Last week, Besa Gordon decided to do something that she hadn’t done in a while… a real deal roadtrip. She took a trip across the state to Spokane - and let her tell it:“My girl Nicole and I headed to the other side of the Evergreen State into the City of Spokane - 280 miles from downtown Seattle, basically a four and a half hour drive.

Along the way I was reminded what a beautiful state we live in. The tall mountains and mighty rivers, at one pointI had to stop and soak in all the vantage points.

After all those hours on the road, your girl was more than ready to check in at the super comfy Davenport Grand Hotel for a quick nap, record some radio shows, and then to The Terrain Art Festival.

The next morning I headed over to East Central Spokane, the legacy Black neighborhood that at one point was the epicenter of Black life and culture in Spokane, but which like so many other Black communities across America over the decades now finds itself below means and struggling for the basics of housing and food security.

However, despite the blows, hope remains and shines bright in East Central as evident in the This is East Central community wide storytelling mural that adorns the side of the Carl Maxey Center… Unveiled just last month… A love letter to the neighborhood is how Ginger describes it. Terrain partnered with nearly 20 other organizations to bring the beautiful artwork to life.

Before hitting the road back to Seattle, I stopped downtown at Riverfront Park, this is one of my favorite places in the city.

Heading back home westbound to Seattle, this was a quick but fulfilling road trip to Spokane and seeing Washington from ground level you begin to realize how much our state has to offer, do, and see and best believe I am here for all of it.” - Besa Gordon

This segment originally aired on Back2Besa. Make sure to tune in to Back2Besa at 10:30 pm on FOX 13 Seattle and stream the replay at 10 am on Sunday on FOX 13+ for more great stories.

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