I didn't sleep the best but got enough to function the next day. I finally got up around 7:20, used the restroom, got ready and made my way to the living room and kitchen area...obviously trying to avoid being faced by the dogs. She told me that, me visiting was good for them because they are able to get used to people coming over--which is something they didn't get to experience in Colorado because she lived with her aunt, hardly anyone came over and being isolated due to Covid.
Megan made breakfast. We had scrambled eggs, plant sausages and bananas. I was apprehensive about the plant sausage, but it really wasn't that bad. Megan wanted to go to the Farmer's Market in Downtown Spokane so we gabbed what we would need, hopped in the truck and headed over.
She had looked it up but upon arrival, we did not see the Farmer's Market. Did they post the wrong address? Were they actually having a Farmer's Market today? We pulled over and checked it out further. Megan found the right address and we weren't that far away from it. We did see the Farmer's Market signs finally. We found a place to pullover along the road. She grabbed a bag or two and we walked over.
We made the rounds, and she found some stuff she wanted to bring home. She chatted with a lady for a bit about plants and how to keep them (Megan wanted to grow a small garden next spring and asked for advice), the lady gave her a couple free plants. I bought a large zucchini, she got a couple veggies, dog treats, flowers and a yellow watermelon. We walked back to the truck and headed back to the Valley. We did make a quick stop at Costco to pick up a few things. I bought Ben some Adidas shorts because his clothes were getting very worn out and needed replaced. Plus, you can never have too many shorts in the summer. I practically live in them for several months.
We went back to the house, put the groceries away and Fitzy went into the crazy garage to dig her rollerblades out. She had asked me to bring mine so we could hit up the Centennial Trail while I was here. She found them, grabbed some socks, water and we headed out again in the truck. She knew of a trailhead nearby we could park at. The Centennial Trail follows the Spokane River, and it is a 37-mile paved trail that starts at Nine Mile Falls to the Washington/Idaho border and then connects to the North Idaho Centennial Trail.
We got to the trailhead, parked, put our socks and rollerblades on and made sure we had everything. I brought my small pack with water and other stuff inside just in case we needed it. Megan wore her helmet and pads since she hasn't been in practice with rollerblading for several years. I do it more than she does, but she wants to get back into it as another form of exercise.
We chose to go east because Megan mentioned that this has less hills and inclines than going west. I followed her lead since this was my first time on this trail. It was warm but not too uncomfortable. It was fun to be able to go rollerblading again. The last time was in 2021 during the summer months when Megan was staying with her mom in Rainier while her mom was undergoing medical treatments. I drove out several times to go on walks or rollerblading with her. There were tons of people out jogging, walking dogs or children as we made our way down the trail.
Neither of us knew how far we were going to go. I took pictures along the way and checked the phone app to see if there were any geocaches along this part of the trail. There was an earthcache, but I chose not to do it since it would take up too much time, and there was a traditional further up the trail that we could do. We passed under several roads and bridges along the way. There was one spot where a crazy guy hung out. Megan said he was pretty harmless if you just ignored him and when we got to that spot, we just ignored him.
I told her the cache was just up ahead and she said that would make a great turn around spot since we were approaching about three miles. I saw the cache was up a hill near the road. There was an access spot to the trail but no parking. Megan was like, it's up there? I said, yep. We both rollerbladed up the hill and the coords to Flora Trailhead (GC3E9GQ) took us to a metal sign. I soon found out why it was a 3.5/1/5. I was not tall enough to reach it nor get it out of its hidey hole...even with rollerblades on. Megan tried her hand at retrieving it and it was frustrating at first. She did eventually figure out how to get it out and we both celebrated the victory! I signed my name, got a picture and put it back for the next cacher.
I rollerbladed down the hill and Megan decided she was going to take hers off and walk down. She was not going to attempt to roll down. I waited for her at the bottom. She put her rollerblades back on and we headed the three miles back to the truck. It was getting hotter, and I was sweaty. We stopped a few times to take photos of the river and to get some water, but other than that, we didn't stop very many times. We got back to the truck, took our rollerblades and socks off, slipped into different shoes and decided to walk down to the river.
There were some people down there fishing and exploring. I hopped along the rocks to find a good place to sit, take my shoes and socks off and dip my feet into the water. I did not anticipate the water to be that cold! It was like Mowich Lake all over again. It was so cold it hurt to leave your feet in there for more than 15 seconds! We took a couple pictures, I got my socks and shoes on and walked back up the hill to the truck.
We drove back to her house, ate our leftover pizza from the night before and decided to hang out for a bit. I looked at the app to see if there were any caches in her neighborhood and there was! The next street over was a travel bug hotel. I grabbed the Jack Link's trackable and a pathtag out of my bag and told Megan where I was going. I walked down the street to the Cachingclutes Muggle Free TB Hotel for the Year (GC20M5Y). I was hoping to run into the cache owners because I have met them a couple times before. I got it opened and traded out 2 trackables for my Jack Link's and a pathtag. I signed the logbook, got a couple pictures and closed it back up. I walked back to the house.
We hung out some more, watched the dogs run around the yard and Megan took some time to tell me some of the plans she and Chaise have for the yard and the exterior of the house. Chaise was feeling a little better, so he went to go hang out with his brother Jake for a bit. Megan and I loitered around for a little bit longer while we watched the dogs finally calm down and nap. They were a lot easier to be around when they were sleeping.
A little later on, we decided to jump in the Escape and head to downtown Spokane. I've always wanted to go to No-Li and try their beer. We found the address and made our way west down I-90. When we got there, we found a place to park and went inside. They sat us right away. The pizza earlier wasn't enough, so I ordered a burger, fries and a Porch Glow, since I enjoy the Amber ales. Megan also got burger, fries and a beer. We chatted and enjoyed our food and beers. We also enjoyed the free stickers as we paid. We hit up the photo booth on our way out.
We wanted to go try another brewery down the road but sadly, Bad-Ass was closed. Megan found another one just up the street called V-Twin Brewery. It was a smaller brewery but looked like it stayed busy. I did part of an Adventure Lab in the parking lot before we went in. We sat at the bar and decided which beer we wanted to try.
The I Pee Jamison Ale looked promising. We both decided that's what we wanted to try, and I bought Megan her beer for hosting me this weekend. I also bought Ben one to take home with me so he could try it. We spent most of our time drinking our beer and talking to the bar tender. She was a transplant from California and is enjoying living in Spokane. She loves trying new beer in different cities and tries as much as she can. We suggested she hit up the Hood River and Bend, Oregon when she did get that chance. We were there for about an hour and then went home.
We got settled in a little bit. Chaise came home after a while. I worked on logging caches and working on the blog as we watched Lost City downstairs. Semus got as close as he could to me, snuggled and fell asleep on my arm. The movie was hilarious but then I love Sandra Bullock. After the movie, I got a shower in, and everyone went to bed. I stayed up for a little bit longer planning my route home for the next day.
Next Adventure: Spokane Trip: Spokane to Lacey
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