On Thursday October 12th we struck out early from our home in Western Washington for our first annual family hunting trip in Eastern Washington. Our kids, their spouses, and our little grand enjoyed several days together all sleeping under the same roof. I will be sharing posts from our times together over the next several days. First we had to get there. Our trip from our home to our son’s home in Colville, Washington is about 351 miles.
We generally leave our home before 6am and our first stop is breakfast at The Cottage Cafe in Cle Elum on the eastern side of the highest pass we cross over the Cascade mountain range. Continuing on we descend into Central Washington with rolling hillsides and lots of farmland. One of the highlights of our trip is crossing the Columbia river at Vantage. On this trip Dear was getting sleepy and we pulled over at the Wild Horse Monument just after the Vantage Bridge to switch drivers. This was about 135 miles into our trip. I drove the next 147 miles to Spokane and since I was at the wheel I veered off our normal route turning right on Division instead of left to try to find this beautiful church.
The bell tower of this church can be seen from many parts of Spokane and I had seen it on so many trips always wanting to get to it and inspect it closer. It proved a little elusive but with Dear’s help we finally found it and we parked and enjoyed a walk about it and were so happy to see the front door wide open so we could go inside, too.
The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.
St. John’s Cathedral is one of the few examples in the United States of classic Gothic architecture. The Cathedral, begun in 1925, is the fulfillment of the dream of the Right Reverend Edward Makin Cross, third Bishop of Spokane.
On our drive looking for this cathedral in Spokane south of I-90 we discovered some very nice neighborhoods and a beautiful park we’d like to return to in the future. We had the cathedral to ourselves on this day and we were happy to take it all in. After our side trip we headed north on Division to stop at Costco before we continued the one hour north to our kids’ home. More posts on our family time to come soon.
Linking up to Tom’s Tuesday Treasures and also Our World Tuesday. Thank you to our hosts and hostesses.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
That church is gorgeous so majestic ~ lovely photos on your travels ~ ^_^
Love and light,
A ShutterBug Explores aka (A Creative Harbor.com)
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That sure is a beautiful cathedral and so unusual to find one like that on this continent, even though there are some in older cities. It reminds me of the cathedrals we toured in Europe. I love that you could take this side trip. We need to learn from you – seeing we are always rushing to get to our destination.
It’s good you two share the driving. My husband is always reluctant to turn over the wheel so I end up as the navigator and snack supplier on long trips The cathedral is very beautiful. I like how the roof looks inside and the stained glass windows.
What a beautiful church. The thing about the freeway in Spokane is that it is a bit elevated and cuts off all the beautiful older buildings and churches. Thank you for stopping
MB
Truly magnificent pictures.
Beautiful looking cathedral
What a beautiful Cathedral, Ellen, I find God’s timing to be so perfect, He knew you were coming to visit and left the door wide open for you both! How awesome is this!
Looking forward to reading of your family fun.
Blessings,
Sue
Hello, lovely views of the countryside and the horse sculptures. The church is gorgeous, I love the stained glass windows. Looks like an awesome side trip. Happy Tuesday, enjoy your day!
Definitely a worthwhile side trip!
I love the door & the stained glass window is truly beautiful!
OH that is so beautiful, I love visiting beautiful cathedrals ,thanks for all the beautiful pictures
What a beautiful church! I love churches…..
what a wonderful trip and that cathedral is amazing! how fun to have it all to yourselves as well!
Wow that is some beautiful church. What details!!
Oh my, Ellen! That is a beautiful piece of architecture. Thank you so much for sharing some of its beauty with us.
…Ellen, this church is gorgeous, the details of the stone work and the windows are beyond belief. Thank you so for sharing this week, give cutie pie a hug form me.
What a gorgeous church!
It really is a magnificent church and your photos sow it to perfection. I also enjoyed the other photos and was particularly taken with the Wild Horse Monument. Thanks Ellen, an awesome post.
You have found a very beautiful cathedral with all the lovely designs.
Beautiful cathedral — glad you were driving and chose this detour (I’m sure your passenger enjoyed the stop as much as the driver!)
Oh, gosh…so beautiful! It made me just want to be quiet and still.
Fantastic side trip! I love surprises like this beautiful church. It awesome inside and out, especially the stained glass windows.
Beautiful captures of the church.
I’m sorry for being so late with comments.