There were no signs of the deer we saw last night, but the big truck that also stayed overnight was still in his spot. We had a decent drive of about an hour or so to Spokane, the most populous city in eastern Washington with about 230,000 people. Spokane (pronounced Spo-KAN), is named after the first people to live in the area, the Spokane tribe, meaning "children of the sun."
We didn't know much about Spokane before going here, but the area we visited was pretty, and lovely to walk around on the hot summer day we were there. We parked near the downtown area, near a castle-like building that loomed above everything else around it. This turned out to be the Spokane County Courthouse, built in 1895 in the French Renaissance revival and Châteauesque styles. Walking across the Monroe Street Bridge (adorned with bison skulls), we saw the Spokane River rushing underneath, which even had rapids in areas. Along the river, there's a 15-minute gondola ride, the Numerica SkyRide, which offers closer view of the waterfalls along the river.
Walking along the waterfront, there are some more family-friendly attractions, including a carousel, a Big Red Wagon (wagon sculpture that is actually a playground slide; we saw a dad slide down it with his toddler, very fun), and a garbage goat. We thought the garbage goat would be a sculpture of a goat made out of garbage, like when we were near Las Cruces in New Mexico and saw the Recycled Roadrunner Sculpture made from old phones, bike parts and other materials that could have easily ended up in the landfill. But garbage goat is even quirkier! Made out of copper and brass, people can push the button next to it, and a strong vacuum is in its mouth, ready to suck up your rubbish! Lisette tried it with a tissue and it is very effective--we came at just the right moment, because as soon as we finished a crowd of kids showed up, all wanting to try garbage goat.
Spokane has 6 sister cities, and as we headed back to the RV we saw a section of park proudly displaying gifts from these cities around the world, including an Irish harp from the sister city of Limerick, and a marble monument from Cagli, Italy. In the heat of the day, children were also running around a big water fountain, having a blast while trying to stay cool.
State 2 of 3 Today: Idaho
Leaving Spokane meant that we have now wrapped up our travels in Washington state for this road trip. We loved exploring the areas around the Olympic Peninsula and Olympic National Park, with their picture-perfect scenery.
We've already been to Idaho on this trip, but one place we stopped at in North Idaho was Treaty Rock, which shows one of the first agreements between the Coeur d'Alene tribe and early settlers in northern Idaho. The agreement was for Frederick Post to have 200 acres of Coeur d'Alene land to build a sawmill, and in exchange he'd provide them with lumber. It was a short hike to see Treaty Rock, and it sits quietly next to some railway tracks in the town.
The Other William Wallace (Not the Braveheart One)
We've visited quite a few fascinating former mining towns that had their heyday long ago, like Tombstone in Arizona and Tonopah in Nevada. In North Idaho, the town of Wallace was once known as the "silver capital of the world", at one time mining 21% of the world's silver. Founded in 1884, the town was named after Colonel William R. Wallace, who purchased land in the area.
As soon as we drove in, we felt transported in time, with its old saloons, brothels and storefronts. It was fun to simply stroll the streets (Wallace is small and very walkable), and get lost in the town's history. The Wallace District Museum has tours of the town that depart from it, as well as a mock mine tour to imagine what it would have been like as a miner over a hundred years ago. Inside the museum, there are thousands of photos, maps and artifacts.
Wallace has also been called the "center of the universe" and the museum displays the proclamation from the town's mayor in 2004 about why this is the case (which you can read here). Basically, the rationale is, "Why not? Prove it isn't." The proclamation also states that Wallace's position has been curiously peer-reviewed by La Cosa Nostra and the Flat Earth Society, and the actual marker is a manhole cover at in the middle of Bank and Sixth Streets. We took a photo, making sure not to get run over by any cars before doing so!
New State Unlocked: Montana
Idaho is shaped so that the northern part is much narrower than the southern area, so we reached our third state of the day, and the 12th for the entire trip so far: Montana!
We've been looking forward to visiting Big Sky Country and we celebrated by Michael getting a milkshake at M's on the Track: a small, M&M-themed train car that had multiple billboards and signs on the highway advertising its 200 milkshake flavors. Michael got a butterscotch and caramel flavor, which was okay, but not as good as the thick and creamy banana one he ordered from the 59er Diner the day before.
Not far from the milkshake train car, we stumbled upon the 50,000 Silver Dollar, which has Montana's largest gift shop, a restaurant, two bars, two casinos, a gas station, and a convenience store. There is also free RV parking around the back! We were tempted to stop here for the night because of this, but now that we're now in Mountain Time again sunset is an hour later at around 9.30pm, so we still had plenty of light to keep going.
What we immediately noticed when walking into the gift shop is that Montana is definitely the home of the huckleberry: there are chocolates, pies, soaps, candles, lotions, and all sorts of other huckleberry-themed goodies. Since the huckleberry is Montana's state fruit, we'll definitely be trying it at some point while we're here! But the most impressive feature was the actual 50,000 Lincoln silver dollars that adorned the walls of the restaurant inside, meticulously framed and individually labelled. There's a sign in the restaurant that states how much money the silver dollars are worth, which when we visited was $87,214.
Trout and More Huckleberries
Billboard advertising along the highway can be very effective! Like M's on the Track, we saw signs for the St. Regis Travel Center, which loudly advertised that they had the best huckleberry milkshakes! The Travel Center is in the town of St. Regis on the way to Glacier National Park, where we saw a cherry stand (Lisette was tempted to get some more cherries but didn't), restaurants, accommodation and other stores.
Inside the museum we were tempted to get a milkshake (they are apparently the best!), but Michael already had one today, so we're saving it for another day. The Travel Center was filled with souvenirs, including an entire section dedicated to huckleberry (and cherry) flavored or scented items, including more beauty products, fudge, candies, and other merchandise. Toward the back of the Travel Center, there are a few massive fish tanks with various species of trout. The trout were all sorts of pretty colors, including shimmery silver with a bright red stripe through it. Sometimes we've been to see fish and they've looked rather despondent, but we couldn't help noticing that these trout all looked pretty content to be swimming around in the tank!
A Quiet Stop
iOverlander recommended a place near Flathead Lake, on the way to Glacier National Park, to stop for the night, although we didn't drive further in through the dense trees to see the water. There was already a man sitting outside his camper, by a campfire, when we arrived. He didn't move for a long time, his chin drooping onto his chest as the smoke from the fire rose up above him. For a few minutes we looked at him from a distance, wondering, "Is he alive? And if not, what do we do?" Fortunately, he eventually woke up. It's one of those moments that made us appreciate the peace and quiet of nature, but also the benefit of relying on each other to do things like wake each other up if needed!
