Spokane, Washington

Tuesday morning we went with Logan to drop him off at pre-school.  I love that they serve espresso!

That's Logan in the front not wanting to pose for a picture.

We left from there on our way over to Spokane in Eastern Washington.  We stopped about halfway there for lunch in a little nothing town.  Not expecting much, we actually had a couple great reuben sandwiches at a really cute little hole in the wall bistro.  Love this sign, so true!

Wednesday morning we went over to Liberty Lake on the East side of Spokane to take a look at our condo.  This is the back side, ours is the middle unit.

This is the view (more or less) from the lower level.

With the business part of the trip out of the way, we moved on to some sightseeing in downtown Spokane. 

We met up with Bill, Stu's old friend and ex-coworker from Japan.  He's from Spokane and gave us a tour of the city.

The Spokane River Falls are Spokane's finest natural attraction, as well as the heart of Riverfront Park, located in the core of Spokane.

The Spokane River flows from Lake Coeur d'Alene to Lake Roosevelt and the Spokane Falls are perhaps the most dramatic transition along the 111 mile run.

In 1974 Spokane hosted Exposition '74, "The World's Fair".  

The day started out overcast, but we did get lots of sunshine later in the day.

Named "One of the Top 12 Scenic Cable rides in the World" in 2013 by Conde Nast Traveler, the SkyRide Over the Falls offers spectacular views of the second longest urban falls in the United States.

There are several sculptures through Riverfront park, this one is call "The joy of running together".

This steel sculpture depicts runners of all kinds.  It celebrates the Spokane tradition of Bloomsday, the largest  timed road running race in the world.

 

The Riverfront Rotary Fountain has 5 stainless steel columns that are 24 feet tall.  These support a 30 foot diameter ring containing 40 overhead jets.  The jets spray towards the middle of the fountain producing a dome of water and a waterfall in the fountain' center.  Eight geysers shoot water upwards.  the fountain also has dozens of mist jets, and the 5 boulders have jets that spray sideways.

Riverfront Park's 1909 Looff Carrousel is on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of America's most beautiful and well preserved hand-carved wooden carrousels.

I thought this was neat...Canadian geese with the Canadian bench.

This was the US pavilion during the World's Fair.

Stu and Bill with the "Garbage Goat".

The Garbage Goat in Riverfront Park was designed by Sister Paula Turnbull, a Catholic nun for the Expo in 1974 as a recycling/environment statement.

This steel sculpture of a goat will eat small pieces of trash with the aid of its vacuum digestive system. 

The Clocktower on Havemale Island was originally part of the Great Northern Railroad Depot.  Construction began in 1901 and finished in 1902.  The depot was an impressive brick building 3 stories tall, with the monumental Clocktower standing in at 155 feet.

This 110 year old "giant grandfather clock" is wound by hand once a week.  The clockworks are housed in a small room behind the 4 clock faces.  Each week, a technician climbs 5 stories to reach the clockworks. It takes 99 turns of the crank to rewind the clock.

During 1872 and 1973, long after the "glory days" of train travel, the Great Northern Railroad Depot was demolished as Spokane made preparations for Expo 74.  the Clocktower was able to be preserved and serves as a reminder of Spokane's railroad history.

If you look closely at the East and West walls (about halfway up) you will see a sloping line where the roof was originally located.

Canada Island, known as Crystal Island prior tot he World's Fair, was the location of the first water pumping plant in 1884.  The main occupant of the island was the Crystal Laundry and Water Works, you can still see the brick remains.   

After the Fair the island was renamed Canada Island.  A group of Canadian Indians were part of the group who came from Canada to participate in Expo 74.  

While they were here they built two Totem Poles.  We called this one the "Rock em, Sock em" totem...

The scenery was amazing to me, not at all what I picture when I think of Washington.

We took a detour on the way back to visit the Grand Coulee Dam.

It's a gravity dam on the Columbia River built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation. 

It was constructed between 1933 and 1942, originally with two power plants.  A third power station was completed in 1974 to increase its energy production.

It is the largest electric power production facility in the US and one of the largest concrete structures in the world!

Lots more pictures...  I was driving and told Stu just to keep snapping and that I would pick and choose later...  so there are a lot!

Now we are going through the pass... This is what I picture Washington to look like.