We decided to drive down to Portland during spring break to take the kids to see the Zoo, Aquarium, and do a bit of tax-free shopping. This transcript details the things we did and some advise for those of you wanting to do the same. First of all, use Expedia.ca instead of Priceline.com when booking your hotels because you can choose to pay for board and lodging in your local currency instead of paying fees at the hotel in US Currency. I find that you save a little bit from not having to pay conversions fees especially if you don't have a US credit card. Secondly, the drive from BC to Portland is 5 hours long so split it up into two to make sure your kids get to rest up. Trust me, it's worth it. And finally, make sure you have a fully inflated spare tire available just in case. As you will find out later on in this blog, it helped get us back on track. Ramada Tukwilla This hotel was a welcome surprise. It was very affordable at $100/night and was a very comfortable stay. T