Road Trip with Celeste, 18–29 October 2025
Melody's sister Celeste usually comes out every year from New York, and this year we made a larger road trip than in the past. We spent time in each of Spokane, Boise, and Yakima.
Tacoma, Saturday, 18 October
After Celeste arrived in town, we drove down to Tacoma to hear Keith (brother) and Bev (his wife) in a concert by Symphony Tacoma. We arrived a bit early to miss the worst of the traffic, and left enough time to have gelato before dinner. Since everything was close together, we just walked to a Thai restaurant, then headed to the Pantages Theater.
We found our seats, then Bev came out to say hi. She was only performing after intermission, so she was going to sit with us. She introduced us to her cousin and wife from Olympia, who were sitting right in front of us. Later, Carmen (niece), Kenny (nephew), and Zoie (Kenny's partner) showed up.
The concert was great, with the symphony sounding really good. We didn't hang around too long and headed back to Seattle since it was getting late.
Sunday, 19 October
This would be Celeste's only full day in Seattle. We all mostly took it easy during the day, but Kellen, Brady, Tynor, Mallory, Keith, Bev, and Kenny all showed up to have dinner. We squeezed around the table, and all had a great time. Everyone seemed to get enough food, and the conversation was lively.
Seattle to Spokane, Monday, 20 October
The drive to Spokane was the first of our travel days. To split up the time, we stopped in Ellensburg for lunch, then went a bit further east to Vantage to walk in the Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park, which has several examples of petrified logs along the trails. We then continued our way to Spokane, where we checked into our motel.
After we were settled, we headed over to have dinner with Neal (uncle) and Kevin (cousin from Illinois). Later in the evening, we settled into the lounge where Melody and I played a bit of piano, then the rest of us talked a bit more. As it happened, Game 7 of the Mariners/Blue Jays series was on the TV and a few of the residents were watching. My phone got updates about 10 seconds before the plays showed on the TV. I saw a home run was hit that put the Blue Jays ahead for good, turned around, and watched it happen. It was a fun ride to see the Mariners get so far, and Tynor and I got to go to one of the games.
Celeste, Melody, and I headed out to go back to the motel since we needed to get up early enough to get to breakfast the next morning.
Spokane, Tuesday, 21 October
We showed up to Neal's retirement community early (at least early for us) to join Neal and Kevin for breakfast, then made plans for the rest of the day.
Saying goodbye to Neal for the day, Kevin, Celeste, Melody, and I headed out to the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, where we saw an exhibit with the art of Preston Singletary, named "Raven and the Box of Daylight," which represented Native themes with art which was mostly made of glass. There was also an exhibit of artifacts from the Davenport Hotel, a landmark in downtown Spokane.
We then drove to Riverside State Park, where we did a short loop near the Spokane River and the rock formations, Bowl and Pitcher. Another highlight was the pedestrian bridge which crosses the river.
Having done both culture and outdoor activities, it was time for lunch. We went to a diner which was set in a train car. Our going there was unrelated to the name of the place being Frank's Diner.
Having been fed, we dropped Kevin and Celeste at Neal's place, then Melody and I went to a café to get drinks and some fast internet.
When it was time for dinner, we drove over there. Keith and Bev also arrived in town, so the seven of us enjoyed a meal and then did our usual trip to the lounge. Bev had her clarinet, so she played and Melody accompanied on the piano, then Melody and I played a bit before heading back to the motel.
Spokane, Wednesday, 22 October
The seven of us met up once again for breakfast. Afterward, Kevin stayed behind to help Neal with some errands. In the meantime, the rest of us headed over to the Dishman Hills area to do the Iller Creek Trail. As we got to the top of the loop, we wandered around the Rocks of Sharon and found a good place for lunch. On the way back we saw an old truck that had been there for quite a long time.
After the hike, we saw Keith and Bev off, then returned to the room to clean up. We then went to Neal's place to relax a bit before dinner. In addition to the seven of us, Barbara (stepmother) assembled and went to the dining room. After we ate, Barbara headed back home while the rest of us went to the fitness room to try out the large collection of exercise equipment. After that, we headed downstairs for foosball and table tennis. Most of us were tired enough that we headed back to our rooms for the night.
