We decided to spend the weekend in Spokane rather than moving to Coure d’Alene mostly because its only 15 miles to the next dealer for Paul and its free and very quiet at night here at the dealer.

Spokane Valley has a very nice river walk along the Spokane River. We have walked it many times and ridden our bikes along it. One of the trailheads is very close to where we are staying so one evening we decide to take a walk; drive down to the parking area and proceed. As we are starting down the trail to the river another couple is dancing around and come towards us telling us there is a snake! Nope, I don’t do snakes and the lady told us they saw 2 on their short walk. We have never seen snakes on this trail. I know it is very dry here but this is so close to town. There was no way I was walking this trail today, besides we had Teddy and who knows how he would handle a snake! So we take a nice walk on the sidewalks and when we are returning to our car I offered that we walk up to the overpass so we can at least see the river! Just as we are approaching the overpass I look to my left and in the weeds is a giant snake stretched out! Are you kidding me. So much for an evening walk. We found a Mexican restaurant and enjoyed a margarita and a full Mexican dinner complete with rice and beans and LOTS of cheese.

The weather is spectacular so we spent Saturday in Historic Spokane enjoying the Riverfront Park. We have enjoyed is several times before and the waterfalls right in town are beautiful. They are doing a lot of improvements so seeing the falls is tricky right now but they have lots of other things to see. Today they were having a car club show. Not too many cars but it was fun to look at how nicely they care for their hobby.

They had an area that was a sister city park garden. Small but they have a lot of sister cities, Ireland, South Korea, Japan and a couple others.

They also had a harp from Limerick, Ireland but it was inside glass and a photo just wasn’t possible.

The Garbage Goat serves a real purpose although they have him sort of hidden in the park. He has been eating garbage from visitors for more than 40 years. He was installed as part of the 1974 Worlds Fair after a lot of flak from the Goat Association. He actually vacuums the trash right out of your hand. This little boy stayed for my photo after he was trying to get the goat to eat a grande plastic cup from starbucks. The goat couldn’t do it – his opening is small. (I think its so you don’t get your fingers swallowed).

My favorite Art in the Park was the Giant Radio Flyer Slide.

It was a nice day and I got some walking in. It’s been a struggle trying to get my body back in shape. Some days I hurt in way too many places but then I’ll walk and feel better – Got to get my head into it.

Anacortes is near the San Juan Islands, in fact it is known for it’s ferry’s that take you to the different islands. You can reach it from land north of Seattle or by Ferry which we did. Anacortes has a very nice harbor area and a downtown with lots of restaurants and fun little shops.

We have been here several times and with all the shopping I did while we were in Sequim I did not need to get inside anymore gift shops so we took a ferry ride to Friday Harbor. This was also just a boat ride and lunch. Of course it involves Ice Cream.

After leaving Teddy for so long the last boat ride I wanted him to come along and I knew we could find outdoor dining. He is suppose to stay outside on the ferry

Friday Harbor is pretty small and has a small downtown right where the ferry drops you off. Plenty of eatery’s, ice cream and trinket shops. I did find a very nice gentleman that allowed me to try his wines without paying the tasting fee! It was good but too expensive. We wandered awhile, found ice cream and wandered some more. The ferry was a long way off as they are having trouble with staffing. We thought we would go back on the 4:30 boat but there was no 4:30 boat so 6:30 was our time. Dinner on the harbor was very nice. I had a crab BLT that was amazing although it could have just been a Tomato sandwich as the tomato’s were to die for – tasted right out of the garden. They were from a local farm but still!!! It wasn’t cheap $34 but it’s only money and we probably won’t eat out at least for the rest of the week!!!

Teddy was so good. He has been a bit skiddish about noises and things but he slept on the ferry and while we had lunch he slept under the table until someone said something about “going”.

Our 6:30 boat was late and we did not leave Friday Harbor until after 7 pm. I am so happy we brought Teddy along.

Another successful trip to Washington State. There is a lot of beauty here and the weather in August and September is perfect.

We have been having beautiful days. Yesterday afternoon the sky started changing and we could smell smoke in the air. This morning we woke to very hazy skies. Today we boarded the ferry to Anacortes and in Port Townsend they were having a wooden boat festival and there were lots of boats cruising and lots of people arriving by ferry – glad we were going the opposite direction. It would have been fun to attend but I’m not a big fan of crowded venues anymore.

We made it safely to Coupeville and to our RV destination for the next 3 days. Paul has a bit of work to do on Monday and then we will head towards Spokane. I’ve been seeing lots of news about fires so hopefully we can avoid too much smoke.