Saturday the fifth was a day off in Spokane for everyone. The ladies made reservations at Hotel Davenport in the downtown area (I think that means they are tired of Travel Trailer livin’). Of course when we checked in, the attendants said we could check our bikes and they would store them. Craig begged to differ explaining we were doing a cross country and were almost complete and these bikes were too much a part of us to leave just anywhere. So the attendant gracefully agreed that we could keep them in our room. 🙂

Lisa and I enjoyed Saturday off with walks around the inner city,



lunch at Anthony’s on the river,

and Jersey Boys the movie.

One of the interesting conversations of the day occurred at little shop in the Old Flour Mill in Spokane: Wonders of the World. I found a gift for a friend there and an attendant came along to ask me if she could help me (It happened to be the owner of the shop, Pamela). I explained I would like this particular item and wondered if I could get it wrapped. She paused and then said: “We normally do not, but let me see if someone across the hall has wrapping paper”. When we met at the counter where she laid down the gift and wrapping paper, one of her right hand helpers commented to Pamela: “We don’t wrap gifts do we?” Pamela, who is elderly, responded: “Oh no, but there was something about this couple that touched my heart and I decided we would wrap it for them.” I was really moved by that. We then engaged in conversation for about ten minutes. I found out that Pamela started her business in 1990 and loves it. She said her goal was to have a company that had a heart and she feels like she has lived that out. I can certainly attest to this from my experience with her. If you ever get to Spokane, stop in at Wonders of the World in the Old Flour Mill.

After a day’s rest from the saddle, we left Hotel Davenport, having pumped up our bike tires in the lobby, and rode 81 miles to Almira, Washington due south of the Grand Coulee Dam. Other than the heat (93 degrees) which has really come on strong the past few days and a steady wind, it was an uneventful ride. Of course we had our normal entertaining conversations with people we meet in the cafes, rest areas and so forth. Seeing the dam was something else entirely. This dam was built from 1933-1942 for irrigation, flood control and hydroelectric generation. There is enough concrete in this dam to do two 6 foot wide sidewalks around the world at the equator. Suffice it to say, they build them big here in Washington.