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| Domaine Roy Winery |
After a week in Denver, we moved onto the second phase of our four week trip which was three weeks in Oregon and Washington. The first week was our vacation to celebrate our 20th anniversary in Oregon, staying in Bend, Newberg and Pacific City. The joke was that we had intended to have this week a romantic week for the two of us and turns out we knew of five different groups that were going to be in Oregon the same week so we ended up spending time with a few of them! The remainder of our time was working in Portland for a week and Seattle for a week.
Oregon
Accommodations
Tetherow Lodge - A beautiful lodge and vacation home resort located a few miles outside of Bend. We stayed here for five nights. We got a really nice room that overlooked the golf course. They have three restaurants onsite, a pool, a golf course and a hiking path that surrounds the property.
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| View from Tetherow Lodge |
Allison Inn - A great place in Newberg. We had stayed here before and really enjoyed it so decided to stay again for two nights. Our room was really nice and big on the top floor with a balcony.
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| Allison Inn |
The Headlands Lodge - A rustic on the outside but very beachy modern on the inside small hotel located right on the beach. We had a very nice room with a balcony overlooking the ocean.
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| View from our room at The Headlands Lodge |
Residence Inn - A fairly run down hotel right on the river front. We got a two bedroom suite so we could spread out but other than it being spacious, we would not stay here again.
Activities
Bend
We flew in early on Friday morning from Denver and after picking up the rental car, we drove three hours to Bend. We had stopped early on the drive to get a Starbucks and a few items at the grocery store so lunch was on the road - granola bar and apple. We arrived at the lodge in Bend around 2:30 in the afternoon - our room wasn't ready yet so we went into town and tried a few beers at a couple of breweries. When we got back to the lodge, napped and then had dinner at the hotel.
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| Our room at Tetherow |
On Saturday, we walked the path around the property which took about an hour and 15 minutes. We then had lunch in town, walked along the river to see the tubers and that afternoon, went on a lava tube cave tour with Wanderlust Tours. The tour was pretty cool (literally and figuratively) as we climbed down into a cave and walked around the lava tubes for about an hour. At one point, we had to crouch down and crawl through a narrow bit so Keith opted to say behind and wait. The caves were formed over 80K years ago from lava flow from a volcano that was about 15 miles away.
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| Lava tubes |
Sunday was our day of rest! We had pre-booked the pool at the lodge for 12:30-3:30 (Shawna had received an email saying that they were only taking reservations for the pool) and we stopped by in the morning before our walk to find out if we could come earlier. Good thing we did because we found out that they were no longer doing the reservations and thus we could come at any time. So we skipped the walk and went to the pool earlier so that we could get our first pick of chairs with an umbrella. We relaxed and read at the pool the entire day, sipping wine and beer in the afternoon. It wasn't the most peaceful as there were a ton of kids but we still enjoyed it. Because we snacked at the pool in the afternoon, we opted not to have dinner so we just went back to the room, watched a few shows and went to bed.
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| Pool time at Tetherow |
On Monday, we left early to go for a hike so we could beat the heat. Shawna found out the day prior that many of the hikes require a pre-purchased day pass in order to control the crowds - unfortunately, we found out too late as they were sold out so instead we drove about 45 minutes to Smith Rock State Park which is a beautiful park with rocky terrain. We hiked the Misery Ridge Loop trail which is about 4.5 miles - it was a great hike, getting some altitude to see the surrounding mountains. After the hike, we drove into town for lunch and walked around a bit. We then went back to the hotel for our daily nap - we are definitely getting our relaxing time in on this trip!!
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| Misery Ridge Hike at Smith Rock State Park |
On Tuesday, we went on a kayaking trip with Wanderlust Tours (the second tour with this company). It took us about an hour to get to our location on Elk Lake, one of the Cascade alpine lakes and we kayaked for about two hours stopping halfway at a beach to stretch our legs and dip into the water. The water was super clear and had that nice greenish-blue hue. From the lake, we had a great view of South Sister mountain. When we returned into town, we grabbed lunch at another brewery and then bought cheese, crackers, and wine for both our dinner that night and lunch the next day. That evening, we sat on our balcony, enjoying the views, and had some of the cheese with a bottle of Viognier.
