Pret - a - Portland

Last week the kids had spring break, and we wanted to get back to explore more of Oregon and see Portland, so it was the ideal time for a trip.  We spent the first day in Hood River, OR.  We visited one of Joe's favorite breweries, Full Sail, which sits just above the Columbia River, nestled among the flowering trees. It was a nice place with a killer view and good food. We enjoyed strolling along the little artsy-touristy shops and admiring the thoughtfully-tended parks and gardens as spring was bursting out all over.

Misty Mountain Hop
The next morning we went chasing waterfalls (*insert TLC joke here*) and were lucky to be out early enough on a weekday morning that there were no crowds, we even had Horsetail Falls all to ourselves! It's all very misty and mossy and lush, I felt like the trees might start speaking to me, or half-expected a little elf  to appear and wish us well on our journey. (Hmm, maybe I've been reading  too many fantasy books with the kids.)

Multnomah Falls

The waterfall trails were probably the highlight of our trip!




From there we headed into Portland, just another hour or so, a great scenic drive along the way.

Portlandia!

We made our first stop at Powell's Books, and though could have spent a whole day there, spent a good two hours. It reminded me a lot of a bookstore version of San Fran's Amoeba records - not as cozy and interesting as a City Lights (also SF!) - but my, oh my, the books, books, and more books!  It's more like exploring a book repository, which is totally good with me.  I mostly stuck to the lower floor of kids books, to ogle over picture books, rare and vintage stuff, and keep track of the kids darting in and out of the aisles.

Over the next two days, we rode the MAX, visited the Duck Store and the Beaver store, perused the Portland Saturday Market, hiked through Washington Park, and enjoyed some good unique meals and treats every step of the way. The kids were excited to go to Voodoo Doughnuts, (as seen on the Food Network) and I was happy to find Stumptown Coffee Roasters was just another block down AND sold baked goods from GEM and Petunia's Bakery, so everyone was happy.

 

My favorite was probably the lunch I had at the healthful fast food restaurant, Laughing Planet. It was so hard to choose, but I decided on the Bollywood bowl:

Waiting for the MAX light rail near PSU

Of course, we had to make time for a little some serious basketball-watching, as well as some of this: 

It was a fulfilling spring break trip, for a little R&R, urban culture, and some green therapy.

All in all, I think this might be the best way to sum up Oregon ;)

A Snowy Day in Spokane (February)

Riverfront Park, Spokane

A few weekends ago, we headed up to the nearest 'big city', Spokane, to do some shopping and check out Riverfront park while we were in the area. It probably looks much different right now, as February overall was quite mild with sporadic days of sunshine to melt all the snow away. 

I didn't really know about the connection Bing Crosby had to Spokane until just before we visited, but the Bing Crosby Theater is here, and the Bing Crosby archives at Gonzaga university, along with his preserved boyhood home near the campus. 


Downtown Spokane has a newer mall development with a Nordstroms that sits right behind the Riverfront park,  and then some cute little restaurants, shops and boutiques, like Boo Radley's and Atticus, which are just two doors down from one another. (I wish Atticus had an official website, it was a very unique coffee shop & gift boutique; I hope to get back there.) There's also a Scout restaurant near the B.C. theater, but I think perhaps that association is coincidental.

Spokane riverfront park has a spectacular rushing river and falls, with pedestrian bridges to cross over it. In the warmer months, you can take a gondola ride over the falls.  There's an ice rink too, though it was a bit too cold for outdoor skating, so we opted for lunch at Red Robin instead. (We've been deprived of our favorite family-restaurant chains!)

Spokane Falls at the Riverfront

For now,  we're happy to say goodbye to slushy February, and welcome the spring thaw, which means we can get out and about on a few more trips on our NW wish list. We have plans to hit Portland and the Columbia Gorge over the kids' spring break, possibly a day trip to Coeur d'Alene, and to return to Seattle in later spring. I'd love to see the San Juan Islands if the timing is right. 

Anywhere else we should go once things warm up?

Sand and Snow

 Happy New Year!  For winter break, the Sampsons crisscrossed the country to sunny Florida - Venice, to be exact. We hunted for shark's teeth on the beach, celebrated Christmas, and made a much-anticipated trip to LEGOLAND, and I got to see a good college friend to boot.  Ten days seemed like a long time to be gone, but it was relaxing and wonderful to be able to see the whole rotating cast of family members that came to stay at Capri Isles during that time. (Though I appear to have no photographic evidence of seeing my aunt, uncle, brother, cousins, and their significant others and children.)


Here we are gathering shark's teeth and playing at the beach...

...with dinner at where else, Sharky's!

At Sarasota Jungle Gardens we got up close and personal with some of Florida's finest...

And we cruised the canopy and stalked the shoreline at the Myakka River State Park.:

Then, it was the big day - LEGOLAND!

 

There were lots of rides, as well as places to build (and buy) Legos, but most of all we marveled at the figures throughout the park, and at the Lego MiniLand USA.

 For the week after Christmas, we nearly had the place to ourselves, and it was great. Not sure if I'd say the same if it were 90 degrees and I had to wait in lines.

"Snow- Snow-ooow-  to clear a path and lift a spade of snow"

We returned to Washington without incident, save for the inches of snow greeting us from the fields and in our driveway.  Ever since, we've gotten a pretty good cardio workout shoveling off a couple inches a week. (All those snow and ice gadgets look tempting about now.) 

To confess to my ignorance of a NW winter (having lived in southern Ohio for nearly 20  many years, and grown up in an even less snowy southern Indiana): I roll out of bed at the first sign of snow to look up school closings or delays, peeking out windows waiting for a plow, all to no avail.
Oh, how the forecasters mock me: a good two inches is merely "looks like flurries out there!" and three to six "might be a slippery commute, take care!" My mother-in-law said they just canceled school in Salt Lake City for a foot of snow, so I guess that's what it takes for a true snow day out this way.

Slip-sliding away to the bus stop,

Alison

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Finals are over, faculty-staff potlucks have been had, and now this college town has very few creatures stirring. We too are taking advantage of the long winter's break, but first had a few weeks of holiday and birthday activities to take care of :

 The Pullman tree lighting

I think the brass quartet was playing Good King Wenceslas, or at least it keeps humming in my head when I see this photo:

Pullman Plaza Tree Lighting

Maggie's first orchestra concert

Families crammed into the  middle school gym to hear a sampling of all Pullman school orchestras from 4th grade to high school. The 4th graders kicked off the show with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Old MacDonald, and the evening ended with a very impressive high school orchestra performance. I'm amazed that there's just one (very patient) orchestra teacher for five different orchestra groups!

 What do you mean you can't tell which one is Maggie?  

 
There she is!


 Andrew's Birthday #7
We took Andrew to Zeppo's bowling for his birthday, followed by burgers and shakes at the Cougar Country Drive-in. He got lots of  Legos, plus an electronic circuitboard kit (?) from his uncle John. I though it looked way too complicated; Andrew figured out in under 10 minutes.

We are packing up to head south for a bit - more photos and stories to follow. 
So you know, "Deck them halls, ho ho ho, and all that jazz" and we'll see you in 2013!