Montana Drive - Day 8 - Spokane

Started late this morning, nothing much on the agenda. Went for breakfast at the Incrediburger place next door. Had a bowl of potatoes, eggs with toast. Really tasty bread. Came back and had tea at the hotel and then laid down for a while.

Reflection Pool

Left around 10 am for Manito garden. It was easy to find. It was a pretty start to the garden by the pond. I walked around a bit and thought – is this it? Then I walked towards the Lilac garden, which really wasn’t much, probably because nothing was in bloom. I knew from the Google map that there is a Japanese garden, so I kept walking. I did find it. It was a tiny garden made because Spokane’s sister city is in Japan. There was an American family that was so noisy in there. Japanese gardens are places of peace and quiet. In any case, moved on….time to go to the conservatory. 

Roses!

Before I got to the conservatory, I saw the Rose garden. Oh my God!! That was not even on the Google map. The Rose garden was smelling well, like roses! The flowers were really blooming. All colors! It was not a huge garden but still good size. It was arranged very well and really beautiful. I spent a lot of time there. It was getting a little hot and of course it was sunny, no clouds at all. 

From the rose garden, I saw the next garden, the Perennial garden. It looked even prettier. After I finished the rose garden, I crossed the road for the Perennial garden. I was really missing my water bottle. I had not realized there was so much more in this garden. Google did not do justice or I did not read it carefully. The perennials were just beautiful. The landscaping itself was just beautiful. The colors, the flowers and blooms, it was all just too good. I made my way around the garden slowly. I wanted to soak it all in. Then it was time to go to the Conservatory. 

Perennial Garden

But before I could go in there, I saw the Duncan garden and it just blew me away. It looked like a European garden, arranged in geometric fashion. Just gorgeous. The flowers were super colorful, all dahlias, marigolds, and so many other bright colored flowers. It was just gorgeous. And there was a fountain in the center. I walked all around, it was too hot otherwise I would have stayed longer and absorbed it all. 

Duncan Gardens

Now finally the conservatory. There were two sections in it, one part was dry desert part, cacti and succulents and the other was tropical, all bromeliads, orchids etc. Very much like Florida! Both sections were small but they were designed really beautifully.

Cacti in the Conservatory

All in all the garden was just a pleasure for the eyes…too good, I had not expected all this. I spend over 2 hrs here. I walked back to my car and went to see St. John’s church. It was okay, nothing spectacular but still nice. Now at 1:30 pm it was time for lunch. Thought about going to Subway, but saw a local burrito place and decided to get a burrito. Came back to the hotel and ate, it was a good burrito. She did not put enough hot sauce. 

The heat had gotten to me, so I decided to stay in for the afternoon. I don’t really have much to do today anyway. Around 6 pm, I want to the Riverfront again to see the toy store and see the Spokane falls. the toy store was closed. I walked all the stairs down to see the falls. it was worth it. I just love waterfalls! And this one is really powerful, they use it to generate electricity. 

Spokane Falls

And that was my day. I am done with Spokane and ready to hit the road tomorrow for Butte. Will need to start early in order to see all that I want to. 

Montana Drive - Day 7 - Spokane

Time is going by so well. I feel lucky that everything has worked out great so far. Just for a few minutes in the morning I was wondering if I had overextended myself by making this Spokane trip. I had breakfast at the Glacier coffee place. Little pricey but good quiche. Good to start with coffee today. 

I went on 89-S for a while and then on 28-W. Soon after a few miles all my doubts about going to Spokane vanished. The drive was just beautiful. I had songs on and beautiful views to look at, and an empty road! What else does one want? I stopped to get gas at one spot. The gas price has been consistent throughout so far – $2.79 for most part. 28-W to Sandpoint was such a scenic drive. First it was the mountains on both sides and then the lakes started appearing, each lake was more beautiful than the other. It was a pleasure to drive, such a treat for the eyes. I stopped at a few places to take pictures. Had to stop at a gas station to use the restroom (there are no restrooms in any of the state highways). Got some coffee also. The goal was to sit near a lake and drink coffee and have some junk food but it turns out Sandpoint was just 2 miles away from where I had to take 95-S. 

First I was thinking of skipping it, but when an exit came for downtown and I took it. Drove into downtown, very nice little town. I saw a Thai place and decided to eat lunch there. parked a block away and walked to the restaurant. I got some basil fried rice. It was perfect, just the kind of hot food I needed. Soup and a vegetable roll was also part of the lunch. I had some left over which I got packed for dinner. 

What was interesting is that I crossed into Idaho on 28-W and was in Idaho for about 40 mins. Sandpoint was in Idaho. 

Did not stay much in the town. It was after 2 pm and I wanted to get to Spokane. Kept on 95-S until I got to I-90. There was a lot of traffic near Handley. It was a shopping street for about 5 miles. All stores possible were here. Gas price was lower here than in Montana. I got on I-90-W and within 5 miles there was a rest area. I stopped there and then moved on. There was a lot of traffic going west. It feels like I am back in civilization. I found my hotel easily and checked in. The hotel has interesting character. The rooms are red and outside the building had wonderful murals of musicians. 

Part of Spokane Falls

I rested for a bit and then suddenly realized that I had moved back one more hour! I have an extra hour of vacation. Around 4pm went to the river front. It was about 4 blocks walk from my hotel. There seems to be a lot of construction going on in the river front. It created a lot of problems for me. The visitor center guy was hopeless in explaining where I could see the falls. I walked around a lot to see the falls and could not figure out if that was it. I kept going here and there across the Spokane river a couple times. I saw two different falls but could not tell if they were it. Ultimately figured out that there was one main one still ahead. I wanted to see the sculptures also so I went for a huge walk first and then decided to take the sky ride to see the falls. 

The sculptures were interesting and dispersed over a mile of loop around the river front and convention center. I made to almost all of them. It was a lot of walking for me today but I enjoyed it. The weather was perfect. I did not sweat a drop. 

Some of the Sculptures

As promised to myself, I took the sky ride to see the falls. It is $7.25. America definitely knows how to make a buck. Close all other routes to a good view of the falls and then have a ride and charge for it!! The view was great and yes, this was the main falls. There are about 3 tiers of falls within 0.25 miles  now I have seen it all! Tomorrow I can come back and walk the route to see the falls from a different angle. 

Spokane Falls

It was a great day. Good drive and good downtown tour…and great lunch!