Spokane, Mary & Robby

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Spokane River and Washington Power Plant

We left Grizzly campground last Friday morning, heading for a night at Cracker Barrel in Missoula, MT. We headed up toward Butte, which was surprisingly small. This part of Montana is gorgeous, but the 15 foot tall snow fences along the road make you think twice about living here. At one point we past an airport, run by the county. We wondered who might be flying in or out of here and why the county would foot the bill for an airport. It wasn't long before we had the answer. Ennis MT is just down the road, and it boasts a population of 840 people, 10,000 trout.

Driving through Butte we hit a storm cell that forced us and several other RVs off the road. We all pulled off at the same time into a Flying J to wait it out. The storm only lasted about 20 minutes before we were back on the road. A storm that sudden and violent is unnerving when you're driving a high profile vehicle. The Mercedes is a great chassis, but it does have a narrow wheelbase and feels a little top heavy and tippy at the best of times.

When we got to Missoula we easily found the Cracker Barrel and a good place to park for the night. This was our first Cracker Barrel experience as camping RVers. They allow RVs to park over night and only ask that you consider eating a dinner or breakfast there. At $30 for two it's cheaper than Walmart!

Driveway Camping in Spokane

 Saturday morning we took off for Spokane and a night in the driveway of Mary & Robby. We had a great time visiting. They took us out to lunch at Rockwood bakery then we explored Manito Park, a lovely park with a rose garden and Japanese garden.

We split a sandwich and salad at Rockwood bakery

The garden at Manito Park

Robby & Mary pose with a rose bush

When we got back to the house Robby helped me wail on our tow bar with a sledge hammer to get it straightened out. It got bent from a small misadventure in Dubois WY. That evening we went to Anthony's for dinner. Anthony's is known for fish, and is beautifully situated on the Spokane River, right across from the historic and still functioning 1922 Washington Water Power Plant.

Robby & Mary at Anthony's 

Anthony's Restaurant is the 3 triangle roof building on the right, just below the Power Plant

 After an excellent dinner we walked the pathways and bridges of the park surrounding the river.

Built in 1922, still in operation

Spokane is basketball crazy, being the home of Gonzaga, and they were getting the park ready for a huge public basketball tournament the following week. Robby said they turn the park area into one football field sized basketball court. In fact, there are over 450 courts throughout the city with over 7,000 competitors. It all happens starting June 28. Be there. We won't be. See more at http://www.spokanehoopfest.net/Pages/default.aspx

The following morning we walked to a nearby breakfast place called Dolly's Cafe. Very crowded and kind of small, but it was pleasant enough to sit outside. It's not the cheapest, but you did get your money's worth. Eggs Benedict is an easy sale for me and they make a good one. Peg had a special spinach omelet that was so big we had to take some of it home.

On the way back we passed by a church that is for sale and wondered what it looked like inside. It happened to be open, so we started to go in. Duh! Sunday morning, it was full of people and the preacher/priest was speaking in a language we couldn't make out. We hadn't thought that a church up for sale would still be having services.

When we got back we packed up, said our goodbyes, and headed for our next to last stop: Leavenworth, WA.