Oregon, 2002

Saturday, Nov. 9th, 2002

On this trip, my friend LaDawna decided to come with me. Because she got her ticket late, she had to fly on a different flight than me, but we arranged a place to me at the Portland Airport. Our plan is to visit breweries, wineries, enjoying the scenery, visit relatives, and relax. 

My flights we OK, but landing in Salt Lake City was pretty rough. We met at the Portland airport without any problem and took off to get our car at Alamo. We got a Nissan Altima, which was pretty nice; I wouldn't mind getting a car like that.

Our first order of busy was to go to Ladawna's relatives in Aloha, OR. We had good maps from AAA, and the Yahoo! maps were accurate for once. We visited with Mark and Michelle. Mark is LaDawna's second cousin. They had a newborn, named Owen, and a 2-year-old, Ryan. Ladawna's first cousin, Kay was there (Mark's mom), as well as her husband, David. We had a very nice time chatting for a couple of hours. Mark, David, and I talked about traveling overseas. Mark had been to Taiwan recently, and David and I talked about our trips to China. They were all very nice people.

After leaving Mark's, our first brewery was the Portland Brewing Company. They're a little out of the way, but well worth it. I got a couple of glasses, and we shared some Shepard's pie. Good beers, worth returning to.

After checking into the Day's Inn, relaxing for a little bit, we ventured into the night of Downtown Portland. In our area, all the buses and trolleys are free, but we decided walk. I felt fairly safe and there where lots of people around. 

Our first stop was the Tugboat brewery. It's tucked in off a side street and a little hard to find. I had a porter, which was nice, and Ladawna had a German beer, which she really liked. After talking to some guy from LA, our next stop was Ringlers. Nice little place, part of a local chain. Good beer, weird little bar.

Enough beer, we were ready for some food. One of my brothers Rick's favorite places was just down the road, so we stopped there. Jake's is a fairly famous restaurant in Portland. Great seafood. I had an oyster sampler plate and Ladawna had the shrimp fettuccini. We both thought our food was great.

To get back to the hotel, we took the trolley. It is very modern and automated. Since we were in the downtown area, it was free. Enough fun for one night, it was off to bed.

Sunday, November 10th

Today we visited the wineries of Yamhill County. All were good, and since I'm not an experienced wine drinker, I'm not going to elaborate on each winery. They all have different prices on the tasting, some are free, and some cost $5. Below is the list of wineries we went to. Ladawna liked Argyle and Ponzi; my favorites were Duck Pond and Erath. I think you should skip the Lange winery; I really didn't care for the staff there. I did get one wine glass at each place, so I have a pretty cool collection.

List of wineries:
Rex Hill
Duck Pond Cellars
Argyle
Ponzi
Lange
Torii Mor
Erath
Maresh

After driving back to Portland, we were both pretty tired from a long day of wine tasting. We went to bed early, ready for the next day.

Monday, November 12th

We started off very early on Highway 26th to Mount Hood. The drive through the forest was fantastic. The colors of the trees were amazing. I sure hope the pictures come out nice. Along the way, we stopped at the biggest nice snow skiing place in the US. Very cool.

We saw the sign for the Timberline Lodge and decided to check it out, and were we every glad. At the turn off, there was a little snow, but as we climbed the mountain, the snow got deeper and deeper. Once at the top, it was gorgeous. Beautiful new snow had fallen, blue skies, and it was too cold. We took a lot of pictures. We went inside Timberline Lodge, which was very rustic. Ladawna wanted to ski, but I wouldn't let her (like I was going to be responsible for her hurting herself, lol).

The road from Mt. Hood to Hood River was nice. Lots and lots of pear and apple orchards. Once in Hood River, we stopped at the Full Sail Brewery. They had some really good beers. On the way out of town, Ladawna got some outstanding fresh apples and pears. They were so very good.

The next part of the drive was along the Columbia River. The scenery was beyond belief. All the trees were turning colors and the river was beautiful. We took the old scenic highway, were we presented with some amazing waterfalls. One of which was Multnomah Waterfall, one of the highest in the US. It was fantastic.

After taking a quick shower, we went to my brother's home in Forest Grove. Roger cooked salmon and Kim made a great apple pie. It was nice to have some time to visit with my family. We drove back to Portland and crash again. Another full day with some amazing scenery.

Tuesday to Thursday, November 12th - 14th

I took Ladawna to the airport without any problem. I talked to her once she got back to OKC. She said her flight from Portland to Denver was frightening. I'm glad I wasn't on it. 

I meet Harry Hughes at the airport at noon. Harry was fortunate enough to bring his wife, Hanna, with him on this trip. She has a lot of relatives in the Portland area. We drove 4 hours to Pendleton, check in, ate at Raphael's (which was nice, a little upscale), had a couple of local beers in the bar, and looked forward to the real reason why I was in Oregon. My room in the hotel has great view of the Blue Mountains.

The rest of the trip went smoothly. The site visit went fine and the drive into to Boise, ID was nice.