A couple of years ago, I took my family to Seattle for a little spring break fun.
As we stopped at one of the tourist destinations in town, a woman behind the counter looked at my kids and asked “You guys get the day off from school?”
I said: “We’re on spring break.”
The woman looked puzzled.
“Spring break?” she said. “I thought spring break was next week. Where are you guys from?”
“Vancouver,” I replied. “Vancouver, WASHINGTON.”
When you go to Seattle, it’s always good to be specific on that point or you might be mistaken for a foreigner.
“Oh,” the woman said, still puzzled. So her co-worker helped her out.
“Spring break here (in Seattle) is next week,” the co-worker explained. “But down in Southwest Washington, spring break is this week. Last week, we had folks from Oregon up here on their spring break.”
The first woman shook her head.
“Why can’t everyone agree on when spring break should be?” she said.
Why indeed.
It’s a story that came to mind this spring as I was looking at our area’s high school sports schedule.
Typically, spring break in Oregon falls in late March, followed by spring break in Southwest Washington the following week.
But not this year.
Oregon held its spring break last week.
This week is spring break if you go to school in Washougal, or Stevenson, or Woodland, or Kalama, Longview, Kelso and points north.
But if you live in Clark County (outside of Washougal), spring break is next week.
It leads to some quirky schedules in high school sports.
For example, it’s business as normal for the Class 4A Greater St. Helens League. All six 4A GSHL schools are in Clark County.
Baseball teams have three rounds of league games scheduled Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the 4A GSHL.
The 4A GSHL boys soccer league schedule opens on Tuesday, topped by a matchup between Camas and Skyview at Kiggins Bowl, which figures to be a spirited affair.
The first 4A GSHL girls tennis league matches are slated for Monday. And there are even some league dual track and field meets on Wednesday and Thursday.
But when you look at Monday’s 3A GSHL baseball schedule, you’ll see that Mountain View plays Prairie and Columbia River faces Hudson’s Bay.
What about Fort Vancouver and Kelso? Well, the Trappers and Hilanders already played their league matchup because Kelso is on spring break this week.
In boys soccer on Tuesday, league play opens with Columbia River vs. Mountain View and Fort vs. Prairie.
What about Hudson’s Bay and Kelso? Well, that match won’t be played until Wednesday, April 16.
Yeah, I know. It’s all so confusing.
League play in the 2A GSHL and 1A Trico are even lighter as many of the schools in those leagues are on break.
So why can’t we all just agree on the same week for spring break?
Check of the weather
Last week was a soaker.
This week will be wet, but not as much.
According to weather.com, the forecast calls for only a 20 percent chance of rain on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with highs right around 60 degrees.
The showers increase on Thursday with solid rain returning on Friday.
