Spokane Winter Events

Well, fine folks of Spokane, two weeks later, and it's still snowing! Hope you weren't too disappointed this past Sunday when it stopped for a few hours.

Take a look at some of the fabulous events we have for your enjoyment this winter.

Plowing Week

Location: Spokane, city-wide

The only week every year that Spokane pulls out all 30 of their snow plows and actually shovels the streets! Come watch that tundra in your front yard become a road again.

(Don't park in the street or your car will be impounded.)

Bumper Berms

Location: Downtown

Tired of losing that middle lane to a wall of snow? Play a fun game of Bumper Berms. Try to skid into and bounce off the berms as much as possible.

Winter Road Trip

Location: Any drive within a 20-mile radius

Next time you commute to work, count how many cars have just careened into the ditch. Extra points if a police car is already there. My total: 8 in 2 days.

Snow Days

Location: Eastern Washington University

Skip school! If you drive, you'll get stuck in the snow. If you take the bus, you'll probably get stuck in the snow, and you'll definitely be late.

This event is proudly brought to you by Eastern Washington University, located in the impossible-to-get-to-in-the-middle-of-a -blizzard town Cheney, also known as a field.

Sun Hide-and-Seek

Location: Probably everywhere in the entire Pacific and Inland Northwest

See how long you can avoid the sun. It's harder than you think to hide in the snow; everything is white--the ground, the streets, the sky, the houses, the trees--but then again, you probably won't see the sun until March anyway.

Car Sledding

Location: Hills, with the central event on South Hill

What else can I say? We're all doing this already.

Icicle Contest

Location: Eaves

My icicles have grown five feet in a week! Who can top that?

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...meanwhile, in Minnesota... It's in the 40's. They are plowing an inch of slush off even the dead-end residential streets. I can't BELIEVE I'm saying this, but....

I miss Minnesota winters. If there has to be winter, I at least want to live in a place where they know what to do with it.

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A few (positive) notes:

-I'm not trying to complain. I'm just prone to focus on the negative, out of some sick fascination.

-I have wonderful snow tires that Wescombes are letting me use. They really make a difference; in fact, I am even starting to enjoy the challenge of winter driving.

-The hills are actually pretty well tended, at least the main streets. The car sledding thing is just in response to my own fears, which are, as yet, unfounded.

-The bus drivers are WONDERFUL. I can't imagine how stressed they must be.

-When there's enough light to see it, the landscape between Spokane and Cheney is beautiful. Trees totally white with snow, a few long grasses poking up, the hills like enormous sand dunes.... Some days I might complain that everything west of Spokane is bleak, but deep down I'm a little in love with it.