Bloglander

For the next two days, Inlander staff writer Nicholas Deshais will be walking, biking and paddling the 63-mile perimeter of the city of Spokane. Follow his progress here on Bloglander.

I’m somewhere in the wilds of east Spokane, on a dirt road between Beacon Hill Winery and Minnehaha park. A dirt bike, sizzling power lines and gun shots are the only things to mar this otherwise peaceful corner of Spokane. From my vantage, I see the Spokane Police Department’s training facility and hope that’s where the bullets are raining. I’m high above Felts Field, where I see the occasional plane race down the runway. That’s where I’m headed — to the diner there, specifically — where I’ll try my luck and hope to win a pilot’s favor for a ride in his/her aircraft.

My night in Hillyard was uneventful, though I did meet some friendly Hillyardians at Big Sky’s Tavern. Kevin Nunn, 35, has lived in Hillyard for years and says he can tell when a stranger walks in the bar. “When somebody walks in we don’t know,” he says, “you must want something or be lost.” Nonetheless, Nunn was friendly and accommodating for a few beers.

Unlike in its sordid past, Hillyard no longer has a hotel. So after about two hours, I went home. At 7:30 this morning, though, I was back at the Outlaw Café on Market Street.