A trove of trips in the Northwest

The specter of spring has lit a fire under the tourism industry, and the news releases have been coming fast and furious.

In an effort to clear off my desk – and give you plenty from which to choose – let’s turn today’s Here & There into a grab bag of regional travel treats.

Smart-looking dummies: On March 15, the Maryhill Museum of Art in Goldendale, Wash., debuts “Theatre de la Mode,” a display of aging mannequins.

The one-third human size models dressed in the new “modern look” of women’s fashion premiered in Paris at the close of World War II.

Peace brought with it a new emphasis on the frivolous among a relieved population, and the 1946 fashion celebration played to appreciative crowds across Europe and then in the United States, coming to rest in San Francisco. The mannequins remained there until the early 1950s, when Maryhill acquired them.

Once you get the travel bug, it’s hard to quit, so the mannequins took a second world tour in the 1990s, visiting Paris, New York, Baltimore, Portland and Tokyo. And now you have the opportunity to see these 47 worldly and well-dressed icons on their adopted home turf through Nov. 15.

Visit www.maryhillmuseum.org or call (509) 773-3733 for additional information.

Happy trails: Here’s a new take on the working vacation.

Rosario Resort & Spa and Moran State Park have teamed up to offer you a chance to sweat your holiday away. Spend three hours on March 3, April 7 or May 5 volunteering to clear park trails, and the Orcas Island resort will thank you with work gloves, heavy duty hand lotion, a special “green” rate of $69 per night and 15 percent off the services at Avanyu spa.

Moran State Park’s 5,252 acres feature five freshwater lakes, more than 30 miles of hiking trails and an observation tower at the highest point on the San Juan Islands.

Your virtuous vacationing may require a three- or four-mile hike, but you’ll be well-supervised by the park’s staff. To find out more about how you can feel good about yourself, visit rosario.rockresorts.com or call (866) 801-ROCK.

Head trips: If you prefer a working vacation that engages the brain instead of the muscles, Skamania Lodge has just the thing.

The “Education Vacation” spring break packages, available from March 26 to 30 and again from April 2 to 6, bid you hither with promises of interactive activities aimed at students and their families.

The lodge sits about 45 minutes from Portland, smack dab in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, site of an interpretive museum you can visit as part of the package.

That’s just one item on a whole menu of goings-on, including a scavenger hunt in the gorge with someone named Ranger John of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, an interactive fish presentation at a nearby hatchery, a class on Mount St. Helens, kite-building, putting practice on the lodge’s course and more.

Skamania throws all that in with a package rate of $149 per night for two adults and two students. Make your reservation at www.skamania.com or (509) 427-7700.

Foot hills: You may not be quite ready to let go of winter, and Local Escapes sympathizes with their one-day snowshoeing packages, available through March – or as long as the snow holds.

The Pacific Northwest tour operator will pick you up in the Seattle area and deliver you to the Olympia Peninsula’s Hurricane Ridge or somewhere around Mount St. Helens or Snoqualmie Pass for your adventure.

They’ll provide instruction, snowshoes, transportation, permits and a picnic lunch for $175 per person for a group of four or $150 each for a group of six.

Get more information at www.localescapes.com or (206) 782-4172.

Worth the drive: In Canada, they’ve got golf on their minds. At the Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Club, for instance, they’re offering an early bird special with their “Golf for Free” package.

From opening day – May 5 – through June 29, you get two rounds of golf on the house and unlimited access to the practice facility when you book a room.

Rates start at $259 Canadian per room based on double occupancy. You can get yours at www.fairmont.com/whistler or (604) 938-8000.

Over at the Olympic View Gold Club and Arbutus Ridge Golf & Country Club in Victoria, they claim you can golf all year round. And just to prove it, they’ve got an “Unlimited Winter Golf” package running until March 16.

It comes with seven nights’ accommodation at your choice of eight hotels, and seven days’ worth of golf with a power cart. The cost starts at $389 Canadian per person, based on double occupancy. Book directly with the hotel and they’ll supply a voucher and – this is the best part – an ID badge.

The list of hotels is at www.golfbc.com/special_offers/vancouver_island. Or you can call (800) 446-5322.

Regional events

•World Snowmobile Expo, March 15-18, West Yellowstone, Mont. Racers from “all over the snowbelt” will be there, as will the latest machines and products. (www.visitmt.com/406-646-7701)

•Emerald City ComiCon, March 31-April 1, Seattle. This celebration of comic books has attracted a long list of special guests that will no doubt delight insiders. (www.emeraldcitycomicon.com/206-381-8000.)