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| Kayaking on Elk Lake |
Willamette Valley - Newberg
We drove up to Newberg via Harrisburg so that we could stop to see Patrick and Donnell and the building they bought in town which they are now converting the top floor to a house. We walked around the town a bit and saw the Dees Nuts farm across the river. We got to Newberg with enough time to quickly check into our room and drop off the luggage and then left to meet Mark and Alicia for an afternoon of wine tasting at Penner Ash which is our favorite winery - Shawna was happy to sit on the Adirondack chairs, sip a glass of wine and take in the view. That evening we had an amazing and 'romantic' meal with them in town at the Painted Lady.
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| Penner Ash |
On Friday, we booked a private tour to do some wine tasting - we went to three places that were all smaller production wineries. The driver/tour guide was super nice and very informative. Our first stop was Domaine Roy which has a very nice tasting room with beautiful views. We sat outside and tasted a bunch of pinots - our favorites being the Dundee Hills Pinot, Iron Filbert Pinot, and Quartz Acorn Pinot - we bought a case and included a few whites and roses. The guy who poured our wine was quite entertaining and he had an awesome double doodle dog that we played with. He took us to the barrel room and we also walked around the vineyard a bit.
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| Domaine Roy Winery |
Our second stop was at a tiny winery, Arlyn, which is owned by a woman. We had tasted one of her chardonnays the night before at the Painted Lady. She had some tables set outside with nice views of the valley and we tried a rose, two chardonnays, and some pinots. We really liked her chardonnay so we got a few bottles to enjoy on the trip. She also had two dogs that were adorable and some sheep that were super cute. Our driver set up lunch here - a yummy charcuterie board.
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| Arlyn Winery |
Our last stop was at Granville where we sat outside on Adirondack chairs and tasted a bunch of pinots. We also bought a few bottles here (two chardonnays and a pinot) to take with us. We decided that we really like going to smaller places where the people pouring wine could spend more time with us and we could try more of their varietals. After a day of wine tasting, we took a nap at the hotel and then went out to dinner. After dinner, we had one more drink at the hotel on the patio with Mark and Alicia and then said our goodbyes (until August that is when we will see them again in NYC).
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| Granville Winery |
Pacific City
We walked around the property at the Allison in the morning and then packed up and drove to Pacific City, arriving around noon. Our room wasn't ready yet so we walked around for a bit and was able to get into the room close to 1pm. We had lunch - cheese, crackers and wine - out on the balcony of our room. That afternoon we had massages at the hotel and relaxed in the hot tub. Both massages were really great! That evening, we had dinner at the hotel and were surprised with our dinner being paid for by Keith's parents!!
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| Lunch on our balcony at the hotel |
On Saturday, we spent the day with Keith's family that were staying about 30 minutes away in Tillamook. They drove down to Pacific City and met us around 10am at the kayak/SUP rental place. We got multiple SUPs and one kayak and spent an hour on the river which was a lot of fun.
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| Kayaking on Nestucca River |
We then drove back to our hotel and had a yummy lunch that Graham had prepared inside one of the meeting rooms at the hotel. We had cheese and crackers, ratatouille, fave beans with mushrooms, and cherry clafoutis.
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| Picnic lunch at the hotel |
After lunch, we climbed the very tall sand dune that was near our hotel and of course ran down the dune. We then walked over to parts of the
Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area and walked along the beach to see the tide pools.
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| Enjoying Cape Kiwanda |
In the late afternoon, everyone except Jean, Dick, and Shawna went on an hour-long
horse back ride along the beach while Jean, Dick, and Shawna walked along the beach that is part of
Bob Straub State Park.
