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PacNW Herf Thread - PICS..!

BlindedByScience

Proud Father of a Kearney, NE LEO
Staff member
Joined
Jan 31, 2005
Messages
9,872
The date is set – September 9th. The place is set – my casa here in Vancouver WA. Now all we have to do is figure out what everyone would like to do..!! This is my first herf, so I appreciate suggestions, so that everyone can have a good time. Please let me know what you guys think / want to do / etc.

The 9th is a Saturday. Some folks may choose to fly or drive in Friday night and / or stay over Saturday evening. There are several good places to stay within a couple of miles of my house. I’ll get info on them in the next few days and post. I’ll also update this post / thread as things firm up.

If you are planning on attending, please post in this thread. Also, I hope it goes without saying that your wife / S.O. is also more than welcome. If they are coming, be sure to let me know.

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How to get here:
My address is good in my profile. If anyone would like, PM me your e-mail address and I can send you maps, home phone #’s, etc. It’s not too hard to find; I mean, BlueDragon found it, no sweat..:p We're about fifteen minutes or so from the airport, so for folks planning on flying in, there's really no reason to hassle with renting a car unless you just want one. PM me and we can make plans in that regard.

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Day’s “Events”:
OK, guys, this is where I need your help. Let me just throw out some suggestions, and please tell me if this sounds like fun –

0900 – 1200: Coffee and AM smokes @ Casa B.B.S.
This gives the Saturday AM drive-in folks a chance to get here, and we can finally start to put faces with the names.

1200 – Lunch @ McMenamins “Kennedy School”:
For those not from or familiar with the McMenamin brothers, this should be a lot of fun. Originally starting with a small brew pub, these guys have really done well in the Northwest with their huge chain of brew pubs and now “destination” resorts. Their take on this is very unique; they buy old “loser” properties and turn them into brew pubs, some with European style lodging, pools, and yes, smoking rooms. The Kennedy School is not far from my house, has a “Detention Room” lounge that is their cigar bar. They offer great food, and good micro brews. I’ll double check on what time the “Detention Room” opens, but even if that one room is closed, this would be an interesting place to have lunch:

Edit: Turns out, the Detention Room doesn't open until 5P, so that's out for lunch (dammit).... It's still a very cool place to have lunch and sample their micro brews, and we could herf at Cascade Cigar right after lunch?

http://www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=57&id=465

I’ll point out that you can book a room at the Kennedy School, but there are places that are lots closer to my house. Up to you…

After lunch – “Field Trip” to Cascade Cigar (optional if there’s interest):
Cascade Cigar is a very good local B&M with an attached lounge where we could herf and have a pint, and maybe even pick up a stick or two. It’s a great store run by nice folks, and might be a fun trip (82nd Avenue Store):

http://www.cascadecigar.com/

Here’s the lounge – The “Tap Room”

http://www.cascadecigar.com/cascadetaproom.htm

When we get back – Herf and “B.B.S. Grill” Dinner:
When we get tired of running around, we can head back and spend the rest of the day / evening hanging out here. When we get hungry again, I can fire up the grill.

It dawned on me that the my previous "BYO Grill" idea is potentially a pain in the ass for folks that are traveling. As such, if the decision is to "eat in" at my house for the evening meal, I'll just plan on feeding everyone here. My wife and I grill up some pretty decent steaks, so once a final count is had, I'll plan on steak dinners for us all. If you want something else, plese let me know ASAP.

Optionally, there’s are an almost endless list of fantastic places to eat in the Portland area. At the high end, there’s a Ruth’s Chris steak house in Portland that has fantastic fare, and their lounge is cigar friendly. There are literally more places we could go than I can list, so if dinner “out” is the vote, we’ve got a little more work to do.

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Lodging Info:
Sleep Inn
9201 NE Vancouver Mall Dr. , Vancouver, WA, US, 98662
Phone: (360) 254-0900 Fax: (360) 254-9343
"69-79.00 plus tax per night"

Ramada Inn
9107 NE Vancouver Mall Drive
Vancouver, WA, 98662 US
360-253-5000 - 1-800-2Ramada
"..seasonal discount should apply, so a room with two queen beds would be $62.00 plus tax"

Best Western
Vancouver Mall Drive Hotel & Suites
9420 Northeast Vancouver Mall Drive
Vancouver, Washington
Toll FREE 866-333-9420
....didn't stop by.

Streets and Trips says these hotels are 4.5 miles from my house...an easy drive on surface streets.


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Who’s Planning on Attending:


B.B.S. - Confirmed (I live here.... :p )
Swissy ~ Confirmed..!!!
TheVitaleMob ~ Confirmed..!!!
davidr2340 ~ Confirmed..!!!
stevehawk ~ Confirmed..!!!
Blue Dragon ~ Confirmed..!!!
kiltedcraftsman ~ Confirmed..!!!

