Other than almost missing our connecting flight from Seattle to Spokane due to last minute changes in the terminal, everything went smoothly as planned. Roan, his youngest sister, and I left San Diego on a Thursday night. We landed in Spokane a little past midnight, which was intentional, so we could have the next day all to ourselves.
We stayed at Auntie Nolie's (my mother-in-law's sister) house, who'd been looking forward to see us since we advised her of our travel plans. I've only known Auntie Nolie through Roan's anecdotes about her, so finally meeting her was a bit unnerving.
Staying at Auntie Nolie's house brought back a lot of memories for Roan and his sisters. They showed me around the house, and my favorite of which is her backyard. It boasts a generous amount of space to host intimate parties and also serves as a playground for Abby, her golden retriever. The weather in Spokane was absolutely perfect during our stay. The cool breeze plus the warmth of the sun make for a perfect transitional weather from spring to summer.
Our first order of business was to visit Auntie Lourdes, who'd been terminally ill of cancer for almost two years. I last saw her family before they left for the US, when they stayed at my in-law's house in Manila. We were happy to see her and even got the chance to hug her, although we had to leave almost as fast as we had arrived so she could get more rest. In spite of being unable to speak due to a complication in her throat, she smiled at seeing our familiar faces.
Auntie Nolie and John, her long-time boyfriend, offered to take us to his parents' cabin house in Loon Lake before dropping us off at the airport to pick up our rental car. Auntie Nolie entertained us by describing every significant spot we passed by throughout the entire 45-minute drive to Loon Lake. We were supposed to meet John's parents, but we missed them by a few minutes, so he took the liberty to show us around their property instead.
Roan loves cabin houses, so he completely zoned out when John started showing interesting parts of the house. Steph and I, on the other hand, reveled as hummingbirds stop by at a water feed John's mom has set up on their patio, so I wasn't able to take good photos of their house. Last time I was this close to hummingbirds was up in Mount Jacinto. I thought it was pretty cool! Another interesting thing (though a bit too shallow, really) is the thought of the entire lake turning into a vast ice skating rink during wintertime. I've never ice-skated anywhere other than those you find in the mall, so it would be fun to try ice-skating on a lake-turned-rink!
We didn't stay long at the property because besides needing to pick up our rental car at the airport, we were starting to feel hungry. While Roan did business with the rental car company, Steph and I scoured through Yelp for a good restaurant to try for lunch. It literally took us just under five minutes to decide to try Fusion Korean Restaurant along West Sunset Highway in Airway Heights, which was only 10 minutes away from Spokane International Airport.
We chose Fusion Korean Restaurant mainly because it has high ratings on Yelp, but the restaurant's facade could be misleading. Don't be fooled, though,