As I mentioned before, we travel for a living. Our last assignment brought us to Spokane, WA. We drove from Houston, TX in four days leaving starting November 5th, 2008. In route, we stayed in Amarillo, TX, Cheyenne, WY and Billings ,MT. All in all, the drive was fine, Cheyenne was windy, but we’ve learned that is not uncommon. As expected, the weather got colder by the day.
Spokane itself is about 280 miles east of Seattle, and 35 miles west of Couer D’Alene, ID. It is at 2000 feet elevation, with many little hills and a river running through it with waterfalls. It offers many hiking and biking trails, parks, golf courses, ice skating arenas, theaters, ski resorts and 260 days of sunshine.
Unfortunately, since we’ve been here, we’ve seen maybe two days of sunshine, a lot of snow, and lot of fog and very grey skies. The locals agree that even though there has been so much snow this winter, the grey skies and fog is normal Spokane winter.
Our time here has been spent mostly indoors, for obvious reasons. I am not a ski person, but my husband skied in Mount Washington and enjoyed it despite the short runs. We took a walk or two in the snow, checked out Riverfront Park and Arena, and did a lot of reading and movie watching. I took up quilting as a hobby, which kept me sane. Other than that, it was eating and drinking and being merry.
Staying merry hasn’t always been easy with all the cold and lack of sunshine, but we have Maui in three weeks to look forward to. We will be spending the rest of the winter on Maui, where we should have a lot of sunshine and will be able to go back to our routines and outdoor activities. I can not wait!
Comments (9)
Hi Candi,
I am also working with Kim to set up a ST Blog. You have inspired me to work on an entry this weekend and select a sidebar photo!
Glad to hear that you will be heading somewhere warm & sunny soon!
Sheri
Posted by scg | January 23, 2009 9:29 AM
Posted on January 23, 2009 09:29
Sherri, I like blogging a lot. I am still trying to get the hang of it, and I suspect I will have more to blog about once I am back to my more "normal" settings.
Let us know know when you got your blog, you will love it.
Posted by candi | January 23, 2009 10:49 AM
Posted on January 23, 2009 10:49
Hi Candi,
Welcome to Blogging! I see you live in Washington State. That is where I live also except on the west (also known as the wet) side. This has been a tough winter in Washington. Spokane has had a lot of snow. Please try to make the best of it. This is a great place if you give it some time. And it is good that you have Maui to look forward to.
Welcome again.
Marta
Posted by marta | January 23, 2009 7:11 PM
Posted on January 23, 2009 19:11
Candi, we'll be on Maui around June 20th for a week. Will you still be there? Perhaps a GTG?
Posted by Kim | January 24, 2009 4:46 AM
Posted on January 24, 2009 04:46
Welcome to blogging and thanks for commenting on my blog! Yes, Oprah was fantastic!
My mom is also a lab technologist, in Norway. (Or at least I assume it is the same, sometimes health care professions can be different from country to country - she worked most of her career in a lab at a general hospital, taking and analyzing tests, now she works in a nuclear medicine department in a cancer hospital.
Posted by Chiocciola | January 24, 2009 6:35 AM
Posted on January 24, 2009 06:35
Kim, our current contracts is up on May 15th, we may end extending though. Would definitely love a GTG if we are still there. Will keep you posted!
Chiocciola, yes, working in a lab at a general hospital is what we do, we don't really collect any blood, but we do analyze it.
Marta,we like Seattle a lot, we were there on vacation in November 2007 and loved it.
Posted by candi | January 24, 2009 10:30 AM
Posted on January 24, 2009 10:30
Thanks Candi! I guess in the US the person collecting the blood is called a phlebotomist or something like that? In Norway, the lab technologist and the phlebotomist is one profession, so they do both. According to my mom she is the best at drawing blood - I guess 35 years of experience helps! (And yes, speaking from personal experience, she does a great job.)
Posted by Chiocciola | January 24, 2009 3:48 PM
Posted on January 24, 2009 15:48
Hi Candi. Welcome to blogging!! After living on Oahu for six years, I moved to Washington State. Only lasted two years and then moved back to Oahu. I missed the sun too much and have been too spoiled by the palm trees and warmth of Hawaii. Too bad you won't be on Oahu. It would be fun to meet. If you ever head over though, let me know. I do have a friend on Maui in case you need any info.
Posted by girasoli | January 24, 2009 9:23 PM
Posted on January 24, 2009 21:23
girasoli,thanks. We've worked on Maui couple times before, actually we just left Maui in June 2008.
Oahu is the one island we haven't visited yet, maybe we will this time.I'll keep you posted.
Posted by candi | January 24, 2009 10:29 PM
Posted on January 24, 2009 22:29