Spokane is the largest city in eastern Washington and the second-largest in the state, sitting on the Spokane River in the Inland Empire region. Unlike Seattle to the west, it is not a rain city: winters bring snow, summers are hot and dry, and the surrounding landscape is pine forests and wheat fields rather than rainforest.
The city hosted the 1974 World's Fair — the first world's fair with an environmental theme — and the legacy is Riverfront Park, a pleasant stretch along the Spokane Falls in the downtown core. The park has an IMAX theater, a restored 1909 carousel, and a gondola ride over the falls. Gonzaga University, on the north bank of the river, is the city's most prominent institution; its basketball program gives Spokane an unusual degree of national attention.
Bloomsday, held the first Sunday of May, is the world's largest timed road race by participation, drawing over 40,000 runners through the city streets. The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture covers regional history and Indigenous culture from the Plateau tribes. The Fox Theater and the Davenport Hotel are the best examples of the downtown's well-preserved interwar architecture. For outdoor activities, the region offers skiing in winter, and hiking, fishing, and river rafting in summer. Coeur d'Alene in Idaho, 30 miles east, is a popular day trip for its lake and resort.