North

Spokane is located in eastern Washington along the Spokane River and by the Selkirk mountains. It’s 279 east of Seattle, 92 miles south of the Canadian border and about a 7 hour drive north of Boise. More importantly to me, it’s only a direct one hour flight from Boise.

Remember the old joke about how to eat an elephant? One bite at a time. I think that’s how I’m exploring the Northwest. One bite at a time gives me more time to savor each morsel, each moment. It’s more real.

I get little butterflies in my stomach at the first sight of a new place. And Spokane did not disappoint. While I did not explore the amazing restaurant scene, I did drive around the various neighborhoods and after a Google search drove up to High Drive. The route took me up a series of steep ribbon like hills - almost like San Francisco - to a lovely drive through neighborhoods on one side and beautiful scenery on the other. I couldn’t safely get a pick of the city view as I drove back down the hills - but it was amazing.

When you travel a lot and use the same hotel chain, you get certain perks that become part of your routine - such as the greeting on the TV and your upgraded room at a comfortable temperature. You also tend to recognize fellow travelers and enjoy greeting them. It’s nice to speak to someone who understands the life and a pleasure to meet up with them.

On Tuesday, I got the opportunity I’ve been waiting for - a chance to see Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. It’s about 40 minutes from Spokane. I keep hearing how gorgeous it is and it did not disappoint. I can’t wait to go back and explore some more. I took the Lakeshore drive to see some of the lake and them wound my way up to Potlatch Hill Drive. There’s a small turn off where you can park and walk a little way for some incredible views. There was also a sign there about bald eagles. I didn’t see any but later learned that hundreds of them appear in the winter when it gets colder in Canada. I’m definitely coming back for that. They have a boat ride you can take in the lake to see them flying around and hunting! Thank goodness for tips from the local because I never would have known about that or about Priest Lake which is much less developed and even more beautiful. More things to go on my bite list. 😜

You can also see from some of the brown grass how easy fires could burn here with the amount of vegetation below tree level. I was sorry to say goodbye here and wished I’d had more time to explore. Still, just an afternoon of breathing up high and outdoors charged my battery. So gorgeous.

Friday morning before I left, I drove to Riverfront Park in Spokane and spent a very peaceful hour walking through some of the park, enjoying the sunshine and listening to the falls. It was a fantastic way to wind down the week before I flew home. The lower falls look out toward part of the city and are separated from the upper falls by the power plant.

There are several bridges that go across the river where you can get some nice views of the falls, the park and the pretty amphitheater. Riverfront park was also the site of a World’s Fair.

In the park I used my handy plant identification app to spot Narrowleaf Milkweed and Western White Clematis vine. I love having this app to help me learn about native plants or trees I find appealing.

Lots of fun discoveries this week. Next week I have another new adventure. Oh yeah and work too!

As always, thanks for reading!

Gypsy Jules