Spokane is located 18 miles from the Idaho
border and 110 miles from the Canadian border. Spokane is located in a
unique area because within a short drive of the city you can be in the
pines and beauty of Coeur d' Alene, be in the desert, be snow skiing in
the winter, or be in farmland. Spokane is protected by the Cascade
mountains from the wetter weather experienced west in Seattle and along the
coast of Washington. As a result their yearly precipitation averages
only about 17 inches.
To see all that is Spokane you will need about 2 or 3 days depending on
how you like to travel. If you like seeing as much as possible in the
shortest amount of time then a single day or 2 days would be the right
amount of time for you. If you like taking your time, say resting on the
greens at Riverfront Park, or relaxing at Manito Gardens, then take
longer. Some streets that you will soon become familiar with are
Sprague, Division, 1st and 2nd streets, and Trent. Downtown and some of
the streets near downtown are all one way streets. Spokane has an
abnormal number of one way streets. Spokane's streets are just about all
preceded by a north, south, east, or west. For example, North Division,
East Sprague.
During my stay in Spokane, even during the rush hour I never found the
downtown streets extremely crowded. I found that I was able to park the
car in one of the garages or parking lots located downtown and was still
able to see all the downtown sights by walking. Spokane has an extremely
large above ground parking garage located in the center of downtown.
This garage must rise about 15 stories. The parking levels on the garage
look like they are slanted one way. This is not an optical allusion;
they actually are slanted in one direction.
The parking lot that I mainly used was located in the shadow of this
large parking garage mentioned above. This lot is located next to the
restaurant Cyrus O'Learys.
One neat thing about downtown Spokane is that 16 of their main city
blocks are connected by walkways, or skywalks. These are walkways that
cross above the streets and allow one to walk through many stores
without ever having to go outdoors. These are especially helpful during
cold snowy winters, and hot dry summers. You can jump from one city
block to the next and quickly become lost. You may have entered the
walkway at one end of downtown and by the time you exit, you may find
yourself on the other side. These skywalks connect not only shops, but a
mall, and financial businesses.
One other thing worth mentioning is the Spokane Guest Connection. This
is a Phone Number that you can call and find out tourist information
about restaurants or hotels or just about anything that a tourist might
need. You can pick up the Spokane Guest Connection flyer at many hotels
and or other establishments. This flyer lists three digit numbers that
correspond to businesses, hotels, restaurants, and shops. This Phone
Number is (509) 467-4905.
