We wento Spokane as part of our monthly Christmas Trips. I'd been there a few times for a conference, but never just to 'be' there... its an interesting city. The Shadow Lady was going to a conference there, so the little guy tagged along, and we went a day early, to spend some time there just as tourists.

Great traffic
We left after the Shadow Lady got off from work... we had very good traffic the whole way.

At the hotel
We found a very nice hotel to stay that was near a conference the Shadow Lady was attending.

Releasing Energy
The little guy had fun in the hotel room once we got settled...

Testing the bed
He did great on the drive there... playing with his toys, talking, singing, and watching Thomas for a while... but he had a good amount of energy to burn off!

The Thomas R. Adkison Theme Stream
Ol' Tom was apparently an important person to the city. He was an architect who loved the city he called home.

Friendly Sign
This reminds me of a 'Danger of Death' sign back home... =]

Gondola
We were the first customers of the day for the Gondola ride...

Waiting for riders
We had to wait for a bit after paying... the operator needed to have a manager's signature before he could turn everything on. They didn't tell us that, through, until we'd paid.

Heading down under the bridge
The ride takes you down to the river for a view of the Spokane Falls.

Having fun
The little guy really enjoyed the ride!

The Bridge
We had a great view of the bridge, which when it was built in 1911, sported the largest Concrete Arch-supported span in the world. It still is the largest in the US.

The Falls
The Spokane Falls

Spokane Falls
The river flow over the falls have been greatly reduced by a powerplant diversion, but they still are a pretty nice feature of the Riverfront Park.

Back up the hill
The ride paused a few times along the route, to allow the riders to enjoy the view from different vantage points.

Into the station
After about 25 minutes or so, we pulled back into the landing.

Ducks!
The little guy was pretty fascinated by the ducks!

A bit of history
Who couldn't resist checking out a 100+ year old Carrousel?

Original horses
The Carrousel is powered by the original motor, amazingly enough. It was replaced during a refit done in 1989, which also added electronic timing of the length of the ride. In 2006, that fault-prone system was scrapped and replaced by the orignal system, along with the manual clutch and 3 minute egg timer.

On the Tiger
The little guy picked the tiger to ride.

Getting it going
You have to wonder how many operators there have been over the years.

Heading around
He had a lot of fun once the ride got going!

Having fun
All smiles!

Radio Flyer
While mom was in her conference, the little guy and I went to check out the Radio Flyer

Heading up the ladder
Its listed as 'the world's largest Radio Flyier'

big slide
Its actually a big slide, and the little guy had a blast on it!

heading down
He had a lot of fun, that's for sure!

checking it out
I followed him up the ladder on one trip...

Get set... Go!
He'd hold on to the rail, jump up, swing out, and down the slide.

Posing for mom
He posed for a picture only after I said it was for mommy. =]

Lots of birds
We watched a man tossing out bread to the birds, and walked over to him to get a closer look.

Anxious Goose
The man gave him a piece of bread to hand out... and the geese were on him pretty quickly! =]

Clock Tower
Built in 1902 as part of the spokane train station, the tower is all that remains, and is considered the icon of the city of Spokane

Reflective waters
The river's smooth surface made for some great fall weather scenery!

The Pavillion
Built for the World Expo '74, the pavillion houses seasonal rides and amusements... it looked boarded up, so we didn't head over to it.

Riverfront Park
The park is a pretty striking feature of the city!

Nice scene
I really enjoyed the views of the tower...

The Goat
One oddity we found was this goat, which vaccumed up any trash you might want to dispose of.

Odd
We used it to suck up leaves... =]

Posing with the blocks
He enjoyed playing on the blocks, which from a certain angle said 'City Spokane'... not sure where the 'of' was.

ack at the 'dinosaur place'
On the way home, as we were getting close to Vantage, he asked about the 'Dinosaur Place', so we went ahead and stopped...

Scary
He checked out all the displays again...

the big one
He still was pretty fascinated with this big one... apparently, we'll be stopping by this place fairly often. =]

Fun Trip
We'll remember our trip to Spokane for some time to come, I'm sure!

 

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