Arriving home, it was a treat to see friends I had not seen in months. Hugs were exchanged and espresso beverages drank.
Over Koffee we dove right into the complex problems facing our civilization, and even though I voted by absentee ballot for the experienced left leaning fellow for mayor, our city has been taken over by regressive fascists, who by ignoring the public health, covid cases are now higher than even during the first stage of the pandemic. Without mask mandates or any rules to help stop the spread of Covid, our hospitals are almost at capacity, and we are witnessing first-hand the regressive republican health care plan of if you get sick just die.
Well, I was not home long enough to remember what it was I
did when I was home, and I was off again, this time with my housemate on a run
to Spokane. Of course, getting there involved flying, and something about the
ticket was weird.
My ticket said row 6B. Who knew there were even seats beyond
row four, and I soon found out that they were not actual seats but narrow barely
padded plastic lawn chairs that are stuffed in three abreast on both port and
starboard. These ‘seats’ appeared to get
smaller and closer together the further back you went, where I assumed only
cargo was stowed, but it was full of people. Obviously, the people that walk by
you when you are sitting in row two. The moaning coming from the rear cargo
section was hard to bear, but soon the noise of the jet engines overpowered those
suffering the joys of modern jet travel. To add to the absurdity
my fruit and cheese tray was not served on China but handed to me, by a large
woman pulling some type of cart that rammed into me repeated as the folks from
I guess steerage were grabbing onto it trying to get anything they could get
their hands on.
If that wasn’t bad enough when we finally reached Seattle
the people that were sitting in the real seats, obviously had never traveled
before and didn’t realize that when the door opened they were supposed to get
up and actually retrieve their bags that
they stowed in the overhead ,and exit the plane, thus getting out of the way of
the masses riding in steerage.
Free of the airplane we set about enjoying the food and
beverage options of Spokane. The Park Lodge is a standout for excellent food,
and drink.
Another wonderful place we frequented was The Peacock Room in the historic Davenport Hotel.
Fortified with food and drink and under warm sunny skies we
headed to the little Spokane river for a kayak adventure.
We only traveled a short distance when the green one became untethered and wanted to be an air ship instead of a boat. A quick stop and it was re-secured, where it stayed until we reached the river.
At the embarkation point my friends quickly got on the water
leaving me to launch myself. I failed miserable at launching and was almost
immediately in the river watching my boat turn on its side and sink. I had no
idea how heavy a plastic kayak can be when filled with water. It was an effort
to get it back on shore and flip over to drain. I think the thing must have
held at least 50 gallons of river water.
After my refreshing dip in the river, I carefully launched
myself into the river current and we began our 31/2-hour journey on the Little
Spokane River.
The river is not swift and only had one gentle rapid, but I soon
learned that with out a rudder you had better start paddling before the current
swept you into the bank.
It was a momentous day on the water. There were no other mishaps.
Great Blue Herons, turtles, green wing teals, mallards and a couple of mergansers
were sighted. One merganser tired of seeing humans in its habit even took the
lead for a while. It probably knew where the waterfall is.
We had the river to ourselves
till almost the pull-out dock. Our guide and hostess even made us lunch! Thank
You Lynn!
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