Today it rained…on the road in the PNW

Old Oct 9th, 2016, 07:28 AM
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Today it rained…on the road in the PNW

We arrived in Portland, OR on Thursday for a two week road trip that will include the Willamette Valley, the Oregon coast, Bend, Walla Walla, WA and Hood River.

Instead of waiting until we get home and then struggling to call up the details, I’ve decided to try to post snippets as we go.

Our flight from Denver was packed; we arrived in cloudy Portland a few minutes ahead of schedule. PDX was surprisingly easy to navigate, and finding the MAX red line was a piece of cake. Five dollars each and some 13 stops later we were at Skidmore Fountain station.

I commented on how clean everything looked from the windows of the train as we left the airport, but that soon changed. Trash, abandoned grocery carts and people living under highway overpasses began to appear as we approached the city center. Skidmore Station looked and smelled a bit Skid Rowish.

A four minute walk later we were at Hertz on Pine Street. Why the light rail into the city to collect the rental car instead of picking it up at the airport? A $250-300 savings. We toyed with the idea of finding some lunch downtown, but just wanted to get out of the city – it wasn’t terribly appealing - at least not this part of it. So, we fired up our newly purchased GPS and hit the road.

Heeding the advice of Fodorites, we ignored the female voice that kept insisting we exit onto Highway 99. We continued driving, eventually taking the second exit to Wilsonville, rewarded with a sedate drive through the countryside. It was a bit discombobulating – busy inner city one minute, peaceful countryside the next, then back into an industrial area.

We programmed the GPS to find the Dundee Bistro, which was surprisingly busy for 1 pm on a weekday. We wasted no time diving into some local Pinot Noir, in this case Ponzi Traverna and Lange. The wine was lovely, but the food…really disappointing. This place felt very proud of itself. What we didn’t know at the time is that the bistro is owned by Ponzi.

After lunch we sought out Ponzi’s cellar door in Sherwood. It was raining, but the drive was very pretty. The winery, however, was everything we were trying to avoid – pretentious with a capital P. A $20 tasting fee got us a shared ‘flight’ of four tiny pours. The service was impersonal, rushed and phony; it really put us off, we left annoyed. It seems we’d stumbled upon Napa by mistake. We were not off to an auspicious start.

Feeling defeated, we sought out our accommodation, a place I’d found on Air BnB. I’d spent entirely too much time trying to find available and/or reasonably priced accommodation in the Willamette Valley over a weekend, so I’d been chuffed to find a promising temporary home.

The accommodation is as advertised, spacious, comfortable and warm, the neighborhood…eclectic, but overall a good choice. The skies opened, and as I write this, we’re into our 30th hour of rain. It seems the rainy season is underway.

Dinner was a self-catered affair from Fred Meyer – meat, cheese, bread, olives, fruit, vege. What a fantastic grocery store! By far the biggest produce section I’ve seen in recent memory. We were like kids in a candy store, reminding me of how excited we’d get when we visited a US grocery store on home leave from Sumatra, Indonesia.

First impressions:

So far Newberg/Dundee and vicinity feels like Anytown USA, except that wine tasting venues are mixed in with fast food restaurants, gas stations and convenience stores.

But, early days.
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Old Oct 9th, 2016, 07:38 AM
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Glad you arrived ok LOL yes good move on avoiding 99 too early on. Too bad about lunch. Go across the street to Red Hills Market next time and you will have a totally opposite experience. Newberg is a pit for downtown, but the beauty is in the hills. That Fred Meyer is my usual grocery store
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Old Oct 9th, 2016, 07:47 AM
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Thanks for writing as you go along! I'm sitting here in Seattle on Sunday morning and see a glimpse of sunshine trying to break out. Hope you have the same down your way.
~suze
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Old Oct 9th, 2016, 08:00 AM
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Yep. Some "bistros" are worthy of that name and some think they are too precious. I like most wines but intend to avoid the wineries because it's about a 50/50 chance it'll be snobby. The good places are generally so awesome they make up for the bad though! Sad that was your first meal! May it be your worst I don't know if it's just me- but I've never found Portland very clean. Just seems part of the city's persona- slightly grungy and weird, and proud of it- and one stops noticing after a while.

