Interesting: "The closest situation he knew of was in 1955, when his grandfather saw a minus 20 degree November freeze that killed every tree in the valley." This year is very similar in many ways to 1955 in regards to a strong La Nina... Even now a lot of summer forecasts are based on that year, along with several others.

Well....I haven't been there, but my friend says always raves about Fabric Depot, although you didn't mention stopping by Portland... "Fabric Depot is the largest, most complete retail fabric store in the west. Our 73,000 square foot store includes fashion, special occasion, quilting, and home decorating fabrics. Our Quilting Department has more than 8000 prints, with over 1000 books and patterns available for inspiration. " Also, if you can go, the area along Hiway 101 (the ocean) around Cannon Beach is a favorite. You can see photos on the web. It is wonderful. Have fun whatever you do!

My friends and I went to Sisters too - it was the first time we had ever gone. I've put in photos below. I took pix of some of the same quilts as Jill and Kit - all of the quilts were sooo beautiful! Kit - we left early too - as we are all heat wimps as well - I think the temp got to 90 by 1:00 pm, and we left around 2:00 pm. We were in town all week and had temps of 90+ every day. It was my first trip to Oregon - beautiful state and lovely people. We also took a great class on wool applique at their beautiful new high school. Jill and Kit - did either of you catch the vendor sale at the convention center in Bend - next to the Shiloh Inn? It was sponsored by Bolt Over fabrics. There's not tons of vendors, but the Bolt Over fabric booth was well worth seeing, and they had about 15 or so other vendors as well. They have hopes of having it in the same place each year, and adding more vendors. We also took in BJ's Quilt Shop which was very nice, and on the way home to CA, stopped at Tater Patch in Merrill OR, which was also very hot, but great fun. It's a 3-story 1900's farm house that is full of quilt fabric and notions from top to bottom. Well worth the side trip. Needless to say, between the Stitchin Post, BJ's, Bolt Over and Tater Patch, our trunk was full to the brim with fabric as we lumbered back home! Clara Here is a link that might be useful: Pix of Sisters

Personally I would make the salad, store in fridge in a Tupperware or similar sealed container. Leave in that for transportation. I would surround the container with blue ice frozen bars or zip lock bags of ice. If you have the insulated bag you mentioned put it all in there. Once there transfer to the penguin. The penguin doesn't seal so I definitely would not transport in it. I think that you put ice in the base of the penguin and the contents in a separate part is that correct? I have done this frequently and I have lots of the blue ice packs in various sizes kept in the freezer for when I need them. If you have a dollar store or big Lots they are very cheap. I have had ziplock baggies leak so I would not risk contamination of the salad by putting it in them. That's also why I prefer the blue ice.