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| Horse back riding |
We went back to the hotel and had a couple of drinks in the lobby while the kids explored the dunes some more. It was tough to get nine of us into any restaurant for dinner so we ordered three pizzas and then ate them along with s'mores at the bonfire on the beach that we had arranged through the hotel. After a long day of activity, we retreated to our hotel and crashed pretty quickly!
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| Bonfire on the beach |
On Sunday, after checking out of the hotel, we drove to the house where Keith's family was staying outside of Tillamook. They had quite a bit of groceries so we went 'shopping' in the fridge to take some things with us to Portland. We then all drove to
Nehalem Bay so that the kids (and Keith) could jump off the dunes. It was quite windy but a very pretty beach. We had lunch in Manzanita at a Mexican restaurant and then went for a 2.5-mile hike in
Ecola State Park down to Crescent Beach which is another quiet, but beautiful beach. We had planned to rent bikes on Cannon Beach but it was getting late so we said our goodbyes and drove into Portland. After checking into our hotel, we got groceries, had dinner, and then went to bed.
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| Nehalem Bay |
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| Crescent Beach |
PortlandThe next week we worked out of the hotel and Keith visited properties. Shawna had to fly to CT for a two-day meeting so she left Keith in Portland and then met him again in Seattle at the end of the week.
Restaurants
Bend
Deschutes Brewery - A very large brewery with a tasting room. We had one beer each here.
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| Deschutes Brewery |
10 Barrel Brewing - A great place with indoor/outdoor seating. We had one beer each here.
Solomon's - Nicer restaurant located at Tetherow Lodge with nice views of the golf course. We had dinner here - sharing the grilled peach burrata, sautéed mushrooms (so good we ordered another one), and pork loin with risotto. We had a glass of champagne to start and a bottle of Jordan Cabernet. Everything was very tasty.
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| Dinner at Solomon's |
The Row - Casual restaurant located at Tetherow Lodge with nice views of the golf course. We had breakfast here multiple mornings - having the yogurt with granola and fruit, egg tostada (yummy), avocado toast (which did not have a lot of avocados), and an omelet. We also grabbed a beer here one evening before dinner and sat outside.
The Lot - A courtyard with four food trucks and a place to buy beer. We had lunch here, sharing a gyro from one of the trucks and a burrito bowl from another.
Ariana - A very cute restaurant in a house located in town. We had dinner here, celebrating our anniversary a bit early just the two of us. We opted for the multi-course menu with wine pairing - everything was very tasty. The courses included crude, burrata, scallops, truffle risotto, filet mignon, and whipped ricotta with peaches.
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| Dinner at Ariana |
The Cafe - Casual cafe located by the pool at Tetherow Lodge. We had lunch while sitting at the pool, sharing a burrito bowl and tuna poke bowl. Food was OK.
Bend Brewing Company - Brewpub located in downtown Bend along the river. We had lunch here, sharing the sriracha cauliflower and grilled watermelon salad. We also had a couple of beers, enjoying one on Adirondack chairs overlooking the river.
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| Bend Brewing Company |
Bos Taurus - A modern decor steak restaurant located in downtown Bend. When we arrived, they served us a glass of champagne to celebrate our anniversary. We had a yummy meal of crudo, wedge salad, wagyu hanger steak with chimichurri, brussel sprouts and patatas bravos. We also had a bottle of Oregon pinot.
Crux Fermentation Project - A modern brewery located in an industrial park with a large lawn for outside seating and a great view of the mountains. We stopped here for lunch - had a couple of beers and some yummy tacos from El Sancho Taco Shop food truck (they also have two restaurants in town).
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| Crux Fermentation Project |
Willamette Valley - Newberg
Penner Ash - A beautiful winery overlooking the valley. We had been here five years prior and Shawna couldn't stop thinking about sitting on the Adirondack chairs. We did a tasting here and really enjoyed a few of their Pinots (in the past we bought the rose from here) so we bought a few bottles to enjoy during the rest of the trip. After the tasting, we bought a bottle and split it with Mark and Alicia while sitting on the Adirondacks.
