Day 1 – Spokane, WA

 Yesterday we flew from Melbourne, FL to Spokane, WA via Atlanta and Minneapolis to find ourselves in the home town of Gonzaga University. Always wondered where Gonzaga was. Any of you who watch March Madness know that the Gonzaga Bulldogs were a tough rival this year. We visited the college book store and met a college student who told us that, since last year when Gonzaga was in the final four, their enrollment has increased by about 10,000 students.

Flying for over 25 hours in a 33 hour period going from Orlando to Auckland, NZ, and standing on 7 continents and visiting 40 countries since 2004 has put out our desire to travel great distances low level light for a while. So for this adventure we are going to stay a little closer to home and travel part of the route of Lewis and Clark. Two hundred years ago, Lewis & Clark set out on their pioneering journey into the West. We will follow their path on the Columbia and Snake Rivers with opportunities to walk on their former campsites and see artifacts from the expedition.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the first American expedition to travel into the Western United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson shortly after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark set out to explore the new territory for a practical route of travel and establish an American presence in the West before other nations attempted to claim it.

We will follow the path pioneered by Lewis and Clark on a Columbia and Snake River cruise, including a stop at Fort Clatsop, where the expeditionary team camped before heading back to St. Louis. 

Our second leg of the flight we had the opportunity to watch movies. I chose “A Dog’s Purpose.” I had to watch it because it started out with a question Tom is always asking Bixby or Cortana or whoever one asks on your phone or computer. The question, “What is the meaning of life?” It is a tear jerker movie but ends with a great quote, similar to other quotes that I enjoy.  The dog says, “Don’t get all sad faced about what happened and scrunchy-faced about what could. Just be here now. Be. Here. Now. That’s a dog’s purpose."

So that is what vacations are about being here and now. Yet is a great comfort to me knowing that Ryan and Niki are in the good hands of Delaney!

Last night we ate at the Rusty Moose where they served wild venison, bison, and elk. You can tell by the enclosed picture we aren’t in Florida.

As always Pictures and the travelogue will be posted on our web site www.Tomjed.com under American Pride.

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Tom & Holly