Here's Johnny - on the fence...

< xRanger - had to bail...sorry to hear. >

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OK guys, now it’s your turn – what sounds like fun?

Thanks again – sounds like a great time to me…..

Regards – B.B.S.
 
How to get here:
My address is good in my profile. If anyone would like, PM me your e-mail address and I can send you maps, home phone #’s, etc. It’s not too hard to find; I mean, BlueDragon found it, no sweat..:p We're about fifteen minutes or so from the airport, so for folks planning on flying in, there's really no reason to hassle with renting a car unless you just want one. PM me and we can make plans in that regard.
It might have helped if I would have remembered the directions and taken the right exit. :blush: Also, for anyone using Google Maps / Mapquest, the first 85th St. you see ... skip that one, it dead ends before the interstate. Even with my bike, I wasn't about to Evil Kenievel over it. :laugh: There is another 85th just a little farther up that you need to turn right on. :thumbs:

The 9th should work just as well as the 16th. The boys from ID were thinking of caravaning so I won't have to worry about any subliminal tendencies of Mr. Hawk. ??? :p

McMenamins is cool. Last time I was there I just glanced breifly into the Detention room. I was with friends who didn't smoke, so we just ate at the resturant. I have also been to the one in Bend, OR and had a cigar in their cigar lounge. :cool: My vote is for that lunch spot.

Personally, I like the idea of having a friendly poker game. We could ante sticks or just do cash for a tourney style game. Poker in the evening would work with a BBQ idea, and we could probably make food as tasty as just about anywhere barring Ruth Chris. But again, that is just one idea.

But this sounds like it will be a hell of a good time. Swissy, I sure hope you can make it!!!
 
The boys from ID were thinking of caravaning so I won't have to worry about any subliminal tendencies of Mr. Hawk. ??? :p

You focker! :laugh: My tendancies are never subliminal... and they always involve a female or two (sometimes 3, but rarely 4 - I know my limits). :cool:

We have not discussed specifics, but I'm guessing the Idaho guys will be leaving Boise on Saturday morning, which would put us into Portland sometime in the afternoon. My better half will not be attending.
 
We have not discussed specifics, but I'm guessing the Idaho guys will be leaving Boise on Saturday morning, which would put us into Portland sometime in the afternoon.
Once you guys nail down your departure / arrival time, please let me know. I'm reading "probably not there for lunch" into this....??

Thanks - B.B.S.
 
We have not discussed specifics, but I'm guessing the Idaho guys will be leaving Boise on Saturday morning, which would put us into Portland sometime in the afternoon.
Once you guys nail down your departure / arrival time, please let me know. I'm reading "probably not there for lunch" into this....??

Thanks - B.B.S.

I am thinking of an early departure from Boise, say 6am-ish? So that would put us in around mid-day. I personally would love to make lunch. Maybe we could push lunch back to the 1 or 2 time frame? I agree w/ Cory, poker during the herf Sat night would be schweet! Other than that, I am up for whatever..

BBS-you got room for a tent in your back yard??? :whistling:
 
I am thinking of an early departure from Boise, say 6am-ish? So that would put us in around mid-day. I personally would love to make lunch. Maybe we could push lunch back to the 1 or 2 time frame? I agree w/ Cory, poker during the herf Sat night would be schweet! Other than that, I am up for whatever..

BBS-you got room for a tent in your back yard??? :whistling:
KC - unfortunately, no room in our teeny back yard for a tent (you'll see... :p ) but the good news is that there is reasonably priced lodging very close. I'll hit them up Saturday or Sunday and get back to you and the bunch.

The schedule is completely flexable depending on what you guys want to do. We can push lunch to 1 or 2 as long as that's what most folks want to do.

Keep it coming.... :thumbs:

Thanks guys - B.B.S.
 
Well, now that a date is firmly set, I can work on 1) the Wifely Unit©, 2) the family (for the sick Aunt vigil) and 3) work for the time off. The 9th is the start of my 4 days off, but I won't get off work until 9am saturdy morning. However, as luck would have it, I'm working tonight and Sat. day for 12 hours for 2 different people- one of them should be able to cover the back half of my last shift, which means I could leave Friday night or earlier Sat. morning.

Time will tell on the family part... hopefully it'll work out there. As far as the Wifely Unit©, she was mentioning she's like to hit Seattle and go shopping... and we do have 4 days off... :whistling:

So put us down as a high potential at this point- say 85%? :laugh:
 
Im in, and will follow up with the potential of a wife attending. Mine, not just any old wife. :D

Bill
 
I'm in!
I'm not sure if the S.O. will be attending yet... that might be last minute!

