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Dec 22 - The Pittock Mansion
The kick-off of international 12-16 days went well. We slept late, which was great, and spent an hour or so trimming birch branches in the backyard before an early lunch. Then we headed into Stumptown to catch the free shuttle that would take us to the Pittock Mansion http://pittockmansion.org/. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera, but it was a beautiful, clear, sunny day, and from the grounds we could see Mt. St. Helens and the top of Mt. Ranier beside it, Mt. Adams out in Eastern WA, and Mt. Hood. Beautiful views. The mansion itself was decorated for "Christmas around the world" - each space for a different country or area. Reading all about the different Christmases along with the 
history of the Pittocks and the mansion was like going through two museums at one time. A bit of information overload. Still, it was fun, and pretty.
When we finally made our way back across the bridge to WA, we decided to stop at our favorite spot to walk - from Who Song and Larry's to McMenamin's Columbia River - and have a cider and nosh.
Since the long anticipated visit from Skylar (and her parents) didn't materialize, we spent the evening at Liza's Scottish Country Dance class, preparing for the upcoming Betwixt and Between Dance.