Spokane
By Tiger
Sunday, July 25, 2004
Fourth of July weekend found Donkey and I winging our way to Spokane, Washington, for a visit with his parents, Ruth and Charlie Justus. I had not met Ruth and Charlie before this trip, but welcomed me warmly and immediately whisked us away for a buffet lunch. By the end of the meal they had put me at ease and I already felt like part of the family.
We spent much of the trip just sitting around, talking. I had a chance to get to know Ruth and Charlie, and Bob had a chance to catch up on their latest news. Bob and his mom spent a lot of time in a successful attempt at getting the bugs out her computer.
On Saturday Charlie and Ruth gave us the tour of Artistic Spokane. We began with the Davenport Hotel, a remarkable turn-of-the-century hotel that has been recently restored to pristine condition. The hotel contains two amazing ballrooms sumptuously decorated in a style more reminiscent of Marie Antoinette's France than an Eastern Washington State agricultural town. A life-size bronze statue of the hotel's original owner sits on a bench in the fabulous lobby. We then went on to see the architecturally impressive Spokane County Courthouse. Finally, we drove by to meet Charlie's friend Tom Quinn, a Spokane artist who was busily at work on a mural he is painting on commission from the City.
The weather cooperated fully for the weekend and we spent a nice, warm Fourth of July that ended in a backyard picnic. We had to leave early the next morning, so we said our good-byes to Bob's parents that night.
The next morning dawned crystal clear. We flew a puddle jumper to Seattle and got a spectacular view of the Columbia River, Washington farmland and Cascade mountains. Then we saw the whole chain of Cascade volcanoes from Rainier south through Oregon on the flight from Seattle to California.
