Friday, June 25 Spokane

After breakfast Wende took me into town to get a new battery for my watch. Tom had some other engagements, and Wende offered to show me around Spokane ( I still had difficulty pronouncing it right.) and then accompany me to the Spokane Athletic Club, where we were to attend a Rotary meeting.

Spokane is a pleasant town with lots of green, shady residential streets and good architecture. I was impressed by the Davenport Hotel, a classic that recently restored to its old splendour. The interior decoration is ornate with Italian, Moorish and Asian influences.

"Louis" Davenport came to Spokane Falls, Washington Territory, in the Spring of 1889 at the age of 20. He opened a restaurant and later the Davenport Hotel.

The Davenport Hotel has been world famous since it opened in September of 1914. It was the first hotel with air conditioning, a central vacuum system, and housekeeping carts In these halls, you can walk in the shadows of great men and women including Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Mary Pickford, and Clark Gable. Authors Zane Grey and Dashiell Hammet wrote scenes in their works set at this most famous hotel in the West.

Here is a picture of Herbert Hoover at the Davenport Hotel.




















The Davenport Hotel was closed in 1985 and demolition was considered.

"Hope for the Davenport" was reported in March of 2000 when local entrepreneurs Walt & Karen Worthy purchased the entire city block for $6.5 million, then spent the next two years of their lives--and $38 million of their own money--to make The Davenport Hotel grand again. The hotel's public spaces and ballrooms were restored to what they would have looked like when they were new.

We toured several pleasant parks and residential areas of Spokane and also saw the Japanese Garden, a gift from the sister city of Nishinomiya in Japan, located between Osaka and Kobe.

Wende took me to an AAA office and I took out a membership that gives me roadside assistance and all information I need for my trips. Nicole will get a card also, when she is in LA, so we don’t need to worry about her breaking down and not getting help.

After lunch at the Davenport (excellent seared tuna, I had two!) we returned home.
Tom had made reservations at the restaurant in Coeur d’Alene and I was glad to be able to see something of the city and the lake I had passed on the way in.

There was an Ironman thriatlon going on and parts of the town were closed off.
Our reservation was at the Cedars floating restaurant, like Tom knew I love to be on the water! True to form, both of us engaged in the beer tasting, porter, pale ale, amber, lager and IPA. Although one pale ale was called DRIFTER, as my boat, I chose a Fishtail Amber which went very well with the halibut I had ordered.


Suddenly a wooden boat appeared on the lake in front of us, and for a moment I thought I saw a sister ship to my boat Cohiba. From the side, they looked very similar, check it out!

After returning home Tom showed me his workshop, a true engineer’s dream with every imaginable tool right there. He fixed the visor of my helmet, so I can ride without getting the sun in my eyes.

The day was over before I knew it and I had another good nights sleep.

Thank you , Wende and Tom, for taking me into your home. You must come and visit us in Guatemala!