Absolutely nothing fabric, yarn or dogs

Tom loves single malt whisky. I, on the other hand, never acquired the taste for anything alcohol (and when I did nurse the one sissy drink per night that one year of legal age in college, I would turn quite a lovely shade of red...but I digress.) Since 2000, there has been a Whiskies of the World Expo held in San Francisco. Tom has been attending since learning about it in 2001. I've been going along to visit Britex, and later Artfibers (okay, so I did get something fabric and yarn in...) and keep Tom company.

On most of those years we have run into a gentleman in his kilt carrying a large balloon glass for the tastings (think reallylarge brandy snifter). A few expos ago Bruce Ridley told us about his Robert Burns party at which he opened up his liquor collection (added to over the years by guests) and made haggis (which Tom also likes.) This weekend, we headed for Spokane, Washington. Bruce's house is modest, but the party was large. One of the people we met likened it to a frat party, but for grown ups and no keg. We left after four hours, but have it on good authority that a second wave arrived at midnight and the party went till well after 2am.

I will give a brief weather report, just to put things into perspective. Having spent 25 years in the Bay Area, all vestiges of ten years in Colorado were gone. I was an avowed weather wimp. 40°F and I was in several layers (though, not quite the Michelin man). I acclimated to the Oregon weather surprisingly quickly and only wear a fleece jacket (and hat) at that same 40°F. However, when it got down into the 20s here this past week, the layers were out again. As we headed east toward Spokane, the temperature dropped a few degrees, but by the time we were 20 miles outside of town the snow (hey! it was supposed to be dry!) it dropped into the teens. We started home in 5°F weather. Getting home to 36°F was positively balmy.

Sorry, couldn't resist adding something doggy. Mandy just loves the snow...well, maybe not.

On the way home, we made a brief stop in The Dalles, one of the towns where Tom grew up, and where the Hudson name is part of local history. Tom's great-grandfather, one of the original settlers in The Dalles formed Hudson Insurance, and the company still bears the name, though Tom's dad left the business in 1968.