Week 186: Spokane, WA
Aug. 21 - 27, 2022
Sunday, we did not do much today. I wanted to do a little shopping so I did that while Elard chilled at the house. I didn't find anything interesting. We ended the day with a visit to the casino next door for dinner. We enjoyed some excellent Asian food and walked around the casino floor for a minute. The minimum bet limits were much better here than the last time we were in Vegas but we still didn't play any of the games. We ended the day with some more Cowboy Channel. The Gooding Rodeo has a group that sits at the rail and gives out "scores". The highest score is "Beer Worthy" LOL. And if you get that score, they will hand you a beer! If you are of age of course. Tooo funny.
Monday, we got a bit of a slow start, okay, I got a slow start LOL. We tried to visit the Spokane Raceway Park Museum but we couldn't even find it. The Truck/Sign is there but there were only businesses there and the last review on Google was three years ago soooo. Elard put together a scenic overlook Google map around the area. It didn't take long but they did showcase the natural beauty of the area. The Spokane river valley is very pretty. There are miles and miles of hiking, biking, and kayaking trails and places to fish in the area. As a matter of fact the Centennial Trail goes 60 miles to Coeur D'Alene! The Riverside State Park has a beautiful swinging bridge. It was a great day to enjoy the views from the air conditioning. We got home to the smell of beef roast in the crockpot, added a little broccoli salad as a side, yuumm. We ended the day by streaming the House of Dragons...not as good as Game of Thrones but watchable...I wish G.R.R. Martin would just F(&^%$# finish the books!
Tuesday, we made our own architecture tour. Elard found a listing of historic Craftsman style homes and created a Google driving map of them. I do love the craftsman style. In the middle of the area there was a Japanese garden that was so pretty. Nearby the Japanese garden there was a rose garden and conservatory. So pretty, I loved the formal garden and could almost imagine Jane Austen characters strolling among the flowers. Next we stopped at Walmart to get our fishing licenses and a waterproof camera to take out on the river on our fishing and float trips. We visited the Historic Flight Museum next. They have about a dozen aircraft in the 1930s - 1950s era and this is another museum where all the aircraft are flyable. It was a cool little museum. We needed to kill a little time before the restaurant we want to try opened, so we drove over to the park where we start our fishing trip. Finally, we arrived at the restaurant Anthony's at Spokane Falls, still a little early but that gave me time to open the new camera and get it started charging. The restaurant is at the foot of the upper Spokane Falls and it would be hard to find a better view. The food was very good too, a little pricey so we couldn't go here often but definitely special occasion worthy. There was even a dinner show...well it was between a couple and a couple of older ladies and I don't think anyone won. There are rednecks everywhere LOL.
Wednesday, what a fun day, even though it started earlier than I'm used. We met our fishing guide, Marc Fryt of Fly Fish Spokane, at 7:30 am. He had a drift boat all outfitted and ready for us to hit the Spokane river. Right in the middle of Spokane! Our put in point was no more than 1 mile from the downtown area and Riverfront Park where the World's Expo was held in 1974. Marc was soooo patient. He taught us how to cast with the fly rods (THAT is going to take some practice) and Elard caught a cut throat trout almost right away... I caught the anchor! Next, Elard caught a Redband trout... I caught a stick! The river was very pretty to float down. We spent the next few hours casting and Elard caught a few more fish. We stopped for lunch at a rocky beach area. It was some simple sandwiches but that is all we needed. We met up with one of the other Fly Fish Spokane guides, Ethan, and his client John at the lunch spot and enjoyed a little camaraderie. Back on the water Elard took the rear seat so I could take a turn in the front. There is certainly less obstruction to casting in the front. I also started catching fish LOL. We didn't really keep count of how many but we did keep Marc busy maneuvering the boat and netting the fish. It was all catch and release where we were fishing so we didn't get to keep any to cook, Not that they were really big enough. We ended the fishing part in some flat water where a bald eagle was keeping an eye on us. He sat and watched us float by then took off to another tree down stream of us. We were off the water around 2:30 and I was amazed how fast the time went by. I think we need to go buy our own rods now. We got home around 4 and we both enjoyed a cold beer and a nap, LOL. I posted the video of the eagle on Facebook.
Thursday, we enjoyed a beautiful river tube float today. The temperature was just about perfect in the mid-80s and the water was cold! The frisbees "paddles" worked like a charm. They made staying out of the trees MUCH easier. We had a bunch of people ask us what they were for as we made our way down to the river so I am sure there will be a run on frisbees now. It took us 1.5 hours to make the 3 mile float. A beautiful day.
Friday, we went shopping for fly rods! Our first stop was Swede's Fly Shop. It was also the last stop because the owner, Allen, fixed us up with everything we needed to get started. He also said that he uses our guide Marc to provide fishing trips for his customers too. As soon as we got home I set my new rod up with a chunk of yarn as the "fly" and went outside to practice casting. The wind was pretty cooperative. this casting is way different than spinning reels. I have a hard time with stopping the cast on the forward stroke. Practice should help. The park's security guard stopped to say hi, I had to make the joke that nothing was biting. I spent about 30 minutes practicing casting. Watching lots of fly fishing videos.
Saturday, no practicing today, the wind in gusting to 30 mph! So we just chilled and finished laundry. We went back to La Presa Mexican restaurant for dinner. Their salsa is very good. It has been a great two weeks here in Spokane.
Make Life An Adventure!