Spokane to McCall, Thursday 23 October
For the last day in Spokane, the seven of us again gathered for breakfast to spend one last meal together. Kevin was going to spend one more day before returning to Illinois. A few days later, he was going to drive down near Atlanta to see his granddaughter. Keith and Bev headed back to the west side for work, and we started heading to Idaho.
We planned for several stops to break up the drive. The first stop was the Steptoe Battlefield State Park Heritage Site in Rosalia. There is a monument there which commemorates the 1858 Battle of Pine Creek, where Lt. Col. Edward Steptoe’s U.S. Army troops fought allied Indigenous warriors from Spokane, Palouse, and Coeur d’Alene tribes.
The next stop was the Codger Pole in Colfax. It is a totem-like pole carved by chainsaw which commemorates a 1988 high school football match played fifty years after the original 1938 game. It features carved faces of the 51 players from the rematch and the two team mascots, symbolizing a long-awaited victory for Colfax.
Next, we stopped at Washington State University in Pullman. Our first destination was Ferdinand's Ice Cream Shoppe, where we had some ice cream and took a look in the creamery where they make cheese. We also picked up some cheese curds for later.
On the way out of Pullman, we stopped by the Bear Research Center and took a quick look at the grizzly bears there, walking in and out of their cages.
Our last stop on this leg of the road trip was to the Artisans at the Dahmen Barn in Uniontown. It is a restored dairy barn that has many artists selling different works. They also offer art and culinary classes.
We pulled into McCall, checked into our room, then walked to the store to pick up things for dinner and snacks. On the way back, we took a look at Centennial Plaza which had a timeline of the first 100 years of McCall in a low, serpentine rock wall.
McCall to Boise, Friday, 24 October
Since the drive to Boise was going to be short, we did a hike in the morning in McCall at Ponderosa State Park. The park is a peninsula which sticks into Payette Lake. Our route took us up the west side, near the point, and near the east side. We were going to go across a path back to the west side, but what was a path on the map was a new road that was closed, and looked like there was no pedestrian path. We went further south, went through the campground, then back up.
When we got to the west end of the new road, we saw cabins under construction. They were pretty nice, with porches that had lake views.
It was lunchtime, so we grabbed the food from the car and ate by the lake at Duck Bay.
We knew there was an ice cream shop back in town, so we grabbed a snack before heading south. The drive took us down scenic Highway 55, and we had great views of the North Fork Payette River and the hills on either side of us.
After we checked into our hotel (and sampled the free cookies), we let Carmen know we had arrived. We made plans for her to drop by the room before heading out to dinner. We made plans to meet Carmen the next day and come up with things to do depending on the weather.
Boise, Saturday, 25 October
When we were planning the trip, we saw that the hotel had laundry service, but since we weren’t sure about the timing, we also located a coin-op laundry not too far away. However, as we were going down to breakfast, we noticed a sign indicating there was a guest laundry room. We checked it out and saw they had coin-operated machines there, so we split up, grabbing laundry and getting change. Once we had the first load in the washer, we headed down to breakfast.
Thinking about plans for the day, since there was a chance of sprinkles or rain, we decided against hiking and instead would do a couple of things around Downtown Boise and would then have Carmen show us around Boise State University. That plan sounded good to her, so we finished the laundry.
When Carmen met us the night before, she said she had just rented a scooter, which got her across the river quickly. Melody and I told her about human-powered taxis in one city in Vietnam, where the drivers would verbally say, “Beep, beep!” if they needed to get the attention of others. Soon after we left the hotel to walk to where we were going to lunch, we heard, “Beep, beep!” behind us as Carmen pulled up next to us and parked the scooter.
After lunch, we went to the State Capitol Building and started wandering around. We were able to locate a guide booklet, so we started following that.
We then went a couple of blocks away to Freak Alley, a mural gallery featuring a collection that changes and evolves over time.
It was time for a snack. Melody and I had seen that there was an ice cream store that was offering a flight of flavors, so we headed there. The flight had eight different mini-scoops, so we picked out a variety of flavors and passed them around so we all got tastes of everything. It was a good opportunity since Melody and I wouldn’t have been able to eat that much by ourselves, but it was just right with four of us.
