Days 17 to 31—Spokane in Spring...

After Portland, we drove up to Spokane to visit my Brother-in-Law. On Sunday, we went downtown to a favourite Sushi spot, Sushi.com (whose website is not the name). I´m not much for the raw fish (although I´m told the sushi is excellent) so I had the vegetable tempura meal, which comes with really good miso soup. Why have I not tried the ginger ice cream before (I´d like some more)? 

On the way back to the car we stopped by Auntie´s Bookstore, which is conveniently next door to Uncles´s Games. The great thing about Auntie´s is they sell used books along side new ones, which is wonderful if you are an unemployed wanderer, you can find something to read without spending too much (I asked for cheap mystery novels and there was a shelf just for that :) ). I ended up forgoing the cheapest mystery novels and picking up Michael Connelly´s Chasing the Dime (a interesting Michael Crichton-style science-thriller from one of my favourite mystery writers) and Margaret Atwood´s Lady Oracle (about a writer who fakes her own death to escape her mixed up life—a blatant attempt by me to be more Canadian).

 Later on, the boys went go kart racing at Fastkart Speedway, an indoor kart racing track.

For about a week of our time, we stayed with my in-laws in a beautiful cabin near Lake Roosevelt. We played some croquet...

 ...explored the larger-than-usual beach (the water was low because it´s controlled by a hydro dam or something) looking for treasures that had been underwater for years in the mud...

 ...and watched the hummingbirds, which in Brazil are called Beija-flores (flower kissers), but definitely made humming noises like little helicopters or large bees which made me understand the less romantic English name...

 We spent time with family and enjoyed the first signs of Spring here...