Trip Outlines:
3days/2nights, 726 miles, 7 points of interest,
$180 (gas $110, camping&food $70)
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Destination |
Address |
Miles |
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Day 1 |
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1 |
9711 W Charles Rd, Nine Mile Falls, WA |
300 |
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2 |
17020 N Newport HWY, Mead, WA |
17 |
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3 |
10 S Post St, Spokane, WA |
13 |
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4 |
507 N Howard St, Spokane, WA |
1 |
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5 |
1702 S Grand Blvd, Spokane, WA |
2 |
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Day 2 |
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6 |
12 miles north of Colfax, Wash., near the state’s eastern border in Whitman County |
63 |
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7 |
23 miles southeast of Washtucna, Wash. in Franklin County |
84 |
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Overnight at Palouse Falls St. Park campsite |
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8 |
Seattle |
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246 |
May gives an opportunity for exploration the remote places of Washington during Memorial weekend. Last year, 2008, we used this chance to visit Spokane and couple other places in Eastern Washington. The idea to go to Spokane brewed in my mine for about three years since I found out about the Cat Tails Zoological Park. Circumstances were against this trip for a long time, and, eventually, last year we packed our things and went for adventure.
As normal practice, I did some researches in order to find out where we could go and stay for a night, and what we can expect other then small zoo and Spokane downtown.
The original plan was actually to go to Palouse Falls and sped night there, then visit the Steptoe Butte, and finally arrive to Spokane and stay night at the Riverside Park. At the last moment, I found out that the zoo would be closed on Monday, the day when we supposed to be at Spokane. This small, but important fact changed the whole trip plan making completely uncertain our overnight stays because it is well known fact that it is hopeless to expect available camp site on Memorial weekend, and the zoo was the whole point of the trip. In spite of anything we turned around our destinations into opposite direction and moved on.
Thus, the first destination became the Riverside Park where we still hoped to find an available camping that, obviously, was desperate attempt. Our efforts, though, were rewarded by astonishing river views! People were like small bugs on the giant stones standing guard over the river banks.
On our way to the Cat Tail Zoo we were depressed by the view of lifeless streets with abandoned houses. Luckily those emotions were quickly dissolved when we stepped into the zoo where we immediately were surrounded by tigers, pumas, bobcats, lynx, lions, and other cat-shape animals. The surprise, however, was ahead. We were very lucky to see how four Siberian tiger cubs were fed. They were only 7 months old and zoo employees took them out of their cages, walk them along the park trail, and they were at a distance of a human’s hand, so close that you can feel their breath!
Even though they were still babies they already were very strong, their paws were huge, and every their movement was full of wild power ready to burst any moment. And this power was at a touchable space that my own skin proved by covering with gooseflesh.
It took some efforts for my husband to persuade me to leave babies along and let them peacefully sleep after the dinner. By the way, we actually also needed something to eat and we relocated ourselves from the scented zoo to the luxury Davenport Hotel in the heart of Spokane where we had a cup of tea and strawberry ice-cream making ourselves comfortable in front of cozy fireplace. It sounds more like a dessert because we already had our dinner in a car. We let ourselves to take a tour in the hotel, look at the historical pictures, antique things, and compare the current view of the hotel with its original.
Rested enough for the next portion of fun we shifted to the Riverfront Park located on the Spokane River that runs right through the center of the city. We were fortunate to visit Spokane in May without knowing that exactly at this time of a year the Spokane River becomes a wild monster rushing masses of glacier waters on a high speed crushing stones and roaring like a wounded beast! And all this spectacular show with wildlife active life of raccoons, gooses, squirrels, ducks, and others animals, goes right in the core of the Spokane city surrounded with luxury shopping centers, hotels, restaurants, and city parks!
We could watch the river race for ever! But, we had one more place to visit and we also needed to find out place to sleep and the day already went to its logical completion.
Manito Park met us at the dusk with lilac blossom and fragrance! Unfortunately we didn’t have time to take a walk among blooming lilac bushes and all we could do was to drive through the park with widely open windows inhaling an invigorating fragrance and enjoying views from the car window.
And, then, we moved into uncertainty of the fast approaching night. Unwittingly we left city limits and found ourselves on a highway among the infinite country fields. We passed by several houses and that was it! No traces of camping or roadside motels, only fields and road that lost somewhere ahead without giving any kind of hope for habitual human life. In the deepness of dark we saw the group of lights that could be a small village and hope for finding a motel room started to grow. We passed by some buildings that looked like storages, then something that could be “downtown” for this community with the only one street lamp and a cop car lonely standing underneath it. Our hope melted with the speed of the “city” speed limits… Our car smoothly ran into the familiar scenery of never-ending fields…
Time was the beginning of the midnight when we finally decided to stop at the middle of nowhere and sleep in the car! We didn’t know where we were, how many miles left to the next destination, we were hungry, tired, and exhausted.
Morning brought freshness, and it was quiet and peaceful and whenever we looked there was not much but empty fields!
Just in several minutes, right after the first road turn we saw the hill of the Steptoe Butte!
It was time to laugh! We were only 10 minutes away from the destination where we supposed to arrive at the middle of the day and we were there at 7 am.
From the top of the hill we finally were able to see the green “ocean” of wavy land, the familiar scenery of the vast fields and the twisting road. It was gorgeous, astonishing view!
After nice relaxed breakfast among the blooming apple trees we moved further to the Palouse Falls Park where we supposed to stay our next night. I didn’t have any doubts about camping availability because recourses on the internet stated that it is remote, solitude place. Confidence, though, dissolved in the subtle warm air when we couldn’t find space to park the car. The park was overcrowded with visitors. The camp has only ten sites and all sites were occupied.
Somehow we squeezed our car into small spot on the side of the road (in a second our car was blocked by other cars) and went to explore the park leaving the rest of our worries to the god.
While walking in the park we experienced the blue skies, the cotton clouds, mini grand canyons, day dreaming, rocks, scales, fearlessness, tenderness, happiness, frailness, stillness, and silence.
Full with our “experience” we came back to the parking lot and to our endless delight we found the one camping spot left for us by careful eternity!
Elena Hanajenko 
This blog’s great!! Thanks :).