulee Dam to see the sights and take a tour.  Wednesday evening the conference will begin, so we'll be back in time to return the car and attend the opening group sessions.

After leaving the Visitor Center, Michael and I made for the Post Office to pick up a few flat rate boxes and postage.  We'll ship any items we buy that we can't fit in our luggage for the trip home. We headed for Riverside Park just as it began to rain.

Riverside Park

I had forgotten my umbrella, so off we went on an umbrella hunt.  We wanted to walk through the park and look at the sights.  We found a sweet little game store called, Uncles Games.  I walked in and asked if they had any umbrellas for sale.  They had a costume umbrella that looked like a sword for 30 bucks so I passed.  Then to my amazement the young clerk went to a corner of the store and brought me a battered and worn golf umbrella and said, "Here you go.  Take mine."  I was a little dumfounded but I took the umbrella and gave him a 10 dollar bill, and walked away with a smile.  I'm pretty sure I'll return the umbrella before Sunday when I leave.

We walked to Riverside Park.  The colors were beautiful and Michael and I enjoyed walking and taking pictures.  The most famous sculpture in the park is the famous "Red Wagon."

We walked through the park and met up with friends, Gretchen Jensen and Judy Burnett at the very nice pub, Shenanigans.  We had a nice lunch and planned our Tuesday and Wednesday itinerary.  They agreed to join us on the trip and we're happy to split the cost of the rental car four ways.  It will be a very nice way to see the lay of the land.