SPOKANE — Monday, Oct. 3 — My mother's Aunt Elizabeth married money, but she could still squeeze a penny so hard Lincoln would squeak. And she had a rule when she visited a new city: Get the cheapest room in the best hotel.

Aunt Elizabeth died not long after I was born, but in her memory I stayed last night in a $154 room at the Davenport — which, my mother reminds me, is where Aunt Elizabeth used to stay when she visited Spokane.

The Davenport has been around since 1914.

Closed in 1984, it reopened a couple years ago after a multimillion dollar renovation put the place back in fine fettle (it's fettle was a little tattered). There's fresh gilding on the ornamental cherubs in the lobby and all sorts of fancy upgrades, including high-speed Internet — which made my blogging life a whole lot easier. (No waiting 5 minutes for every photo to download!)

The meeting rooms and public spaces are incredibly fancy, with vaulted ceilings, murals and the works, in the Hall of the Doges and the Marie Antoinette Ballroom. (Don't drink too much wine with your dinner there, you might lose your head.)

I apologize to you Spokane readers who gave me good tips on things to see and do. I awakened this morning fighting a cold. I ventured out on a walk through Riverfront Park, the old Expo '74 site, and I have to say, this town was built in a really interesting place, with big rocky river channels all over the place.

I felt a tingle of culture shock, coming from the remotest corner of Pend Oreille County to this downtown with fancy street art and all the trimmings of a big city. On one sidewalk, I dodged workers who were putting in a new martini bar.

But when I got to the river, the sky loomed gun-metal gray and cold wind nipped at my open collar. With my Puget Sound-ish weather expectations, I wasn't smart enough to bring a woolly scarf. So in the interest of not catching pneumonia, I hoofed it back to the Davenport for some hot tea. Then I hit the road for the Palouse.

I'll save all your tips for my next visit.

Making news in the Palouse

PALOUSE, Whitman County — You got to love these small towns.

I'd read about a museum here that I wanted to visit, though I was a little confused. Some guidebooks said it was the Boomerang Museum, and others said it was the Roy Chatters Printing and Newspaper Museum.

So should I expect Australian throwing devices or Linotype machines?

Turns out, the newspaper founded back in the 1890s in this town of 1,000 was called the Boomerang (though nobody seems to know why). And the museum houses old printing equipment from the newspaper, collected by the late Roy Chatters, a local man who liked that sort of thing.

Well, being a newspaper guy on the prowl, this was a museum I couldn't pass up. Only it was closed. Arrgh, I'd driven 600 miles to get here.

But that's where small towns shine. In the window, a note said, "We'd be really happy to show you our museum, just call us."

So I rang up 81-year-old Bob West, who, indeed, was really happy to walk the two blocks from his house in the rain and show me around.

We poked at the 1908 Linotype machine, which used hot lead to create letters that were lined up into proper sentences and then placed in frames and inked to print newspapers. Hey, I told West, they had a beast just like this in the back shop of the first newspaper I worked at. When they had it fired up, the hot lead really stunk.

He told me about a buddy of his who used to work one of these machines. He had to lay out the type backward, because the press printed the mirror image. "That guy was really good at reading backwards!" West demonstrated a press called the Chandler and Price "Finger Snapper," which earned its nickname because you had to feed the paper by hand — and you had to be quick!

West, who has lived here since 1930, writes a column for the local paper, "mostly about the trouble I got into around here when I was a kid."

Though the paper changed its name and for many years was the Palouse Republic, a new owner not long ago changed it back to the original name, the Boomerang.

Obviously, that name just had to come back.

Bird brains

Who knows why red-tailed hawks suddenly have a death wish. Not one, but two of them almost flew into my windshield along Highway 27 today. These guys are supposed to have great eyesight.

Maybe it's just that cars only come by, like, every two hours or so, and they're out of training for "dodge the Toyota."

Which reminds me: The Car of Discovery almost had a wild turkey for a hood ornament. Outside of Colville a couple days ago, a flock of them had decided that it would be smart to sit in the middle of a highway just beyond a sharp curve. (The Prius' brakes work fine.)

Reader tips

While in Pullman, be sure to visit The Sports Page Tavern for a real slice of Cougar life. Chat with the regulars. They're friendly (as long as you aren't wearing purple).
— Fred Miller, Pullman, Wash.

The 206er/509er "myth" is true! It takes a long time for people in Eastern Washington to "accept" 206ers. The funny thing is, most of them were 206ers at some point in their life. It's really too bad that many people aren't accepting of the diversity that is offered from others moving to the area, including 206ers. In Leavenworth, hit Home Fires Bakery, O'Grady's Pantry and stop in at Leavenworth Mountain Sports to buy some gear!
— Jen Leavenworth, Wash.

Your blog/trip is really cute. I am too just 50 but lived 32 years on the "wet" side. We love both sides but really enjoy Eastern WA. Take a hike in the Horse Heavens, get onto the Columbia River through the Hanford Reach. The whole state is gorgeous.
— Jennie Korb, Kennewick, Wash.

En route through Ellensburg, catch the first annual Ellensburg Film Festival October 7th-9th www.ellensburgfilmfestival.com. A pass is only $69 for the entire weekend. On Sunday the ninth the wildly popular downtown and upstairs Ellensburg tours will be offered with priority to fest goers. Yes to the Tav. Yes, to a side trip to Liberty. Check out the Bison on Swauk Prairie on the way to Liberty. Besides catching a few good flicks in Ellensburg you might enjoy the 8:00 a.m. Bird Walk at Irene Riverfront Park hosted by Kittitas Audobon. This is a great riverfront park, one of the pristine gems in Ellensburg's crown that locals only seem to know about. Also, a drive through the canyon and by Dick and Jane's spot is a must for any out of towner. Your Prius is welcome in Ellensburg, just make sure you have a "my other car is a horse" license plate frame and your cowboy boots and hat in the trunk.
— Terri Petrey, Ellensburg, Wash.

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