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!