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Walking Spokane
Spokane, WA |
Spokane, WA
The rain clouds began lifting early this morning as we headed out to spend our last full day visiting Spokane, WA. As a special treat for winning the get-acquainted bingo game on Sunday, I got to eat breakfast in the owner’s nook with two old friends and traveling companions, Thelma Yasuhara and Bob Peterson. Fabulous view and really comfy chairs.
Spokane is about 30 miles west of Coeur d’Alene and most people remember it as the site of Expo ’74–it’s the smallest city ever to host a World’s Fair. After the fair Riverfront Park was built on the same site. Most of our walk would be along the many trails in the park, including the Spokane River Centennial Trail which runs all the way to Lake Coeur d’Alene.
Entering the park from downtown Spokane, you come upon the bronze statues of runners. The group is called The Joy of Running Together, and was done by artist David Godevare, who created the wild horses mentioned in an earlier entry.
Our walking trail wound through the park and across the river to the Gonzaga University campus. We made a brief stop at the Jundt Art Center on campus to view their collection of glass art by Washington’s Dale Chihuly. Our second stop was at the home of Bing Crosby, who grew up in Spokane and attended Gonzaga for a few years.
From Gonzaga we crossed back to the other side of the river for great views of the Spokane Falls.
After finishing the walk and getting some lunch, we drove up to Manito Park, famous for its gardens. The rose gardens were being sprayed with something nasty, so we spent most of our time in the dahlia gardens, the conservatory, and the Duncan Garden.
Manito Park was designed by the famous Olmsted brothers who did Central Park in New York. The name is an Algonquian word for Spirit of Nature. The Duncan Garden is a formal European garden. The conservatory has two parts, one holding desert plants and the other tropical plants.
Returning to Coeur d’Alene, we all got gussied up for our farewell dinner. WAI is not usually a very formal group, so we were all surprised when we walked in the door of our banquet hall to find a red carpet lined with WAI staffers in formal dress applauding our grand entrance!
The evening’s entertainment included hilarious interviews with the North Idaho “ancestors” of the WAI mascot, Walking Willy. After dinner Dan and Scott presented the Willie Awards, a takeoff on the Oscars. Award categories included folks still Volkswalking in their 80s, people who have traveled to all seven continents with WAI, and a special “costume” award for my old friend Donna Silver. Donna’s luggage was lost on the way to Spain several years ago, and although the rest of us finally got our suitcases a week after we arrived, hers didn’t show up until two weeks after she got home!
After a last breakfast with old friends I left for the drive back to Portland. There are several different ways to do this drive, and all have their attractions. As usual I decided to go somewhere I’ve never been before. Leaving I-90 at Ritzville, WA I drove off into the middle of nowhere to Palouse Falls State Park near Washtucna, WA. Rolling wheat fields gradually give way to the “channeled scablands” of eastern Washington, created by volcanic and glacial activity.
Geologist J. Harlen Bretz wrote in the 1920s about his theory that this lunar-looking landscape was created by the massive Missoula Floods back in the Pleistocene era. Enormous Lake Missoula occasionally broke through its ice dam and released its waters to scour out these bizarre rock formations and change the course of the Columbia River. Other scientists thought he was crazy at the time, but his theory is widely accepted today.
Sign of the times–Washington State Parks have had their budgets cut severely. Don’t know if this problem is a budget issue or drought-related.
Andrea Travels 