Quiet Friday

Photo link for today:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kyotesue/RiversideStatePark

Mo and I are sitting in the shade of our awning under the pines at Riverside State Park. We are camped with other family in 3 spaces right along the river. The sun is warm and it’s hot and a bit humid for the west, maybe mid-90’s, but I remember summers like this in Spokane. Lake days. The Spokane River is just below us a few hundred yards, flowing silently but with a steady current. The river is deep here, with slippery rocks dropping quickly to a clear green abyss. It looks incredibly inviting, but I am still squirrelly about swimming in strange water with things I can’t see down there. I’m a sandy beach swimmer rather than a river swimmer.

Mo is sitting here quietly in the shade at the edge of the warm sun. We went for a walk down to the Bowl and Pitcher earlier, but the walk was a bit difficult for her and we came back to rest, make sure she had some Advil and let her sit quietly.

http://www.riversidestatepark.org/ Riverside State Park is a jewel right in the city in Spokane. It’s in ponderosa pines with some light shrubs and grasslands. On one side of the river it’s dry and piney, on the opposite side is Douglas-fir with snowberry and huge outcrops of basalt from the cliffs above. The Bowl and Pitcher is actually a narrow part of the river with rapids formed by all the basalt that has caved from the flows that form the cliffs above the park on the west side. There are really great old CCC buildings all around, including a group shelter and some other buildings crafted from the basalt by men trying to escape the depression of the Depression. Bless you, FDR. There is a similar building at the top of Mt Spokane that is equally as perfect in its stone craftsmanship. It’s a bit of a mess trying to get to the park if you don’t know the area, and it was even hard for me knowing the area, because of the construction and bridge repairs that are ongoing in this city. The Spokane River dominates this town, and no matter where you are going you have to get across the river one way or another. Many things to love about Spokane, and sometimes I really miss it, especially the South Hill and all the old craftsman homes that were built in the early 1900’s when Spokane was a rich exciting city built on mining and railroad fortunes.