lessons learned on a trip to spokane

1. Spokane is really far away.
2. You have to travel through Ethiopia and Tokyo to get to Spokane. By the way, Ethiopia and Tokyo don’t look anything like you’ve imagined.
3. The land between the tri-cities and Spokane is a forsaken and desolate place.
4. Depravation from visual stimulus makes you really happy to see anything – like a rock.
5. Spokane has lots of rocks.
6. Check the Spokane social calendar before you go. Otherwise you will find yourself there the same weekend as two university graduations and the Junior Lilac Festival.
7. The only place worth living in Spokane is on the south hill. Anywhere else and you will find yourself in Spocompton.
8. Be sure to fill your pockets with quarters before you go downtown, because that is the only way you can pay for parking. Or use a check in a parking garage. (Come on! Who carries coins and a checkbook with them these days??)
9. Don’t trust Hotwire. Or the Roadway Inn. You might end up booked at a place that probably charges by the hour.
10. Molly at the Madison Inn (where we stayed instead) is the best person in the world.
11. The roads in Spokane suck.

We got to see the house my dad grew up in! See bottom left picture.