Second impressions of Spokane

 It's hard to believe that our life in the Pacific Northwest is over. We spent two years in one of the most spectacular places in America and I miss is already. 

I already posted of my first impressions of Spokane. We spent the first day or two running around town and I was amazed by all the little coffee huts. We had one in Grand Rapids, MI, but I always thought it was strange. Now I think it was probably some PNWite who missed home.

But we didn't wait long after arriving to take a trip to Mount Spokane State Park. This would become a favorite part of our life, hiking in the park and hitting Green Bluff on the way. I can't remember if we stopped at GB this day, but we did go up at least once a week for the first month, sometimes twice a week.

 Our first big hike was Mt. Kit Carson. Remember that I had really only hiked one mountain before and it was Harney Peak. Kit Carson is a bit shorter, but I think we began lower. It was a beautiful day, as you can see, and my husband hiked barefoot as usual.

We saw lots of plants we didn't recognize, including what turned out to be Huckleberries! We returned several times that fall and got about a pint on one trip. We saw wild animal tracks and had read the warnings about bear, moose, and mountain lion. We never saw anything more dangerous than a woodpecker in all our hikes there.

The first hike, we only made it two miles, but we reached the summit on the second hike. It amazed us how quickly everything gets dark even in August if you are on a mountain.

 This is the top. The view was spectacular. We enjoyed our hike so much that at the end of our PNW life, hiking Kit Carson was on the bucket list. We made it to the top twice in the first month of being Washingtonians and then again the last week. I was pregnant in between and you can't hike in Winter, so our chances were limited. Still, I think it was an accomplishment.

There were also very friendly chipmunks at the peak. They must be fed by people often because they were little beggars and not afraid to get within an inch of us.

Here is the view.

 Proof that I was there. I find that I have the camera about ninety percent of the time, so I feel like I have to convince people that it was me! I was really there! Must be some damage from my childhood because people just smile and nod as I get worked up over proving my presence. 

But, SEE! I was there! I swear it! I'm not photo shopped! That is really me!

And my wonderful husband.

 My mother wanted me to describe what Spokane was like, so I took her on a photo tour. I biked along the Centennial Trail, which ran right out in front of our apartment, through downtown, and all the way to Idaho in the other direction. Here are a few of the things I noted in Spokane. I am not going to caption all of them, just feast your eyes and start making plans to visit.

I will note that up until that point, Spokane was the smallest place I had ever lived, population-wise. I am now in a place about 30% as large, so I am dealing with the downsizing. But for being only a medium size city, Spokane has some really nice art and architecture. They also had the world's fair in 1974 (the year I was born, so it is easy to remember) and have some lovely things from that event. 

Have a look!

Our apartment is about half a mile up river on the right. And that is Mt Spokane in the top center and Kit Carson just to the left. Did I make you want to go to Washington? I hope so. I miss it dearly.