We walked across the Boise River and started going through Boise State University. Carmen was able to point out practically every building, a much higher percentage than I would be able to do on the University of Washington campus. We also got to see her dorm room and chatted briefly with her roommate, Ivy.
The end of the walking tour was near the stadium. Melody and I had been in Boise in 2017 and had seen the blue turf of the football field through an obscure gate on one corner. A new section of seats has been added since, so we weren’t able to see the field, but I showed Celeste a photo so she could see just how blue it is. As we were around the arena, there were a lot of people going in. After looking around a bit more, we guessed it was a high school band competition.
We parted ways with Carmen so she could get some studying in, and we went back to the room to relax a bit. We found a place for dinner, let Carmen know, and headed out. Since it was a Saturday night, we figured there would be a wait, especially not having reservations. We put our name in, then took a seat outside. Not too long after that, we heard “Beep, beep!” as Carmen walked up. We got seated only a couple of minutes later, and had a great dinner.
Carmen walked us back to the hotel, and since we were heading out the next morning, we said our goodbyes.
Boise to Yakima, Sunday, 26 October
This was to be another longer day of driving, so we once again broke it up. We briefly stopped in Baker City to hopefully get a look at the Geiser Grand Hotel, but it was only open for guests. We then grabbed some quick hot drinks, then got on the road again.
We had enough items for a picnic lunch, so we stopped in Pendleton at the Community Park to eat, then headed to Chamna Natural Preserve to do a quick walk.
Having stretched our legs, we got back into the car and got to Jean’s house in Yakima in time for dinner and chatting.
Yakima, Monday, 27 October
We didn’t have too much planned for this day. After breakfast, Melody and I went to a café in the morning. It is in the old Yakima railroad station, and we had been there a few years ago. Last time we tried to go, it was closed because there had been a fire, so we were glad they were open again. After that, we stopped by to get tamales from a small shop that is actually pretty well known outside of Yakima.
We went back to the house for a while, then Celeste, Melody, and I went over to the Yakima Greenway to walk along the river for a bit. Part of the walkway was washed away, so we needed to find a route around that. Once we got to the other side of the bypass, we could see just how much of the path was no longer there.
The rest of the day was pretty much the same as the night before, with dinner and chatting.
Yakima, Tuesday, 28 October
Another rather leisurely day. After hanging out in the morning, Melody and I went off to find some lunch while Jean and Celeste went to a nearby orchard to get some apples. They ended up filling two backpacks as full as they could and hiked back to the house.
After they returned, we did some errands with Jean in town, then she and Celeste went back to the house.
Melody and I went to the Ahtanum Ridge to do a short but steep hike. We finished that hike off by doing a quick walk through the Central Washington Agricultural Museum. The buildings were closed, but we were able to peek inside the windows and look at the outdoor exhibits.
When we got back to Jean’s house, they were finishing up eating dinner and were about to go to Jean’s bell choir practice. Jean had mentioned that Celeste was going, so the plan was for Celeste to also play the bells. Apparently, it went fine, but they were both pretty tired.
Yakima to Seattle, Wednesday, 29 October
Our last day of the road trip started with a generous breakfast that Jean put together. After the car was packed and we said our goodbyes, we headed to the Yakima River Canyon to do a short hike. We immediately went across a pedestrian suspension bridge, went under the train tracks (we came out a couple of feet away from the tracks), and then started out. The trail reports said that things got pretty brushy about a mile or mile and a half in, and that’s what we saw. There was another couple behind us who seemed happy to just follow us, but when we got to the point where we turned around, they decided to try going on. When we got back to the car, we saw a freight train go by, glad that we were not right next to the tracks when that happened.
The trail was about halfway to Ellensburg, so we went the rest of the way to get some lunch, then go back to Seattle. We had leftovers from the family dinner, and since Melody mentioned a quick raspberry cake that she likes to make and Celeste said it sounded good, I whipped that up for dessert.
Celeste got to bed early, and we got up the next morning to take her to the light rail station as she started her trip home.
