A Weekend in Spokane & Bang Bang Salmon

The last time we took a holiday outside of British Columbia was February 29, 2020. Two days before our house was finished and we were able to move in and two weeks before COVID-19 shut the world down.

A lot has changed since then. Ha! That’s an understatement. Some days I spend in bed because my body is too tired to physically move, but my brain is still active! During the past year and a half, I have planned many trips! I have a spreadsheet of a road trip down the Pacific Highway from Astoria, Oregon all the way down to San Diego, California. Complete with lunch stops, scenic views, points of interest and a map of the best geocaches along the way.

I like to plan. This past weekend I planned our first real trip since Covid, and since I was diagnosed with MS. It all started when I found out that Banksy had a touring event that happened to be going to Edmonton! I thought that was a perfect excuse to go see my BIL and Niece. Unfortunately, a week before our trip, the Banksy exhibit was postponed. We thought about continuing with our plans, but if the show is postponed, we will be going to Edmonton in the near future anyways, so we decided to do some thing a little different.

With pretty much zero time for planning 😆 we thought about what we really wanted from this trip, HBear really wanted to see a waterfall and art while SBean just wanted to shop 🤣. With a little research we found a place that would match both of those descriptions, Spokane, Washington!

I was absolutely shocked by the wealth of history, beauty, art, culture, restaurants, and re-vitalization that Spokane boasts! Once I began reading and researching, I wondered why we hadn’t made the trip before? Spokane is between a 4 and 5 hour drive from Penticton and there are so many interesting stops along the way! I pinned a Geocaching map so we could stop at all the interest points and learn about the amazing landscape along the way. 

Our first stop was in Omak! I watch Big Brother, so of course I wanted to stop in Omak 😜 #WhereIsJag. We also found our 1st geocache of the trip and hit up the first gas station we saw for American road trip snacks! This was also my first bathroom break of many (which is new to me since I have been diagnosed). Which is probably why it didn’t even occur to me that wearing a full length Smash & Tess jumper on a road trip probably wasn’t the wisest call 🤣 do you know how hard it is to keep your travel backpack, crossbag, and jumper off of the gross floors in gas station bathrooms across northern Washington state? Hard! 🤣

Our next stop, was the Grand Coulee Dam! We were blown away by this huge man-made dam. We stopped at a few different viewpoints and collected geocaches, completed Adventure Labs, checked out a Windmill Garden, and learned all about the dam. We even found a geocache on B Street, the lively street that the workers lived and played on, while they constructed the dam in the 1930’s.

Our next stop was Wilbur, Washington! We stopped to get a picture of the giant statue of Wilbur the pig beside Charlotte and her web 🤣. HBear’s first book that she ever read was Charlotte‘s Web! We read it together taking turns, it was right when my mom was diagnosed with cancer. HBear was almost 4 years old. We also stopped at the drive-by prayer chapel on the side of the highway. A place where travellers can stop and pray, or like us, find another geocache!

We got to Spokane just after lunchtime and went directly to NorthTown Mall. We quickly found out that the shopping at this particular mall wasn’t the best but they had a trampoline park called Get Air that the Kids loved and used to let off all of their antsy pants energy from sitting in the car all morning.

From there we checked into our hotel, The Davenport Tower. Check-in was a disaster as they only had one person working at the front at 5 PM on a Friday evening 😬. I waited in line for over a half an hour while Ninja circled the one-way fiasco that is downtown Spokane 🤣. Once we parked, we made the executive decision to leave the truck in the parkade for the rest of the weekend, as the majority of our plans were within the downtown/Riverfront district where our hotel was located anyways. We decided to enjoy dinner at the Safari Room right there in our hotel. SBean ordered a sugar spun tower of cream puffs for DINNER and the server looked at me and I just nodded “yes”. 🤣 That was the end of my night, but Ninja took the Kids to a little convenience store to get some more American snacks and to the pool for a swim before bed.

We were up bright and early for our full day of activities, starting with breakfast at Frank’s Diner. Frank’s Diner is a restaurant inside of a converted railway car. Spokane is a rail town. It was comforting to hear trains go by throughout the day, and especially throughout the night! Coming from Winnipeg and living by the train tracks my entire life, there is something so calming about trains and the sounds they make. The Diner is a busy little place but they offer free coffee and tea in the gazebo while you wait for the text letting you know they have a table or the counter open for you. Our server was excellent, the food was fantastic and it was an overall fantastic unique Spokane experience.

From there, we walked to Riverfront Park. We walked past City Hall, and other turn of the century buildings, and we marvelled at the architecture. The sun was out and the leaves were turning beautiful, autumnal colours, the weather was between +17 and +20 making it a perfect September day! We did an Adventure Lab and found some geocaches to begin. There is a ton of statues and artwork depicting the first nations, the first settlers of Spokane, as well as the Bloomsday Run. We read so many interesting facts and learned so much about this small city that is so close to us and yet we really knew nothing about. From there, we headed to the Spokane Falls. We learned why the first European settler was Canadian and founded a trading post in Spokane, close to the falls. We took the Numerica SkyRide gondola over the falls and saw everything from a different perspective. SBean was unsure of the gondola ride, but was super brave, and we all enjoyed the 20 minute ride. Next, we were off to the Looff Carousel! A giant merry-go-round is stationed right beside the Riverpark sign. It was so much fun! They had a game where you had to collect rings and throw them into the Garbage Goat’s mouth! The Kids had a blast and so did I 🤣.

