Spokane, Washington is 395 miles from Cloverdale, BC. This is mostly 2 to 4 lane highway driving, including Interstate 5 from the border to about Everett/Redmond, then Interstate 405 for about 20 miles until Interstate 90 and about 300 miles to Spokane. Driving time is around 6 hours.
Our travelling time was about 8 and a half hours. This included an hour and a half in the border line up at the truck crossing. This was at 10 in the morning on a Friday, not a holiday weekend. We hadn't eaten breakfast, planning to grab a bite once we crossed the line which took us a lot longer than expected. At noon we pulled into Shari's near the Bellis Fair Mall in Bellingham and enjoyed soup, sandwich, and biscuit. this took about half an hour or so. After investing two and a half hours we'd proceeded about 30 miles south from Cloverdale.
Crazy. And we have the 2010 Winter Olympics coming in less than a year. Border control is going to do some serious reorganizing.
Travelling with two dogs means hitting rest stops every hour and half or so to let them go potty and give them a drink of water. These are quick stops, so don't affect the travelling time too much.
The Snoqualmie Pass still has snow. Fortunately not on the highway, but on the shoulder and on the ground. The outside temperature on my car's guage hovered a couple of degrees above freezing. All that snow keeps the area cold.
Once out of the mountains the scenery changes drastically and instantly to desert country. Bare lands with tumbleweeds. But this is also the home of Washington hay and many areas that can be seen from the highway are lush and green from irrigation.
Moses Lake is a rather interesting community on the drive to Spokane. Yes, there's a lake. And its a rather large town in the middle of nowhere with gas stations, hotels, and restaurants. Kind of makes you wonder what industry around these parts could actually sustain a town of this size. I conclude it is either a retirement community or a summer vacation spot.
We finally arrive in Spokane around 6:30 and check into our hotel. After resting for an hour or so we head out to find Northtown Mall where I know there is a Barnes & Noble so I can buy a recently released book that is still not in Chapters around here. And then its off to Skippers for a fish and chips dinner.
About the only touristy thing we did in Spokane was the Riverfront Park Skyride. Gondolas go over the Spokane River Falls. Takes about 15 minutes and has some good photo opportunities. The park features midway rides, a carousel, lakes, and sculptures. The unfortunate thing is that people have to pay to park their cars around here. We got lucky and found a parking meter, free on Sundays, but those fill up fast on nice days. There is a pay parking lot, not sure what it costs, but around $5 for the day I believe. There is a mall across the street with a large parkade. I spoke to someone who visited there and she said it cost $6 to park for an hour. She was disappointed in the mall. Many shops were closed.
I'd definitely recommend Northtown Mall, a couple of miles away from this mall. It has 175 shops, most of them open, and free parking.
Spokane is not high on the tourist trap list, but its a nice place to hang out for a couple of days while passing through.
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