Could Be Spokane Ahead!

Could be Spokane Ahead

Four days off, might as well make it a vacation. All a vacation is, is time off from work right? There doesn’t have to be a great, exotic destination. So we might as well treat our 4 days in Spokane as a vacation, it’s all in your attitude about what you are doing anyhow. So here we are off to our great summer vacation.

Road trip, this involves music, junk food, and lots of stops. Leaving at noon from Newberg to head to Spokane, not the quick start we hoped for but no worries and no stress. We chose to not stop at Stump Town in lovely down town Portland like we usually do, because we now brew our own special Ethiopian coffee, supporting Peter and Amy all the way. We grabbed our travel mugs and set off.

We had to put the Michael Jacksons greatest hits CD in first because today is the first anniversary of his death. It set a great tone to start the trip. All singing along and enjoying it kept Edik’s nose out of the DS until after Multnomah Falls.

We stopped at the fish hatchery for a break, walking around we saw lots of fry salmon growing and getting ready to be released. It was odd for us to see all the flowers in bloom, and feel the warm breeze from the river, and to see the long cement tanks full of water. Our usual visit is in the fall after the fish have left and we have done the Fruit Loop.

Soon after our first stop we decided to cross the river at Cascade Locks on the Bridge of the Gods. The one dollar trip took us over the river. I popped out the sun roof snapped several photos as Andy took them out the side window. Once into Washington, we went through Stevenson, slowly, I of course wanted to stop, but the guys couldn’t understand me so we drove on. Brian took us up to Skamania Lodge where he has had several conferences, I have never been able to attend with him, but after seeing the lodge I think I might make a stronger effort.

We crossed back over to Oregon at Hood River, stopping in at Cousins and sharing a nice plate of pot roast and biscuits. We used my Droid to give the restaurant a good review. It is a fun place, they welcome you buy saying, “welcome cousins”. We love the taste of the food, the friendly waitresses, and the rustic atmosphere.
We crossed back over to Washington at Biggs Junction, so that we could go to the Maryhill Museum. The peacocks were beautiful and tame as we approached the mansion. The 1920 stone building was built as Samuel Hills home, but a bad real estate investment kept him from living there, and he donated it to hold his friend Queen Marie of Romania’s house hold furnishings and some of her trinkets. Rodin’s sculptures were downstairs, they were incredible, sculpture was his forte’ no doubt because his drawings left much to the imagination. The display of chess sets spanned the globe. We saw one from Alaska, China, Japan, India and even the Congo. The Native American display of woven baskets, beading and tools was fascinating. But the Papoose packs confused Edik; he thought they were large shoes.

Once we got to the “Tri-Cities” we bailed at the KFC/A&W so that we could have a break and get a root beer float. Good choice! From this point on out it was flat dull driving. Andy kept pestering his brother who had escaped into his John Wayne movies to alleviate his boredom. So finally I dug out of the glove box some of the old CD’s that Andy and Peter had mixed when they were in their early teens, instantly we were enjoying ourselves again, singing at the top of our lungs.

Once in Spokandy, as I like to call it, because Andy lives here, we found Andy’s room in disarray because his friend had been staying here; quickly getting it in order we made space in the walk-in closet for Edik to bed down, sanitized the bathroom and set our stuff in order. The computers are set up, the phones and camera batteries are charging all to be ready to record tomorrow’s great exploration.