7/13 - Spokane's Parks

I took the picture below on our way into Spokane this morning because it looks so much like the view of Asheville coming into town on Patton Avenue with Sunset Mountain in the background.  There are lots more buildings here, of course, with a population 2 ¼ times that of Asheville (roughly 213,000 vs 90,000).  The picture is deceiving as the two cities really look nothing alike.  

Spokane is tough to get around because of the traffic and all the road construction going on.  Chantelle says they have two seasons:  winter and construction.  Traffic patterns apparently change regularly as streets are switched from two-way to one-way (and maybe back again?).  Out-of-town drivers are totally confused.  There’s also a law in Washington that if someone’s turn signal flashes twice you HAVE to let them in or you’re in violation of the law.   Makes me wonder how many other traffic laws we don’t know about.  Probably lots.

This morning we picked up Gabe and went to Manito Park, a beautiful series of gardens in the city of Spokane.  The various areas include specialty gardens with roses, lilacs, a classical garden, a Japanese garden and a great little conservatory.

Japanese Garden in Manito Park.  The color of the pond’s water is really that green.  Kind of weird.

Gabe and Val in front of the Classical Garden which is similar to the Italian Garden at Biltmore.

Riverside Park on Spokane’s north side includes this very popular area on the Spokane River called the Bowl & Pitcher.  The rocks on the right side across the river look like a pitcher (on left) and bowl (on right).  These are the same as the basaltic rocks which crop up all over the city.

I have no idea what we’re doing tomorrow (other than going to the commissary and taking care of some RV chores).  If we don’t come up with anything interesting enough to relate I won’t email again until Friday.