End of the 48, Day 7
Ed. note: This post was delayed due to human error. My bad.
SPOKANE (7/10) -- As of 2:49am local time, Chad turned 35. But as usual, we slept through the annual observance.
Instead, I was out the door by 8:45 -- Chad was still asleep -- to the nearby Spokane Valley UMC. It was a unique Sunday for this church, as a conference-sponsored children's arts troupe provided most of the service. I was concerned to hear that the church organist was taken ill to the hospital; concerned that I would, out of a sense of obligation, volunteer to fill in. (I mean, I am on vacation.) Fortunately, the troupe's director graciously tickled the ivories instead.
I then swung by the hotel to pick Chad up, and acknowledged Spokane's Japanese community by attending Highland Park UMC. Several odd occurrences of note:
* During the announcements, an elderly woman ambled back to the sound booth, earpiece in hand, and shouted, "This one doesn't work!"
* While I didn't find it odd that the minister was delivering his sermon dressed in a robe and sandals, I did find it odd that he had the sermon notes uploaded to his iPhone.
After Monday's abortive attempt, we finally had lunch at Noodle Express; I had the shrimp, Chad had the chicken. We then went over to the suburb of Cheney, home of Eastern Washington University and their red football turf. (What is it about playing football in the Inland Northwest that causes you go rouge when it comes to turf color?) We were able to enter their basketball arena and observe some of a coach's camp pick-up game on a normal-colored court.
We headed back downtown to take a journey on the Spokane Falls SkyRide -- this, after I had to run back to the car to get Chad's camera -- and then took in Bad Teacher at the nearby River Park Square Cinemas. (Our screen was on the fifth floor of the building, accessed by no fewer than three elevators from ground level.)
After a bit of decompression at the hotel, we headed back out to Avista Stadium (named for the local energy utility), where we caught some non-firework fireworks. Spokane plated 11 in the first inning, and the second out saw the batter exchange, let's say "recipes", with the catcher. And of course, being all about "food", the benches wanted to hear as well and ran to the plate. But the big deal of the game came in the middle of the 8th, when Chad's name was announced and displayed as part of the birthdays du jour. (How could he be embarrassed? No one knew him here.)
SPOKANE (7/10) -- As of 2:49am local time, Chad turned 35. But as usual, we slept through the annual observance.
Instead, I was out the door by 8:45 -- Chad was still asleep -- to the nearby Spokane Valley UMC. It was a unique Sunday for this church, as a conference-sponsored children's arts troupe provided most of the service. I was concerned to hear that the church organist was taken ill to the hospital; concerned that I would, out of a sense of obligation, volunteer to fill in. (I mean, I am on vacation.) Fortunately, the troupe's director graciously tickled the ivories instead.
I then swung by the hotel to pick Chad up, and acknowledged Spokane's Japanese community by attending Highland Park UMC. Several odd occurrences of note:
* During the announcements, an elderly woman ambled back to the sound booth, earpiece in hand, and shouted, "This one doesn't work!"
* While I didn't find it odd that the minister was delivering his sermon dressed in a robe and sandals, I did find it odd that he had the sermon notes uploaded to his iPhone.
After Monday's abortive attempt, we finally had lunch at Noodle Express; I had the shrimp, Chad had the chicken. We then went over to the suburb of Cheney, home of Eastern Washington University and their red football turf. (What is it about playing football in the Inland Northwest that causes you go rouge when it comes to turf color?) We were able to enter their basketball arena and observe some of a coach's camp pick-up game on a normal-colored court.
We headed back downtown to take a journey on the Spokane Falls SkyRide -- this, after I had to run back to the car to get Chad's camera -- and then took in Bad Teacher at the nearby River Park Square Cinemas. (Our screen was on the fifth floor of the building, accessed by no fewer than three elevators from ground level.)
After a bit of decompression at the hotel, we headed back out to Avista Stadium (named for the local energy utility), where we caught some non-firework fireworks. Spokane plated 11 in the first inning, and the second out saw the batter exchange, let's say "recipes", with the catcher. And of course, being all about "food", the benches wanted to hear as well and ran to the plate. But the big deal of the game came in the middle of the 8th, when Chad's name was announced and displayed as part of the birthdays du jour. (How could he be embarrassed? No one knew him here.)