Friday, June 27, 2008 – Day 5

Rest Day: Spokane, Washington
Miles: 5.52 Total Miles: 348.02

Our first rest day was our firs rest day and we spent it in Spokane. We spent the day in a dorm at Gonzaga University. I spent the day bike cleaning, doing laundry and walking and bike riding around downtown Spokane.

We were here at the same time as the Spokane Hoopfest. From what I understand, Hoopfest is a basketball tournament consisting of a series of three on three matches. It is huge here. All the businesses participate and have Hoopfest themes going on.

Spokane was the home of the 1974 World’s Fair. The downtown area has a park that was developed for the fair and still attracts people today. It is where the majority of the Hoopfest activities are centered. As I walked around the area, I was noticing that the streets were being prepared for the activities tomorrow (Saturday). All the parking along the sides of the streets was being marked as no parking so that they can set up all the temporary basketball hoops.

There were hundreds of these basketball hoops all over the place ready to be set up and used. I bet this place will be jumping tomorrow – literally.

For those of you who know my wife Lisa, know that she loves walking and pulling her wagon, usually with our daughter Rachel in it. Well, since Rachel is growing and once I am done with this ride, I think Lisa will need a new wagon to pull us both around in. I found it here. Take a close look at the people next to the rear wheel to get a feel for the size of this wagon.

I also wanted to show a picture of the Spokane River which runs right through downtown and by the park net to a really nice bike trail. This is Spokane Falls.

Another friend report. When I was looking at the river, a little guy came right up to me looking for food. He actually stood up and posed for me.

Tomorrow morning we pack up and head out to Sandpoint, Idaho, the second state of the many we will visit. How exciting to finally make it to the next state. Weather report says it is going to get gradually hotter. Oh boy…be prepared to stay hydrated.