As far as what we do, I'm fine with pretty much anything!!! This will be my first herf, so I'm excited!!!
I think poker would be great, and I'll see about dragging my table along with!!!

This should be a GREAT time!
Thanks xRanger for getting this baby started, and thanks B.B.S. for putting up with us at your place and ALL the info!!! :thumbs:

David
 
Okay... there may be trouble in paradise. I mentioned this little gathering to my wifely unit today and she was not too pleased. I've got several weeks to work on it, though. :whistling:
 
Gents - so far, so good.

Keep me informed as your travel plans firm up. If folks are going to be arriving at different times during the afternoon, it may not be practical for us to go "out" for lunch. If that's the case, it's no worries. I can swing a burger / brat lunch for us all, if that works out better.

I'll visit the local lodging establishments this weekend and post the contact info and prices.

Looking forward to it - B.B.S.
 
OK guys, I updated the first post with some lodging info.

Also, it dawned on me that the whole "BYO Grill" idea is potentially a pain in the ass for folks that are traveling. As such, if the decision is to "eat in" at my house for the evening meal, I'll just plan on feeding everyone here. My wife and I grill up some pretty decent steaks, so once a final count is had, I'll plan on steak dinners for us all. If you want something else, plese let me know ASAP.

Keep the ideas / confirmations coming, gents.... :cool:

Regards - B.B.S.
 
OK guys, I updated the first post with some lodging info.

Also, it dawned on me that the whole "BYO Grill" idea is potentially a pain in the ass for folks that are traveling. As such, if the decision is to "eat in" at my house for the evening meal, I'll just plan on feeding everyone here. My wife and I grill up some pretty decent steaks, so once a final count is had, I'll plan on steak dinners for us all. If you want something else, plese let me know ASAP.

Keep the ideas / confirmations coming, gents.... :cool:

Regards - B.B.S.


I gotta tell..ya, I can't think of a much better Saturday day/night spent just hanging with good food, good BOTLs, good sticks, good liquor, and oh yeah..POKER!! We will have wheels, so we can get to a grocery store, if need be. Otherwise, we could do what we did in Vegas and just kick in a set amount to cover food/drink costs per person for a BBQ. Hell for that matter, we can pack a cooler and bring it. My vote is to "eat in" as you put it and hang w/ the bruddahs smoking sticks and playing cards!

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your enthusiasm and efforts so far BBS! Good show Mate! :D :love:
 
tom,

are you anywheres near the Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Co.?
Mel - greetings - !!

Nope, I'm in the southern part of the state, just barely over the Or state line. Snoqualmie is east of Seattle a bit; probably a five+ hour drive from my casa.

Some of the other guys posting in this thread are from Seattle, though.... :whistling:

Cheers - B.B.S.
 
tom,

are you anywheres near the Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Co.?
It's quite a drive for me as well!

David

Ok,
scratch my last post!
I just talked to my dad, and he should be in that area around the first of August. He said he could swing in and pick up some goods for us if need be...
Or, he lives in Roslyn, and there is a great little brewery there!!! Damn fine beer!!! :thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs:

David
 
OK guys, I updated the first post with some lodging info.

Also, it dawned on me that the whole "BYO Grill" idea is potentially a pain in the ass for folks that are traveling. As such, if the decision is to "eat in" at my house for the evening meal, I'll just plan on feeding everyone here. My wife and I grill up some pretty decent steaks, so once a final count is had, I'll plan on steak dinners for us all. If you want something else, plese let me know ASAP.

Keep the ideas / confirmations coming, gents.... :cool:

Regards - B.B.S.


I gotta tell..ya, I can't think of a much better Saturday day/night spent just hanging with good food, good BOTLs, good sticks, good liquor, and oh yeah..POKER!! We will have wheels, so we can get to a grocery store, if need be. Otherwise, we could do what we did in Vegas and just kick in a set amount to cover food/drink costs per person for a BBQ. Hell for that matter, we can pack a cooler and bring it. My vote is to "eat in" as you put it and hang w/ the bruddahs smoking sticks and playing cards!

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your enthusiasm and efforts so far BBS! Good show Mate! :D :love:

All good ideas. Im all for chipping in if need be! Just let everyone know, and I am sure it wouldnt be a problem.
 
Guys - To be clear - I'm not nearly as worried about the "chipping in" part of things as I am making sure everyone has a good time. Hey, I've never done one of these before, so I'm depending on all your good ideas.

Let's figure out what everyone wants to do, and make it happen. I'm sure the dust will settle appropriately.... :thumbs:

Keep it coming, guys - B.B.S.
 
My wife has bailed on the idea of her going, but I'm getting jazzed up on taking the '66 on a road trip, just bought new suspension all the way around and it handles like a dream. I'm looking to find a buddy to trip with, I don't want go by my lonesome.
 
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