Spokane-Based Party

Perhaps snow is the not most delicious thing made by nature; it might be the most compelling, however. Enormous fun was had by all in the great Western Washingtonian city of Spokane at the Birch/Wilson/de Thomas stop on the great Northwest Tour of '05-'06. Grandma and Grandpa Birch supplied the snow, thank you very much.

PDX Part Four

Continuing on with the visit to the great Northwest, We move back to the beginning of the trip, where a scant hour after stepping off of the plane, we found ourselves looking at Sea Lions (in awe, really) -- because we were in town a good 8 hours before check-in time. Who booked those tickets? Ooops.

Lunch at the delightful (weirdly 80's-flavored) Deco Heathman Hotel where we had one of the best breakfasts in the annals of breakfast, should there be annals for that sort of thing.

Ruth presently is awaiting the arrival of her miniature sibling, cutting more of them big toofs in the back. Drool aplenty. That, and the pink fuzzy jacket has happily (perhaps temporarily) supplanted the black trench seen below.

PDX Part Three

Though Portland was both lovely and inviting, one would be remiss not mentioning the rain. It did come down in many different types. Cats and dogs, misty morning sunshine and slow n' steady. No matter, fun was had by Ruth in the stunningly lush Forest Park, the largest inner-city park in the country. Even if it was coming down, Ruth was ready to rock the "eell-phann."

PDX Part Two

While whiling our time away in the City of Roses, NTTN was hosted by the newlywed Graybill familia at the impressively family-friendly McMenamins' St. John's Theater & Pub. Though sick of all the rain in our three holiday destinations - SF, Spokane and Portland - Ruth held up with aplomb. Ruth will be the next Stan Brackhage, maybe?

PDX part one

One last trip before Ruth needs to buy her own plane ticket and her mother pops like a balloon with her little sister found the family in Portland Oregon at the Jupiter Hotel, the funkiest spot in town to be seen in footsie jams.

More posts to come, but we wanted to alert the masses to this weekend's Family Appreciation Day. On Sunday, you can take the kids for free to museums shows and sights all over town. We will be there, thanks Gavin.