Our Oregon Trip

I’m a little slow in getting this up, but here are some photos from our trip to Oregon two weeks ago…

We headed down straight south from Kelowna with our truck (mostly empty with a very large blanketed area we called “Maggie’s Palace” in the back,) towing our new-to-us 30 year old 17′ RV trailer, Gordon. (It’s a Bigfoot – get it?  Gordon Bigfoot?!?)

Our mission was to get away, relax together, recuperate from Hamish’s passing, and, drink a lot of Pinot Noir! The pinot was actually the original purpose to the trip… so we drove down through Washington with a brief stop in Yakima, Washington, (merlot etc, not PN) to check out a few choice vineyards, and then spent 5 days in the lovely Willamette Valley, Oregon (PN all the way…). 

The first few nights we stayed in Silver Falls Park, with lots of nice hiking and peaceful, quiet forests.  The last 3 days we stayed closer to the action and spend the hot sunny days floating from vineyard to vineyard, with stops in antique shops, parks and cafes along the way. We spent one morning at the aviation museum, where Jrock had the best time.  It took two days to get there and two days to get back, but I highly recommend this little area in Oregon as a family vacation – just lovely.

We came back with ’somewhat’ healed hearts, a renewed appreciation for Maggie’s sweet little spirit, and 15 bottles of wine.

Enjoy the pictures!
(If you click on a picture, it will make it bigger… then just click on the small picture below/right of the big one to move you to the next one, and so forth…)

Grabbing fruit before we leave Canada. Strangely, the only fruit we couldn’t take into the States was a Florida orange!

On the road with Gordon…

She felt right at home in the trailer, I think!

Relaxing after breakfast in the trailer.

Some wineries are pretty – some are functional.

One of the boutique wineries in Washington.

Out on the road with my girl! On the way to Oregon.

Antique shopping with Maggie – she enjoyed the AC more than the antiques, I think.

Such a good traveler….

Catching a sandwich at Silverton – that is such a cute little town!

PRetty old barns…

Hiking for 3/4 hours around Silver Falls – just lovely. Maggie was pooped. (So were we!)

Yee-gads! There be cougars in the woods!

Sketching – on a hike.

Pad Thai and a glass of Washington Reisling… what more could a couple want?

Enjoying one of the many off-leash parks.

The mountains were close, but the valley was all farmland and trees…

Lovely hazy evenings in Oregon…

MAggie’s favorite spot in Gordon…

These huge vultures were everywhere! Must be the state bird or something?

The historic site we stayed at for 2 days… very pretty farms here.

Archery Summit – some of the best we tasted. Argle was great too.

Happy but tasted-out after about 5 vineyards (that day).

I’m spitting and driving, but still enjoying myself!

Wild Rose – one of the small, pleasant surprises.

This guy nicely gave us some vine string from the barn since we forgot MAggie’s leash that day!

Pretty views – reminded us of Beaujolais – except the soil was red here, no limestone or brown.

Maggie visited a lot of wineries since it was too hot in the car – this is in Carlton, a cooperative winemakers studio.

One way to beat the heat!

Wading on the banks of the Willamette River on a hot day.

Jrock happy as punch at the Aviation Museum.

Faster than a speeding bullet!

Many of the vineyards we visited had pretty gates… this one also had great quality wine.

Elk Cove in the Northwest – very pretty, and great value wines.

Jrock happily studying the wine menu at La Rambla tapas bar in McMinnville.

Dash Point State Park, near Seattle, Washington

Maggie loves the beach!

Picking blackberries for breakfast and dessert – never mind it’s a state park!

Chowing down at Dash point, Washington. Wine, pasta and still fresh vegs left over from our garden at home.

Ah, the border on the way back to home sweet home…