Off 'da island for a few days!!!

About a month ago this week I took my mom to see her great grand children in Vancouver, WA. It was also meant to get off the island and give her (and to a lesser degree, me) a long overdue and deserved vacation. My mom has been to a lot of places in the east coast (where her husband, my dad came from) but as far as the west coast, has only been to California. This was her very first time to see the Pacific Northwest (I think that’s what the region is referred to) so I didn't just want her to sit in my nephew's house and just play and bond with her great grandchildren. I planned a fun week of showing my mom how cool this place is; taking my cues from the Travel channel shows (specifically "Man vs Food."). After landing in Portland, OR on Friday March 6, we spent the next day going on a toy shopping spree for my grand niece and grand nephew (to compensate for not being around them most of the time - the bonding came later during the week), I watched a movie the following day (see amateur movie review: Watchmen); by Monday, I took her to the mini-casinos up north (I forgot the name of the area) and by Tuesday, took my mom to Seattle, WA (my first time there too!); we went to see the Freemont bridge troll; Pike's Place fish market and Seattle's famous land mark, the Seattle space needle (but because of a momentary lapse of reason on my part, we didn't go up to the top to view the city skyline). On Wednesday, we went around Portland, OR to check out the neighborhood and visit my nephew's friend who fights in MMA; then by Thursday I had my niece-in-law show my mom around their neighborhood (the place is growing - with new neighborhoods springing up despite the gloomy economic projections - I wish I had a down payment for a house). My mom was annoying at times during that week but quite understandable given her age and the fact the she had to refrain from smoking in my nephew's house for most of the week. This was also the first time in over 50 years that she's felt cold weather dipping below 80 degrees Fahrenheit. I didn't leave Vancouver, Wa. empty handed though; I bought me another electric guitar from this cool music store in Portland. Then Friday, it was back to the Islands! Next vacation I plan to take my mom on: Vegas!