THURSDAY & FRI, SEPT 11 & 12

THURSDAY, SEPT 11:

    Got off reasonably early.  A beautiful drive through the Rogue-Umpqua valley.  As we left the Rogue River cascading beside us, the Umpqua took its place.  Appropriate, since both have their birth in the mountains surrounding Crater Lake.  We feel that we have more than a passing acquaintance now with the Rogue – it now holds a special place in our fond memories, just like its northern cousin the Columbia.

     Hit Hwy 5 in the early afternoon, and pretty easy driving after that.  Google directions sent us on narrow back roads through some of the heart of Oregon’s wine country to get to McMinnville, our destination.  Since we came this way to see Oregon’s wine country, and since at 3:00 on a Thursday afternoon there was little other traffic, it was fine!

     The RV Park is very nice.  Totally different from where we came from – very urban, but with lush green lawns separating the concrete sites, and nice landscaping everywhere.

                                                                        

We’ll be here just two nites . . . will tour some of the wineries tomorrow and then head on.

 

FRIDAY, SEPT 12:

     Right after breakfast, took in the laptop to a computer repair place in town.  After receiving a zipped file of the photos of our rafting trip yesterday, Bill & I spent 3 hours last night trying to get them to open.  Was beyond frustrating!    We found a couple of computer repair places, called this one, the owner said it sounded like something he could take care of quickly, and invited us to bring it in.  We did, and 5 minutes later, he had it resolved, giving us a little tutorial as he did his thing.  And didn’t even charge the hourly minimum.  What a nice experience!

    Then we set out to explore some of Oregon’s prime wine country – the Willamette and Yamill valleys.  We drove to the tiny town of Carlton, where I’d read about a wonderful little eatery with raved-about sandwiches, cheeses, and of course, local wines.  Bill got an Italian sandwich and a stout beer.  I had their brie appetizer, which was served with dried cranberries and almonds and their house fig sauce, and did a wine flight of 2 local pinot noirs and a cabernet.  Then got a glass of one of the pinot offerings.  All was super delicious, even more so as we leisurely enjoyed it out on their patio under the warm sun. 

     So, at around 2:30, we began driving around, planning on coming across a winery or two where there would be nice views, we could relax, etc.  We weren’t ready for any more wine at this point, but our thought was to drive around for a while until we were.  What we found was that while there were dozens of wineries all around, those that were open to the public had tasting rooms only – no lovely outside views, no food served, most not even serving wine by the glass.  Strictly focused on the tasting (which most places charged a fee for) and of course purchasing. And they all close at 4:00!   So there went our plan for dinner!  We were expecting wineries similar to the ones back home, where you can spend a delightful afternoon and/or  evening  sipping a glass or two outside on a porch or table on the lawn, overlooking the scene below.  Very different here.  At least from what we could find.   But the scenery as we drove around the countryside was very lovely.  Not as green as back home . .  . more arid, which I think must be perfect for growing the pinot noir grape, as this is the wine for which this part of Oregon is becoming renown.

     Made the short drive back home and rested and cat-napped.  When awoke, we found that we were finally hungry again.  Decided to just drive back to The Horse Radish, where we had lunch.  We knew the food was good, the atmosphere very casual, and they were having live music tonight.  This time Bill got a pastrami sandwich and I had the house roast beef served with their blue cheese and horseradish mayo.  Really, really tasty!!  A bluegrass/folk group from Portland was performing.  Quite good, and a very fun, enjoyable repertoire. Nice to see that even sophisticated Portlanders can thoroughly get into The Orange Blossom Special!  Their closing number was perfectly appropriate for Bill and me as we’re beginning to turn back home – This Land is Your Land.  We almost felt that they must have known our travelling story!  

     Tomorrow we travel to Mt. Rainier.