October 7 2008 – Tuesday (2 Weeks)
Spokane, WA
Yesterday was a spectacular day, getting a taste of the outskirt mountain areas around Spokane. The word got out that I have wanted to go hiking recently, and everyone knows by now, that I love biking around. Chad apparently goes hiking quite often and knows a few routes with different levels of difficulty. I’m not a regular hiker by any means (which most of you know) but I’m not in horrible shape since I dance. Out of the three options of Difficult, Medium & Easy that Chad provided, we ended up hiking the medium trail. I was a bit anxious when we got there and found out that the trail was 7.2 miles long and would take us about 4 hours, but I took it in stride and decided that it would be just fine. It was definitely challenging and completely beautiful. Besides Chad & I, Chris, Ivan (I’m not sure how to spell that), and Micah came with us! The trail, around the Liberty Creek Watershed area, was quite difficult in parts, quite humorous in others, and relaxing in a few. To 
understand fully, you’ll just have to see the photos that I have posted. The trail twisted, turned and mostly disappeared, climbed around roots and fallen trees, started at about 2200 elevation and at the top (I have provided a photo for proof) we had climbed to about 3800 elevation. Impressive! You may wonder why I said that some of the trail was humorous, so I should probably explain. 
Along the way, there were helpful signs showing us where we were, warning us about washouts & telling us about cedar groves, but there were also some signs that read, “More Hiking,” “Waterfall,” and “Scenic Trail.” I had a good laugh at those but also appreciated their simplicity. Nobody had to name the waterfall a complicated name claiming it as their own or attempting to describe it, all they needed was to tell people that it was, in fact, a waterfall. Fabulous.
understand fully, you’ll just have to see the photos that I have posted. The trail twisted, turned and mostly disappeared, climbed around roots and fallen trees, started at about 2200 elevation and at the top (I have provided a photo for proof) we had climbed to about 3800 elevation. Impressive! You may wonder why I said that some of the trail was humorous, so I should probably explain. 
Along the way, there were helpful signs showing us where we were, warning us about washouts & telling us about cedar groves, but there were also some signs that read, “More Hiking,” “Waterfall,” and “Scenic Trail.” I had a good laugh at those but also appreciated their simplicity. Nobody had to name the waterfall a complicated name claiming it as their own or attempting to describe it, all they needed was to tell people that it was, in fact, a waterfall. Fabulous. 
As many of my friends and family know, I like mushrooms. In school, I had many projects based on mushrooms and it became a bit of a theme during my time there. It just so happens that it’s fall mushroom season right now and they were everywhere along that trail! One of the first that we spotted was, in fact, the mushroom that I based many of my projects around. It was nice to see it live in the forest. Once my fellow hikers found out about my passion for mushrooms, everyone was helping to find more for photos. When we made it to the end of the trail, I had sure built up an appetite. A bit amazed that I had made it the whole way and kept a fairly good pace, I felt great about the hike. Originally, we had wanted to go hiking and then biking in the evening; Chad has a scooter and Chris has a motorcycle. The weather, however, was very cloudy, partially rainy & somewhat unpleasant during the day so we nixed the biking that evening.
Instead, we made plans to have everyone back for dinner again at Don & Barb’s but first I was able to see where both Chris & Chad lived. They both have great homes and I’m happy to see that they seem to be quite happy in their lives. Dinner was nice, especially since I was energized from the day instead of dead tired from driving like the day before. After making plans for breakfast & group photos the next day before I took off, everyone left and I had a chance to visit with just my Aunt & Uncle again. Rarely do I have the chance to verify any stories that my mom has told me through the years, so I jumped at it and listened, entertained, as Don told me his versions of many stories from growing up.
One of my favorite stories is the one about how my Grandpa bought their house in Pelican Rapids. My mom has told me this story numerous times and I asked for Don’s version as well. Long story short, my Grandpa walked up to the guy who then owned the house and asked him if he would sell it. The guy said yes. We now have the greatest location in the town and I never want to let it go. In that house, the downstairs bedroom has stars covering most of its ceiling. Usually, the reason for this would simply be that kids like putting stars on the ceiling of their rooms… This time, it’s because my Uncle Don shot his bee bee gun at the ceiling and created holes everywhere. My Grandma Esther used gold stars to cover the holes. I like the effect!
Overall, it was a wonderful day; even though I’ll probably be in pain from the hike in a couple of days, it was definitely worth it, for the beauty and the chance to spend time with my cousins.
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