Static . . . more or less

We reached a place to rest again.
MB's youngest and his family, AKA WaDaps, live near Seattle, closer to Bellevue, Washington.

MB's affinity for taking pictures of the colors has not yet waned.

 . . . nor has it found any restrictions

We took a short trip across the Puget Sound, from Edmonds to Kingston, for lunch with

A day trip after a day's rest.

there's more

No shortcut

Yes, it is a straight line  . . . almost.
I-90 would've been quicker.
But there's much to see [IMHO] on the route we followed, and it is the most direct.

It was mostly flat plains, or prairies, with the occasional break in terrain.

. . .or town

credits to someone else

. . . and the usual delays found on two lane roads

Then we reached Banks Lake.

 . . . and a terrain change

. . . which led to apple orchards and the Columbia River

. . . and a merger with the Wenatchee River

Which put us in the southern reaches of the Northern Cascade Mountain Range

. . . more fall color

credit someone else

Had to check to see if it was a nutcracker

Nice ol' Buick made me aware that it wasn't built until well after I was born.

. . . on to Stevens Pass

. . . and another minor inconvenience

To quote MB: "You should see the bazillion fall color photos I’m NOT posting"

Then we reached the western side of the Cascades.

So . . . where were we?

Oh yeah, that's it.
Spokane and the end of one day's brief journey.

It's kind of a scouting expedition.
The forum we attended in Columbus that started us on this trip will be at Spokane in September.
We plan to attend, particularly now that we're familiar with the community.

Oh!
That's not what the post is about?

Fine!

This is what we saw where we were.

The images may be enlarged by clicking on them

Historic Davenport Hotel (not the beige one in front, but the one with the flag)

Someone very kind and loving had arranged and paid for accomodations.
Our room is visible as the three arched windows on the top right.

Lobby

lobby

It turned out we didn't have a room, but some rooms . . .  a suite!!!

sitting room

There was lots more, but . . .   ya know, we didn't come here to see hotels.

view

same view

Even the construction crane is lit at night.

We took a little stroll, past the construction, to the Spokane River.

We would venture that walking  . . . and cycling  . . . is encouraged in Spokane.

. . . and climbing!

There are lots of water features.

Part of the arrangement for our accommodations was dinner for two at one of the hotel restaurants.
We'd discovered that Louis Davenport was the creator of Louis dressing, as in Crab, or Shrimp, Louis.
Since we'd already eaten a substantial meal at lunch in Couer d'Alene. we opted for a bowl each of French Onion soup and a Louis salad.
We didn't take a picture of the food.
However, the ceiling at the entry to the restaurant reminded us of a peacock.

It was called the peacock ceiling [hmmmm!].

One more feature of our rooms and a reminder of where we were.

Around the edges of the lobby and on the mezzanine was a pictorial history and tour of the hotel and the original restauran.
That, alone, was almost worth stopping for.

at the entry

can we top this?