I was out and about in that 30 hours of rain as well. When you think "surely it must clear up soon" and then it never does- it's officially fall. If you think Fred Meyer is great- if you haven't been to whole foods, you should definitely go!
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Old Oct 9th, 2016, 08:08 AM
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Marvelousmouse--in defense of FM, the one in Newberg is much better than most. Yes WF is good, but in this area New Seasons beats it by a mile, IMO.

I was up on Chehalem Mtn a few days ago when the rain began. It was pretty to watch it fall over the valley with a bit of foliage in the background. That was right before it came down in bucket loads lol.

I'm at our place near Seattle now and we managed to do the pumpkin patch and farmers market before the rain set in yesterday. Perfect timing! That said, I do love the rain. Never tire of it, but then again I'm a native
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Old Oct 9th, 2016, 08:36 AM
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Alas! I expect you may start each day's report with "Today it rained."
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Old Oct 9th, 2016, 09:01 AM
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Hey, that's good to know, mms I do like Fred Meyer, I just find the bakery and deli at whole foods a little too mesmerizing for my own good. I was headed to the farmers market when the skies opened up, alas, so I decided to do something useful and spent a very frustrating day clothes shopping in Seattle. Should have gone out to play in the rain.
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Old Oct 9th, 2016, 09:13 AM
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Sorry you did not enjoy the Bistro. We enjoyed our lunch there.

Hope you are getting some sun today. I am just down the road in Eugene and it's beautiful here.

We enjoyed the Elizabeth Chambers tasting room in McMinnville.
Hope you find some wineries you enjoy. Most of them do charge a rather hefty tasting fee.
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Old Oct 9th, 2016, 09:59 AM
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Here on the "dry side" in central Oregon we have had less than a half inch of precipitation in the last 80 days.
At Hager Mountain (7200 feet), I had to bring in the rain gauge to melt the snow into the tube (0.12") last week.
There is only one wine tasting place I know of in Bend but there are many breweries including Deschutes.
If it is not raining or snowing, go up to Mt. Bachelor for a ride up the "Sunshine Accelerator".
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Old Oct 9th, 2016, 11:26 AM
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Marvelousmouse--I will apologize in advance for suggesting New Seasons. Their bakery and deli are really good! Not quite as much variety in regards to sweets but their baguettes are super good!!! We headed up to Snohomish for pumpkins. When our kids were younger and we lived there, we were spoiled for that. Still, DH and I had a great time even without the kids yesterday. Came back to the Redmond Farmers market and got home right as the rain began. Today we got a great 7 mile walk in without a drop. Did see tons of police activity along the trail though so curious to see the news.
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Old Oct 9th, 2016, 11:46 AM
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Mmmm baguettes! even more dangerous than sweets.

May I ask where you got your pumpkins in snohomish? I love a good pumpkin farm! And would you happen to know of any corn mazes in the area? Usually I go to the east side to hang out with relatives and get my fall fix but just too busy this year.
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Old Oct 9th, 2016, 12:07 PM
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There are several pumpkin patches and corn mazes close to the fun little town of Snohomish. http://www.festivalofpumpkins.org/

