canopus56 wrote:
But is the 90 degs ecliptic latitude in the direction of Earth's travel
in its orbit or tilted opposite the Earth's orbital direction of
travel?

After playing around with the JPL Planetica
http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/ (Earth view from above, counterclockwise
orbit travel), I guess I've convinced myself that the x-y plane axial
orientation of the Earth's axis at the equinoxes is in the direction of
the Earth's travel in its orbit. If someone could confirm, it would
appreciated. - Canopus56