A Living Magazine - Day 82 - The Lower Falls

If Portland, Oregon's sleeping spot was a cathedral of pine trees, this sleep spot is a cathedral of concrete. Waking up next to a 100 foot concrete bridge column each morning is really something! I packed up and headed down Riverside, capturing its own unique bridge art...

Up along the edge of the sidewalk, this wall went on for a good 100 feet. I'd like to use it as clip art for my CAD designs...

Then I reached the Maple Street Bridge. I wanted to go to Wal-Mart to get my insoles and other supplies and thought I'd cross the river to check out the area there. I had to cross it regardless, and this seemed the quickest way. What a trip this caged walkway was! I even made a weird little video slowed to half speed to show how endless it seemed...

The Endless Cage

Upon reaching the other side, I walked through a tunnel and then came to a stairway to get off of Maple...

View: up and down.

I took a right on Broadway and found the Spokane County Superior Court, Auto Licensing and Auditing Building. Very impressive architecture...

The idea was to get to either Monroe or Division and then take a bus to Wellesley. I reached Monroe first, went in to the McDondald's there and checked online for messages, etc. Often - as was the case today - there are bus stops at McDonald's and Wal-Mart. So, one can bounce between them as easy land marks. I saw there was a bus soon (on this, Route 24), so I went out and waited. The bus showed up right on time and I paid my $1.50 and got a transfer pass. I was set for two hours.

When I got to Wellesley, I thought I'd walk the six blocks or so to Wal-Mart. But, I actually wished I'd taken the Wellesly bus (Route 33), since the sun was pretty hot, and I'd already paid for the bus.

At Wal-Mart were all the usual but strange characters. It seems to be a culture unto itself. The insoles rack was a bit hidden behind all the "health and beauty" products, but I found it. I was expecting to pay about $10.00. RiteAid in town cost about $15.00. But good old Wal-Mart had gel insoles for only $4.78!

I grabbed them and a few other items, paid and headed back; this time to the bus stop on Wellesley. There, I sat at the bench, cut down the insoles to size 11, and worked them into the boots. When I got my feet in they felt incredibly good. I couldn't believe I'd gone so long without proper insoles.

I caught the 33 bus and then got back off at Monroe, where I waited for 24, which I took back into the downtown area. When I stepped off the bus it had been exactly two hours since I received my transfer pass. Great way to travel around Spokane. You can also buy a day pass for $3.20. I've been on buses in other cities with single fares of $3.25! So, Spokane Transit is a great deal.

I got back to the center of town and worked outside in the park (using it's "Free 45 minute daily Wi-Fi!"), and was able to publish the day's blog post. While there at the library I saw a park I hadn't been to yet, way down by the old hydroelectric project. So, seeing this as a way to get a few more pictures I headed down to it...

Back of the Spokane Water Power building. 

Reminded me just a tiny bit of Led Zeppelin's, Physical Graffiti album cover.

I'm a bit of a sucker for various kinds of textures and surfaces...

Then I found another type of fruit I didn't recognize. Greenish yellow, lemon-shaped fruit, on a deciduous kind of tree. The fruit was hard, not squishy. Kind? Frank?

Another mystery fruit.

I keep seeing these Hondas around.

It was a quite a descent to this sunken area that I will call Lower Falls Park (since it seems to have no name?). It was the place that the Sky Ride's Sky Cars park over. I couldn't resist, taking a picture of them in "the sky", resting for the night...

What I found down here was a gorgeous spot, with the thickest, healthiest, greenest grass I'd yet seen in Spokane...

There were several levels to view the falls, bridge and surrounding cliffs from, with stairs leading to each. The Lower Falls themselves were really beautiful...

And, there's the Monroe Street bridge. Spokane has a motif, as every town or city does,

expressed in its civil engineering. These multi-arched concrete bridges are part of it,

and the large,crystal shaped basalt rocks are another.

A view of the public library from the park.

Part of an old turbine.

One of the outlets. I like the large wall structure beneath the surface.

The other set of Sky Cars. I'd said a couple posts back that there were only

three cars on one side and two on the other, but it is actually a continuous

cable, with four sets of cars; three cars, two cars, three cars, two cars, all evenly spaced.

Ruins of an old mill or bridge.

Another plant I couldn't identify.

I love the "To take a responsible fish photograph:" instructions. 

I walked over and around the edge of the bridge column to see what kinds of off things people might have left over there...

Interesting piece of art or memorial.

Painted on the far side of the bridge.

The bottom section of the Sky Ride.

Arching archetypes.

I presumed these were gears and cables used to open and shut spillway doors?

The sun shone its last rays through the trees on the hills in the distance. It had been going down earlier--on this night, at 7:30. It was time to head back. I was nearly out of money again, and picked up some nachos and cheese for the daily meal. I ate them as I walked back to the creek.

At the sleeping spot, I got everything laid out right away and then wandered around the area scouting for other possible spots. I was tire, and I really hadn't even done that much that day. My feet were feeling great. Much of the heel pain that I'd been dealing with was alleviated. I didn't know how long the gel insoles would last, but whatever the amount of time, this purchase was the right decision.

I took off the boots, laid down and fell asleep right away, eventually crawling into the sleeping bag, then dreaming all night...