It was great to see Tim and Kathy in their home in Spokane.
I admire the closeness that Tom has with his brother Tim. I know their time together is always special.
Also Tom's niece Megan, and her husband Austen and their two boys, Nelson and Henry who also live in Spokane. They all made our time there memorable.
Tim took Tom and me on long walks each morning showing us all the trails that are near to them and along beautiful neighborhood streets and into local parks.
One of our favorites was hiking in the Dishman Hills Conservation Area from the Stevens Creek Trailhead.
Austen and Megan and their two sons, Nelson and Henry, took us on an awesome bike ride on the Hiawatha Trail.
They went to a lot of trouble to make this day special for us. The Hiawatha Trail begins just across the Idaho/Montana state border in Montana and travels along the old railroad bed for twenty miles into Idaho. What a spectacular trail it is with many tunnels, many high trestles across deep canyons, and awesome scenery everywhere you look!
What an organized, detail oriented couple Megan and Austen are to plan this wonderful outing. Each of them pull a child carrier behind their bikes but the boys each have a walking bike (no pedals, foot powered) enabling them to walk their bikes or ride in the carrier.
Yay! I made it out the other end and there was this gorgeous waterfall.
Our fun group pedaled onward.
Tunnel after tunnel!
Lots of signs along the path describing the history of the rail line that used to run on this same path that we were riding on.
Spectacular views around every bend!
Fun pedaling across these long trestles which crossed the deep canyons.
Nelson and Henry were fearless on their little walking bikes!
Lucky kids getting a ride in the carriers later in the day.
Yay! We made it to the end. Almost.
Now our bikes are loaded onto this bus and then we board this bus for the ride back to "almost" where we started.
Nelson and Henry are enthralled by the chipmonks running on the rocks.
Well what a way to start this ride but with a mile long very dark and cold and wet tunnel that we had to utilize our bike lights to be able to navigate through! I was terrified! My bike light was shining up in the air, not out in front of me where I needed it to shine and I could hear water dripping and running in the troughs running along each side of the dark tunnel. I just kept peddling and praying, trying to keep my eyes trained on the bike ahead of me that I could barely see!
Yay! I made it out the other end and there was this gorgeous waterfall.
Now our bikes are loaded onto this bus and then we board this bus for the ride back to "almost" where we started.
Well the bus took us all the way back to the end of the mile long tunnel, unloaded our bikes and then we had to ride back thru that dark wet cold mile long tunnel to get back to the parking lot where our vehicle was parked. Believe it or not I enjoyed the trip back through because this time I got my bike light adjusted right and I could see where I was going!
What an enjoyable day this has been with Megan and her family and Tim!
The following day Megan and Austen took Tim, Tom, and me on a rafting/canoe trip on the Spokane River. I have no photos to show since my camera is not waterproof and we were to carry only the bare essentials since we had to walk/carry it all down to the river. But what an epic trip it was! Once again Austen and Megan planned a fun time! This time on the river! What a fantastic adventure!
Erma, What great pictures and excellent narrative. It was nice remembering your visit to Spokane. Your timing was good. You would not like the cold weather we are getting now. Love y'all.
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