There's also a fall festival with rides, U-pick pumpkins and a corn maze at Remlinger's down in Carnation. https://remlingerfarms.com/ If interested, the drive down the beautiful Snoqualmie Valley from Monroe to Snoqualmie Falls is a terrific autumn outing. https://goo.gl/maps/wpw5FnNg2Z62
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Old Oct 9th, 2016, 12:37 PM
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Marvelousmouse--yes!!! The absolute best corn maze is at The Farm. The maze is of WA state and some of the great landmarks and highways. It was always a hit for school field trips and we have continued to go even after the kids were grown. My fav pumpkin patch by far though is Craven's. they also have a maze, as well as apple slinging to try and hit targets such as Bigfoot lol. Lots of fun things there. Stocker Farm is right off highway 9 and has a big draw but I don't like it near as much as the others. The family is super nice though so I kind of feel bad that they aren't my favorite. We have lived in Snohomish twice for a number of years each time do know it really well and I still consider it my WA home.
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Old Oct 9th, 2016, 12:38 PM
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Here is the website for the Farm. Www.thefarm1.com
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Old Oct 9th, 2016, 12:51 PM
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That looks like so much fun!! Thank you both!
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Old Oct 9th, 2016, 01:38 PM
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You're welcome mm

Melnq8--sorry to hijack. Looking forward to hearing more!
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Old Oct 9th, 2016, 08:17 PM
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Four days, and it's still raining. How do you guys do this?
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Old Oct 10th, 2016, 06:36 AM
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Melnq8--born and raised, not a transplant lol! Just throw on a jacket with a hood and you are good to go
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Old Oct 10th, 2016, 08:47 AM
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<How do you guys do this?>

Well it's Fall, we expect it this time of year. It's not even cold temps, just rainy.

Seattle (PNW generally) is gorgeous in May thru September.

And then in the winter... I go to Mexico or Hawaii on vacation (is how I do it -haha).
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Old Oct 10th, 2016, 06:09 PM
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October 7 –

It rained all night…between the portable heating units and the chasm in the mattress (causing us to roll inward and sleep on top of one another), we were plenty warm. Our basement apartment in this eclectic geodesic dome was proving to be quite the sanctuary.

Breakfast found us at Babica Hen in Dundee – nice atmosphere, mixed experience with the food. Bill liked his smoked pork Eggs Bennie well enough, but I’m not a fan of hot food with cold toppings (waffle with some sort of refrigerator cold blueberry sauce), so the jury’s still out. We had high hopes for the coffee, but it was nothing special.

Overstuffed pillows in the apartment had led to a restless night; we figured we’d better find some flat ones.

We consulted the GPS and followed The Voice through meandering countryside dotted with pumpkin patches, hops farms, orchards, and field after field of, well, we’re not sure what, but there was a lot of it. We also noticed trees we’d never seen before…now this was interesting.

Then suddenly, our trip through the country came to an abrupt halt, and there it was. The biggest Walmart we have ever seen (Woodburn). The errand itself was routine, but the drive…lovely indeed.

Time for wine.

A fellow Fodorite had mentioned that Trisaetum had a dry Riesling, so off we went. We shared a $10 wine tasting, and although the Riesling was too sweet for our tastes, we enjoyed our visit there, nice place.

Next up was Monk’s Gate – much more our cuppa. We spent quite some time talking to Linda, and our faith in Willamette wineries was instantly restored. We liked everything we tried and we really, really appreciated the laid back, small family business atmosphere, where one can talk to the owner and learn the backstory. Wonderful lady, nice dry Riesling, six bottles into the rolling wine cellar.

On Linda’s recommendation, we next visited Ghost Hill where we spent some time talking to Drenda, four more bottles into the trunk. Pretentiousness fading…

We had a late lunch at Horse Radish in Carlton – another Linda recommendation - excellent sandwiches, our kind of place – fresh, local, humble. Loved the Carlton bacon (BLT). Mel is happy.

Wined out, we popped into Honest Chocolates – bought a few – no complaints there. We tried to make it to Lange, but traffic decided otherwise, ran out of time.

Second impressions – we’re not in wine country, we’re in wine suburbia. Bill calls it tremendous urban sprawl, I call it confusing. Highways go right through what probably used to be small quiet towns, but beautiful stretches of countryside remain in between (thank goodness).

I like rain as much as the next person, but coming from a state with some 300+ days of sunshine a year, I can’t help but wonder how anyone manages to smile around here. And the mud…
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