Saturday June 17

Day 1:  Spokane

Writing this at the end of the day is so unbelievable - ANOTHER fabulous day full of experiences, but what made today so special was that NONE of it went the way of "the plan!"  And those that know me know that this is SOOOOO unlike me and my trips/experiences.  First we were surprised to learn that we'd be leaving at 7 am and arriving in Spokane at 9:30 am after disembarking the ship.  Second, I'd tried to find city tours or something to do, but the best we'd come up with was maybe lunch at a restaurant we'd heard of - Anthony's which supposedly was on the water.  Dinner plans and the hotel were up in the air - though we did know where our reservations were.....but the Hilton Garden Inn was out by the airport - how would we ever find anything?  Well, when we got to the hotel our rooms, obviously were not ready.  We asked about things to do and the clerk asked what we liked doing.  Even though we knew the answer would be it's not available we said we like city tours.  She pulled out a pamphlet for "Inland Empire Tours."  What would be the odds that they'd have something at 9:45 am on a Saturday, but it was worth a call.  I dialed the number and the owner Dick Jensen answered.  I told him what our situation was and he chuckled.  Then he said, "Well my computer is going through an upgrade that will last several hours and I'm free.  I can pick you up in twenty minutes!"  Not only that, but he was SENSATIONAL and we LOVED the tour.....history, little know facts, sites, sounds.....just great.  We saw the floral gardens, two college campuses (go Cougs!); a fort, geological formations, wealthy/large/historical homes.....just amazing.

Dick dropped us off at Anthony's where we had an excellent lunch overlooking the falls.  

Then after napping in the afternoon we enjoyed some wine by a fire pit at our hotel....walked across the parking lot to the "Rusty Moose" restaurant and had one of the best meals of the trip - mine was spaghetti and bison meatballs.  The spaghetti sauce was TO DIE FOR!  Thick and spicy.....wow.  And we topped it off with moose track ice cream drizzled with caramel, chocolate, and crushed resse's pieces!

And to top the day......I'd handicapped five races for the Saturday action.  I watched the replays after dinner and won FOUR of them, including my BET of the Day in the national feature race, the Grade 1 Stephen Foster from Churchill Downs under the lights......what a day!

Day 2:  Arbor Winery & Clinkerdaggers

Coming tomorrow......