The Hunt for Red October is Over. We Found It. It was in Portland.

Here's our guide to having fun in Portland for a day even if it pours rain the whole time:

1. Approach from the north.

2. Go to OMSI and tour a submarine.

Brenda is standing in front of the USS Blueback which is docked at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. The Blueback is the US Navy's last non-nuclear fast-attack submarine. It was one of the subs they used in filming the Red October, and getting to tour inside of it was pretty freakin' awesome.

Going up?

The Navy will take anyone these days.

The torpedo room.

Built for violence, not for comfort. (The boat, not me.)

You'd be a lucky submariner to find this in your bunk.

I particularly enjoyed the fake wood veneer on everything. The last thing I would want to be thinking while I was underwater and in a tight spot would be, "but this boat is made of WOOD! We're screwed!"

3. Check into a posh hotel.

We stayed at the Benson right in the downtown. Jessie didn't just get a great rate at this hotel for us, she paid for the whole thing! What a sister! Thanks again Jess! The Benson was fantastic. We chilled in the lobby lounge in the evening for a few drinks and the concierge staff was very helpful in helping us find our way around town.

4. Go shopping downtown.

6. Go to Fuller's for breakfast. (Have the French Toast.)

7. View local art installation.

Not shown is step 5, sleep. Our whirlwind tour of Portland was brief, but we had to leave so Brenda could quench her shopping thirst at the famed outlet malls of Washington State. Then it was back home to Canada.

Goodbye imperialists!

Raps vs. Sonics

Friday morning we took the Coho ferry from Victoria for a weekend in the States. Our primary motivation was to see the Raptors play in Seattle on Friday night, but we also wanted to do a mini-roadtrip of Washington and Portland, Oregon.

On the Coho, still in the Inner Harbour.

U.S. Coast Guard, with the Olympics in the back.

Ogden Point, leaving Victoria.

It was cold, and I was alone on the upper deck.

The Coho dropped us in Port Angeles, a town which doesn't really bear mentioning. The mountains in the background are nice, but the the parts of the city we saw were pretty rundown. We had our first culture shock leaving town at the Subway, no 'sub' sauce, no barbeque sauce, and the cold cut combo meats were different. They did have a tasty roasted garlic bread though.

From there we drove south and east to catch another ferry at Kingston that would take us across Puget Sound to Edmunds. To the best of my knowledge there has never been a major terrorist attack in Washington, and the 9/11 hijacks were over six years ago but . . .

Washington State Ferries, living in fear since 2001.

It was a windy and rainy weekend.

We made it into Seattle without incident and checked in to the Coast Paramount at 7th and Pine. Jessie got us great deals at hotels for the weekend, thanks Jess! The Paramount is right in the heart of Seattle's shopping district and Brenda had some time to scratch her shopping itch before we headed down to Key Arena for the big game.

Outside the arena, a familiar fountain.

Blissfully unaware that the Raps had no plans to play D.

Would you rather be Jamario, or Rasho?

The Raptors lost. Their interior defence was non-existent. Kevin Durant torched them for one stretch in the third, and he threw down a vicious dunk on Nesterovic, but he wasn't the reason they lost. The Raps made lesser lights Chris Wilcox look like Shaquille (7 for 7 from the floor) and Nick Collison look like Vlade Divac with his interior passing (4 assists), and that's why they lost.

We still had lots of fun, and in the morning we got up and headed to Portland.

Striking a post-game pose on the Monorail.