Glacier National Park - Day 2

Day 2 - Monday, July 7

It is good daylight at 4:30 a.m. here!  Of course, due to the time difference, it is 6:30 a.m. at home, so we are awake and ready to get up.  We quietly get up, get dressed, slip quietly out of the house, go for a walk.  We walk to the end of the street to a large undeveloped tract of land.  There are winding scrub-wood trails, hills, gullys, and wild flowers.  We breathed in the high-desert air of the nice cool (54 degrees) morning.

By the time we got back to Megan and Austen's house, Austen was up getting ready for work.  He recommended Frank's Diner, a local downtown eatery, for our breakfast.

 Frank's is a real piece of history!  This rail car, No. 1787, was built in 1906 as an observation car, and was then purchased by the Northern Pacific Railroad and remodeled to suit their needs as a private car for the President of the railroad until 1931.

During the height of the depression, it was stranded in Seattle before Frank Knight bought it and converted it into a traditional diner.  From 1931-1991, Frank's Diner operated business on 4th Ave. South in Seattle.  After losing their land lease, Car No. 1787 was moved to Spokane, where it is today, serving up delicious meals to folks like us.

Such beautiful detailed craftsmanship!

 Preparing meals in such a small space must be challenging.

 We each ordered the one-egg omelet.  Can you imagine what the three-egg omelet would be like?  Toasted biscuits!  Yummee!  And superb service!  My coffee cup was never more than half empty before our waiter filled it up again!

Of course there is the souvenir/gift shop attached to the end of Frank's Diner.  Notice the clear blue skies!  This weather prevailed the entire week we were there.

Following our breakfast, we went back to Megan's to visit with her and Nelson.  Nelson was having his breakfast, feeding his own self, and loving it!

He is such a joy to be around, always happy, smiling, inquisitive, and a real cutie-pie!

As we headed out for a day of exploring the area around Spokane, we got an incredible view of the valley in which Spokane sits, below the South Hill section where Megan and Austen lives.

We made our way to Riverside State Park.  The Spokane River flows thru the middle of the Park.  To get to the trails, we cross this amazing swinging bridge.  The bridge was originally built in the 1930's by the CCC.  It was built by hand off-site, then taken apart and moved in two parts to the river.  It took the CCC only 10 days to complete the installation of the bridge which spans 216 feet over the Bowl and Pitcher rapids.

We headed up this stairway toward the trails on the other side of the Spokane River.  I was pleased to see that my company is involved with the great outdoors.

This is a nice view of the swinging bridge from the hillside on the opposite shore.

 What a deep path the Spokane River cuts through these enormous boulders.

                    Flame and BooBoo enjoying the scenery.

The red sign is warning rafters/boaters of the upcoming Devil's Toenail Rapids.

                    Pyro at the Devil's Toenail Rapids.

When we left the park, as we were driving along on the roadway high on the hillside, we could look back and down on the Devil's Toenail Rapids and they looked much more threatening from above!

We took a scenic path back to Spokane for lunch at the Main Market, where Megan is the General Manager.  Main Market is a bustling, all-organic grocery market and delicatessen right in the heart of downtown.

As we  stepped up to the salad bar to build us a delicious salad, there was Austen.  It was nice to sit and visit with Austen as we enjoyed our lunch.  Before we left Megan came downstairs from her office to also join us.

We then drove through a neighborhood of beautiful older homes as we made our way back up to the South Hill area of Spokane.  We came upon a Baskin Robbins and could not resist.  I had an Oreo Independence ice-cream cone and Tom had State Fair Fried Cookie Dough.  After that there was nothing left to do but take an afternoon nap. 

When Megan and Austen came home from work, we went out to the 2 - 7's Neighborhood Grill for dinner.  Great food, great conversation with family!

I crashed by 7:00 p.m.!
 
Remember it is 9:00 p.m. at home and my internal body clock said it was time for sleep.

We are so far north and west, it is not getting dark until almost 10:00 p.m. and it will be daylight again at 4:15 a.m.!