The Painted Lady - A very cute restaurant located inside a house in Newberg. We had been here five years prior and really enjoyed it so we had to go back for our anniversary dinner. We had the eight-course tasting menu along with the wine pairing with Mark and Alicia. All of the food was very good.
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| Before dinner - Allison Inn |
Domaine Roy - A great winery with a beautiful tasting room and nice views. We really enjoyed most of their wine and bought a case to ship home. See above for more detail.
Arlyn - A very small winery owned by a woman. Her chardonnays were really nice. See above for more detail.
Granville Wine Co - Another small winery with nice views. We also enjoyed their chardonnay and pinots. See above for more detail.
Dundee Bistro - We had dinner here sharing a few appetizers for the table - truffle fries, roasted brussel sprouts and bruschetta. We then shared a shrimp pesto pasta for our entree. Since we had quite a bit of wine during the day, we only had one cocktail at dinner. The food was pretty good but they served us too quickly so we were in and out really fast.
Pacific City
Meridian - Located at our hotel - we had dinner here. We brought our own bottle of wine since we had several to use. We shared the sautéed clams, clam chowder and salmon. Everything was delicious.
Doryland Pizza - We ordered a few pizzas from here to go for dinner and ate them on the beach. While it took a while to get the pizza (there was a long list of orders ahead of us), the pizza was very good.
Washington
Accommodations
Residence Inn - We got a very large two-bedroom suite with a huge balcony with views of Lake Union. The decor was a bit dated but it was nicer than the other Residence Inns we stayed in during the trip.
Activities
Shawna flew into Seattle on Thursday night from Hartford where she spent two days in a work meeting while Keith drove up to Seattle from Portland on Friday afternoon. Shawna had ordered some Thai food from Door Dash and so we ate that and drank two (intended to only be one) bottles of wine on our balcony at the hotel. It was nice to just stay in for a change.
On Saturday, we had breakfast in the hotel (overnight oats) and then drove over to Kelly and Reed's house in Bellevue. Reed was out for a trail run so we went with Kelly (after touring the additions they had made to the house) for a 5 mile hike on Rattlesnake Ledge Trail. It was a nice, mostly shaded and gradual uphill hike to beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and lake below. At the top, we had a sandwich that Kelly had made for us. When we got back to the bottom, Shawna asked Keith to look up which hike we had done with his family when we were in Seattle in 2013 for Jean's 70th birthday as she thought the area looked familiar. Turns out it was the exact same hike! We went back to Kelly's house and chatted with Reed for a bit and then went back to our hotel to clean up. That evening, we met up with them for dinner at a great place in Capitol Hill with a table on the rooftop. We had a great time catching up and discussing what rules we would put in place if we opened up a compound with friends in retirement!
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| Rattlesnake Ledge Hike with Kelly |
On Sunday, we had breakfast again in the hotel and then drove out to Suncadia Resort where one of Keith's direct reports has a weekend house that they had just built. We went for a walk around the neighborhood with Jeff and his wife, Christina, and then had lunch at a winery that is also located within the grounds of the resort. That evening, we caught up on email, had dinner again on the balcony, and did some laundry.
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| Walk around Suncadia with Jeff and Christina |
The rest of the week, Shawna worked from the hotel while Keith visited properties. Keith had dinners out each night so Shawna stayed in and cooked. After this week, we moved onto the final phase of this trip which was a weekend in Montana with Ginger and Michael.
Restaurants
Terra Plata - A great restaurant with a rooftop deck located in Capitol Hill. We had dinner here with Kelly and Reed. Our waiter was super funny - a bit on the cheeky side! We shared a few appetizers for the table - grilled peach burrata salad, roasted cauliflower, and a cheeseboard. Then, we shared the roasted pig dish for an entree for just the two of us. And then we all shared the flan and a fruit panna cotta for dessert. Everything was delicious.
Swiftwater Cellars - A restaurant/winery located in Suncadia where we had lunch with Keith's co-worker and his wife. We shared a charcuterie board, flatbread, chopped salad and tuna poke among the four of us along with a bottle of Viognier. The food and wine were all tasty.