From there we continued on seeing all of the monuments throughout the park. The Clocktower, the Pavilion, Upper Falls, and Canada Island. To be honest, I sat in the shade and read while Ninja and the Kids explored. That was key, knowing when to sit down and knowing when to be fully engaged. I was very nervous about my symptoms going into this weekend, especially in the middle of the Crap Gap as I have talked about before, but the adrenaline of being somewhere new and Ninja being patient and reminding me when to take it easy, really helped me maintain my health at the same time as enjoying our trip.

From the park, we walked across the street to the River Park Square shopping center! A string quartet was playing in the centre court, and it was beautiful! Ninja took the Kids into some of the stores they NEEDED to go into, like Sephora 🙄 while I chilled on the bench and read a bit more. Unfortunately, the book I was reading was Never by Ken Follett. An over 800 page hardcover book that is heavy AF! Carrying that around all day was the worst, I definitely should’ve packed a paperback instead! And I KNOW everybody that reads off a Kindle right now is going to message me to tell me how much better it is, especially while travelling lol I know. I am stubborn, but I have learned a very valuable lesson… and so has Ninja who ended up carrying my bag with the heavy AF book all day 🤣.

When we go back to the hotel, I took an afternoon nap while Ninja and the Kids explored a bit more and took another dip in the pool. For dinner we went across the street to the Steam Plant. The night before we were looking out our 11th floor window and saw 2 giant steam towers glowing in blue lights. Right next-door were beautiful murals and a blank wall that was showing a movie to all the cars parked in the parking lot below our hotel window. It looked so cool, we knew we had to check that place out! We are so glad that we did! Steam Plant Restaurant & Brew Pub is just that, a steam plant that has been turned into a restaurant/brewery/games room. So freaking cool! Again, we had amazing service, delicious food, and the beer was great, too… Or at least that’s what Ninja said, I stuck to coffee all weekend because even though I was having a wonderful time with my family, the fatigue was persistent. Coffee doesn’t help really but at least it feels like I’m doing something, so I continued to drink it 🤣. After dinner we headed back to the hotel where the Kids had one last jump in the pool, I got ready for bed, and then Ninja took the Kids to an AMC Theatre for their first recliner movie experience to see Gran Turismo!

We woke up the next morning and headed out to the Spokane Valley for some outlet shopping. Our first stop was, Krispy Kreme! I have only ever had Krispy Kreme’s from fundraising events up here in Canada. They get delivered to Delta and then driven to Penticton and by the time we get them they’re about three days old. I have always wanted to try a freshly fried Krispy Kreme doughnut… I finally got to try it and guess what? It tasted exactly the same 🤣. After “Breakfast” we headed over to Target before the outlet stores opened. While in Target, Ninja and I realized that the Kids or specifically, SBean was completely done. Too much sugar, too much excitement, too much… Too much! So we made the executive decision to scrap the rest of our shopping and head directly home without passing GO 😜.

We did manage to stop for lunch in Grant Coulee. We had planned to go to the Olive Garden in Spokane Valley but when we left before lunch, we decided to wait until closer to home to grab something to eat. Grand Coulee on a Sunday, is a ghost town. Only one restaurant was open so that was our pick, the Rio Grande! OMG. Authentic Mexican food! The portions were huge, the service was fantastic and the food was absolutely delicious. After that stop, my legs were absolutely done. The vibrating from the middle of my lower back went directly to my toes and my left arm was experiencing lots of vibrating and nerve pain. I decided to stay in the truck while Ninja took the Kids into Walmart for our very last stop. They were so excited to buy sugary American cereal, snickerdoodle and vanilla, cupcake Poptarts, and natural soda pop we can’t get up in Canada. 30 minutes later we had crossed the border and we were back in Canada. It was a great getaway but I’m happy and grateful to be home safe and sound with all these new tales and beautiful memories 💜.

It was a wonderful quick visit to Spokane! We found out that Spokane is charming, full of interesting facts, unique and delicious restaurants, and service people that really know how to treat their guests. I would 100% recommend spending a family weekend in Spokane to any and all of you! It was the perfect weekend away to get us back into travelling and exploring everything that is out there just waiting for us to find it! If anybody would like to see videos of our trip, check out my Instagram highlights of Spokane, 2023!

Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode #347: Cowboys, Flags, & Churches HERE! This week, we get together after our weekend in Spokane, Washington. Topics: dog sitting, gin, MRI’s, trains, Coulee Dam, pot store, Riverfront Park, AMC Theater, Krispy Kreme, Target, Tay Tay & Kelce, & 80’s cheese.

I made this salmon dish about a month ago and everybody really enjoyed it. I am not the biggest fish fan, but Ninja and HBear love seafood, fish, and especially salmon. Sometimes when I have one extra chicken breast, I will set it aside for a fish night where I make fish for Ninja and HBear and chicken for SBean and myself. This recipe was perfect because I used the same sauce on the salmon and the chicken breast, and they both turned out amazing! Also, this isn’t spicy! It is a sweet heat that really blends well with the salmon and is a bit different than our regular salmon dishes.