2 August 2017 Dishman Hills and Cars

It had been a long time since my last visit to Dishman Hills. I was tired but determined to hit the trail at one of my favorite parks. I found one cache, spotted a new bird, and enjoyed my outing immensely.

I was excited to see a new bird in the park. It is a canyon wren and uncommon in Dishman Hills. They are more known for spottings in Riverside Park and ironically the Little Spokane River where I had just hiked a few days prior. Normally Dishman Hills would not offer enough water to attract them.

I was done for the day and heading back to the hotel when I drove past Ron's Drive In and noticed they were having a cruise night. We have been here before for a geocaching event, but I rarely stop here as they do not offer chocolate ice cream. 8)

There were a few rarer cars here. Even though the event was winding down, I was happy to stop and enjoy.

1958 Edsel

1959 Galaxie Skyline

1958 Chevy Cameo

1959 Pontiac Catalina

1963 Ford Fairlane

1956 Ford Fairlane

It isn't often these days where I can stop by a car show, and a significant number of the cars are older than I am. ;)

1 August 2017 Saltese Uplands

Saltese Uplands is a 500+ acre conservation area. Like the rest of the Spokane area, it was hot and very dry. I was happy for a long walk after a long day at the office. It was long past the wildflower season and the wildlife was staying hidden in cooler, shady areas, but the hike was just what I needed. The views of nearby Liberty Lake were great after I cleared the last peak.

A hot evening on the trail with a few ammo cans to find is a great way to wipe away a bad day.

I started back as the sun shifted and the hues of the hill sides darkened.

30 July 2017 Litle Spokane Hike

A trip is always looking up when there are more empty med bags than filled ones, especially when the number of bags starts at thirteen. :(

With a free Sunday, I headed for a first visit to a long hike above and along the Little Spokane River. The views from the trail were great.

One of my other options for the day was a trip to Fairchild AFB to watch the air show. It was interesting to have a long distance view of the jets.

Western Pee Wee

Late Blooming Lupine

The trail was hot and really dry.

29 July 2017 Tubbs Hill

When I am in Spokane, I am very close to Idaho but rarely visit. By the time my work day ends, driving to another state is too much effort. With a weekend over in Washington, I decided to spend my Saturday at Tubbs Hill in Coeur d'Alene. The area is adjacent to Lake Coeur d'Alene and very popular for visitors. Fortunately most people don't walk very far and few ever leave the water's edge so my journey quickly became a solitary one. The lake is very scenic and a large attraction to the growing population in Coeur d'Alene.

While I was visiting the smoke was still limited to smaller fires. The big burns and warnings to not go outdoors were still to come.

I have been unable to identify this bird.

It was time to leave the water and start to climb.

I quickly encountered a very unhappy pair of breeding ospreys. Eagles are much more reserved when on nest than ospreys. This pair was relentless in expressing their unhappiness at my presence on the trail. I stopped long enough to capture a few images before moving quickly on (and checking over my back).

There was one last look at the water before my rise continued and the water dropped away.

I found the cache at the peak of Tubbs Hill. It had been a long week with another one ahead. I headed back to Spokane with a few stops at parks along the Spokane River on the way.

28 July 2017 First Visit to Liberty Lake

My travel plans didn't quite work out the evening before. I had a good plan flying Monterrey to Houston to Denver to Spokane. I would have arrived in time for a late meal and been able to get most of an evening's sleep, but... It all worked until the flight was late leaving Houston. When we arrived in Denver, I was happy to see my flight to Spokane was a continuation of the Houston to Denver flight. It was still good, except our flight crew timed out with the late arrival in Denver. The back-up flght crew was also late with their inbound flight. In the end, they reached the gate with less than fifteen minutes to push-back. The flight crw was yelling at people to sit down so they could push back before they timed out. In the end the jet left the gate with about two minutes to spare and a post midnight arrival in Spokane. By the time I retrieved my bag, grabbed the rental, and made the half-hour drive to the hotel, it was time to wake in my normal time zone.

I made it through the day and decided on a visit to Liberty Lake to spend a short Friday evening. My first choice for parking was closed for wild fire risk so I ended up never seeing the water but enjoying a brief but quiet woods walk.

There was plenty dry vegetation to burn here.

I met a couple out walking their dog. It made me wish I were home for the weekend with Ali and our dogs.

There were a few good rock scrambles as I hunted a couple caches.

This was as close as I got to the lake. I started down this trail hoping to see what promised to be a good sunset on the water, but quickly realized I was past tired and needed to get of the trail and the road and back to my hotel.

27 July 2017 Pontiac Lives?

I was caught a little off guard seeing a Pontiac badge in the parking lot. Except for a missing driving light, this was clean enough to be a new car. The Pontiac Matiz was unfortunately a direct descendant of the Daewoo Matiz. In the States, the Pontiac brand was tortured by GM with a Daewoo imported and sold between 1989 and 1993 as the Pontiac Lemans. It seems fitting that GM management decided to torture the last years of Pontiac in Mexico with another awful Daewoo. It is unclear when the Pontiac brand finally breathed its last in Mexico. The car seems to have been badged as late as 2013 with the Pontiac name. It is confusing as some dealers market models as recent as 2015 as Pontiacs even though the cars clearly wear the garish gold bowtie of Chevy. The Matiz saw time under the Chevy umbrella and appeared to continue for sale even as the Spark was introduced and sold

A few spaces down was a Chevy Comfort. The Comfort appeared to be a Chevy offering from the mid 2000's to 2010. Considering the car's diminutive size, Comfort seems a bit ironic for a name.

There was no after-work hiking this evening as I had a flight reservation to take me to Houston then on to Denver and Spokane.