Call it ‘Experience Paul Allen’s Art Project’

You know how it is.

Sometimes you get so tired of tripping over your Renoirs and your Monets, and it just seems easier to move them down to your museum. And while you’re at it, why not invite a few people to come by and have a look?

Call it spring cleaning, Paul Allen style.

The philanthropist and kajillionaire loaned 28 works to himself for the “Double Take: From Monet to Lichtenstein” exhibit at Experience Music Project in Seattle through Sept. 24.

The show pairs Degas, van Gogh and other impressionists side-by-side with post-impressionists like Picasso, Jasper Johns and Mark Rothko.

Manet, Cezanne, Seurat, Gaugin, de Kooning and other artists are represented as well. Some of the featured works have not been seen in public for about 50 years.

Aside from the fact that he owns the place, there’s good reason for Allen to display his art collection in proximity to Kurt Cobain’s guitar.

Long before rock and roll “invented” rebellion, painters were breaking the rules and shocking decent people with their wild ideas. Impressionism scandalized the general public when it debuted in Paris in the 1860s. (You have to admit, those water lilies are outrageous.)

And post-impressionists elicited a similar reaction in the next century, although today their work seems fairly respectable. Classic, even.

Kind of like the Rolling Stones during PBS pledge week.

There’s a complete list of the exhibit’s artists and paintings at www.doubletakeexhibit.org. You can also buy tickets in advance online or by calling (866) 468-7623.

Adult admission to the exhibit costs $8, or you can purchase a $33 pass good for Double Take, Experience Music Project and the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame all together.

Polly want adventure?

My husband tells the most riveting stories of his wildlife sightings. He’s ridden his bike with a herd of elk. A moose once tried to climb into his sleeping bag. A wolf stole right through his camp one night.

It’s all very captivating until he gets the firearms involved. That’s when the vegetarians leave the room.

So I’ve never been along for any of these outings. If I want to get a look at the animals for myself, I just might give the Rusty Parrot Lodge and Spa a call.

The Jackson, Wyo., spot – voted No. 1 hotel in the Continental United States and Canada by the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine – will take small groups of no more than eight guests into Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks for its 2006 spring safaris, offered in conjunction with the nonprofit Teton Science School.

The three-night package is available May 7 to 10 and May 14 to 17. It runs $925 per person. Four-night safaris for $1,275 per person start May 17 and May 22.

Prices are based on double occupancy, and they include lodging, transportation, guides, optics equipment and some meals.

You’ll start your adventure luxuriously enough with a night at the lodge. Then you’ll load into your open-roofed safari vehicle and head into Grand Teton in search of grizzlies and wolves, accompanied by a biologist guide. You could also get a glimpse of bald eagles, trumpeter swans, white pelicans, black bears, or newborn elk and bison on your way into northern Yellowstone.

Depending on which package to choose, you’ll spend the next one or two nights in Cooke City, Mont., just four miles outside the park’s northeast entrance. You’ll be at the Rusty Parrot for your final evening.

“On the second day, we’re getting up real early, before the crack of dawn,” says Kevin Taylor, program coordinator for Wildlife Expeditions, a branch of the Teton Science School. “We’ve never had a trip where we haven’t seen bears or wolves. All of our guides have been doing this for a number of years and really know the territory.”

Taylor says binoculars and high-powered spotting scopes help, too: “You feel like you’re up close, but we’re far enough away that we’re not affecting the animals’ behavior.”

Make your reservations at www.rustyparrot.com or (800) 458-2004.

May plowers

Tamarack Resort – about 90 miles north of Boise – is having such a great ski season, they’re going to run their lifts, weekends only, until May 20.

Thirty-two feet of snow have pounded the 700-acre resort’s 7,700-foot summit since Thanksgiving week. And to encourage you to give it a try, they’re offering discount pricing of $20 for adults and $10 for youth.

There’s additional information at www.tamarackidaho.com or (208) 325-1000.

Gas lite

Portland prides itself on its enlightenment.

So, in complete harmony with the city’s predominant ethos, the Kimpton Hotels properties there will reward guests who drive hybrid vehicles by cutting the nightly parking fee in half, to $12.50.

The discount is available at Hotel Vintage Plaza and 5th Avenue Suites Hotel.

The two hotels also qualified for the City of Portland’s BlueWorks Business Recycling Certification, the only downtown hotels to do so. The certification goes to businesses that recycle 50 percent of their waste.

You can learn more about the program at www.sustainableportland.org/recycle_com.html.

For hotel reservations, visit www.kimptonhotels.com or call (800) 546-7866.

Regional events

• International Migratory Bird Day, May 13, Moiese, Mont. Celebrate with bird-watching, hikes and other activities. (www.visitmt.com/ 406-644-2211)

• Annual Cowboy Music Festival, May 19, Preston, Idaho. The Cub River Guest Ranch hosts music from Sky Highway, Gilmore City Council BlueGrass and others. There’s poetry and food, too. (www.visitidaho.org/ 866-400-2124)

• Irvington Home Tour, May 21, Portland. Poke your nose into seven historic residences during the oldest and largest home tour in the city. (www.irvingtonhometourpova.com/503-288-9234)