Okay, folks - the date has been chosen, it is now official:

BootsnAll's 2007 Party is Saturday, December 1, 2007

UPDATED INFO:
When: Saturday, December 1 from 7-11pm
Where: Lucky Labrador Beer Hall - 1945 NW Quimby St., Portland OR 97209
What: We'll have snacks, beer and wine, and lots of cool people around talking travel! We'll also be giving away some prizes this year, including a $500 voucher for a plane ticket.

You'll find a map to the Lucky Lab here - it'll be easy to get to from the hostel in NW.

Friday
The Friday night before the Saturday party is the traditional pre-party party, wherein Booties begin to filter into the hostel and are in need of some refreshments and socializing before the official party starts the following day. This year, it appears the Friday festivities are going to stay very local - Booties are taking over the hostel and ordering pizza. It'll be fun, you should join us.

Saturday
A few ideas have been batted around for a Saturday daytime activity or two (for anyone who's not still sleeping off Friday night), and these are the options which have risen to the top:

• A leisurely shopping/eating tour of downtown Portland via the streetcar and light rail train, including the Portland Saturday Market and Powell's City of Books .
  
• National Geographic is having a big warehouse sale that weekend, and it's free to enter. Details of the hours & location are at the bottom of this post, for anyone who's in town early and wants to go on Friday.
  
• There's a mall just across the river from downtown that boasts both an ice skating rink and a multi-plex movie theatre, so if some people just want to chill out that could be a nice option.

Sunday
I think some people are leaving pretty early, but for anyone who's sticking around the gang will try to gather somewhere for a breakfast farewell to the weekend. If you're not staying at the hostel and you want to be included, let someone know. Preferably someone who's in charge. Which wouldn't be me.

There's also the Holiday Ale Festival going on all weekend in Pioneer Courthouse Square, right in downtown Portland. Just in case any of you people likes beer.

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I sincerely hope that many of you can join us for the festivities this year. For a sample of what it was like last year, check out the Flickr photo album. You want to be a part of that, don't you! Of course you do!

Here is the Portland weather forecast for the weekend.

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National Geographic Warehouse Sale
When: Friday, November 30 - 10am-6pm -- Saturday, December 1 - 9am-5pm -- Sunday, December 2 - 9am-5pm
Where: Oregon Convention Center , in NE Portland and on the MAX light rail line
* Purchase orders, cash, checks, VISA and MasterCard accepted

Hmm... after my upcoming 3 weeks in China I'll have 2 more vacation days this year. Maybe I'll burn them in Portland.

woo hoo - i can actually attend the US version this year - i had loosely planned to be leaving Vancouver for Seattle on that date which is cool cos i will just head down to Portland instead



Mich

for the third year in a row, the party is the same week as my bday! yay! i always look forward to these events! so everyone else needs to come.

Who's up for the hot apple cider and whipped cream with expensive caramel sauce again (with rum naturally).

Woohoo party time again, maybe this time I will actually get drunk instead of being the responsible one dishing out the spiked apple cider....

Trekker

Oh and if anyone wants to do a car pool lets see what we can organise, the vancouver booties can meet up with the seattle booties (crash space available at my place) and start the party early then move on to PDX.....

Trekker

Hey, Trekker, you need to update your profile - it still says you're in Eugene!

OOPS.... hahahah guess I was having so much fun in the big city I forgot I moved.

thanks Jess

Trekker

That's the day OF my birthday!

I really wanted to go this year... but we have a HUGE work thing on the Friday. *sigh* It's the day everyone gets their big exam results.

I noticed that the organizers (or should I say organisers?) of this year's London BootsnAll Party have thoughtfully added a note to anyone who's new and who might not get what all the fuss is about. I thought it would be wise to do the same over here, as well.

BootsnAll hosts a party each year in Portland, Oregon to celebrate another year of promoting independent travel and meeting independent travelers. The party itself is on a Saturday night, but there are generally a weekend's worth of activities to get involved in - as much or as little as you like. It's a great chance to meet some of the folks you've interacted with on the boards, or just get together and talk with other people who are as crazy about traveling as you are. A good time is had by all, and we've had people come from all over the world to join us. If you're even thinking about it, do pencil us in and keep an eye out here for more details as they emerge. We'd be very pleased to meet you.

Hey jess

If you guys need any help with set-up or anything let me know. I will probably come up a day or so earlier.

Trekker

quote:

Originally posted by trekker:
Who's up for the hot apple cider and whipped cream with expensive caramel sauce again (with rum naturally).

Woohoo party time again, maybe this time I will actually get drunk instead of being the responsible one dishing out the spiked apple cider....

Trekker

You did do a wonderful job though !

Why thankyou BostonBill, you bringing the expensive caramel sauce again......... I think that was your contribution....

Trekker

I'll be up there again for sure. Any plans to do the hostal thing again?

For those of you who can't make the BootsnAll party in P-town, but want to visit another country, don't forget we are organizing a cycling trip in Vietnam too. No experience necessary and you can rent a bike!


Cycle Vietnam With BootsnAll