Northwest Adventure

Starting on June 7th, Mark and I began our "Noooo Reservations" (thank you Anthony Bourdain) by flying to Reno to visit with Jack and his new family. Lately Jack has been directing a little show called Extreme Makeover, Home Edition. We didn't make it to his and Leanns wedding so we owed them a wedding present dinner. We ended up at the Eagles Nest right on Lake Tahoe. When we were walking to our table, I noticed a monster bottle (Methusela) of Isosoles by Justin Wine. Now this has been my very favorite since I tried it last year. When I looked at the wine list it wasn't listed but the sommelier said he saw a few bottles in the managers office and he would see what he could do. Well hurray! He brought one out and for the rock bottom price of $125 it could be ours. Oh my. I know I could finish off half a bottle myself so four of us would have to be very careful of not hoarding. We ended up getting it and as usual, it was Fab-O-lous. I ordered the duck breast, Mark had the Buffalo (VG). In the end, they ended up comping my meal because some of it was quite overcooked. Jack and Leann each had lamb and Elk respectively. I think it was a great wedding present.
June 8
Today we ended up in Ashland, Oregon: Home of the Shakespeare Festival.

Our first hotel was The Plaza Inn . Nice place and great location. We spent the day with Ken Goddard, author and Director of the National Fish & Wildlife Forensic Lab. Our first wine tasting of the trip began at a little tapas bar. We sat outside with our Abacela Sangiovese and marveled at the sun beating down on us at 7:30pm.
Our dinner choice was Amuse on 1st.



Yum. I started with the Two Sons Farm Baby Greens with Warm - Aged Goat Cheese Toasts, Beets and Sherry Vinaigrette. Mark had Watercress, Shaved Fennel and Ruby Grapefruit with Israeli Feta, Pinenuts and Creamy Garlic Dressing .
For entrees, I had Seared Sea Scallops with Potato Puree, English Peas and White Truffle Oil. There is a reason this is pictures on their website. It is awesome. Mark had Seared Pacific Halibut with Braised Leeks, Fava Beans and Meyer Lemon Aioli. This halibut dish would be the first of many on this trip. Dessert was some decadent chocolate lava thing that went well with the port I ordered.

June 9
Today we moved into the Arden Forest Inn. Cute bed and breakfast a little farther walk from town but very cozy. There was a pool that we did not get to use. I slept really well there. I spent the morning dealing with zoomzabebe stuff while Mark hung out the the lab. Around noon, I was in need of a snack and found Allysons, a cute kitchen store with a deli/wine store in the basement. The meat and cheese plate was stocked with 3 different meats and 3 cheeses with great bread and grapes. I noticed a sign for wine tasting later that night and made a mental note.
Mark and Ken met me around 2 and headed for Wildlife Images. It is a rehabilitation and education center. Ken works closely with them so we were given great access to the animals they have there.
The first cuties we saw were three badgers whose mother was run over. Here is one:


Then we got to play with the wolves. Yes these are wild wolves but you would never know it the way they cuddled with Ken.


I passed on the wolf love though. I was more than content to lightly pet them. They were incredibly furry and shedding. Achoo!



What I loved the most about this place was Cody the grizzly bear. Twelve hundred pounds of muscle and he doesn't know it.



Dave, the Director was feeding him littl gummi bears(heehee) and Cody would gently put them in his mouth.
Yes, Cody is waving here. We also went into the Andean Condor cage where Gomez and Morticia are kept. With a wingspan of 12 feet, we all kept our distance from these two.




Dinner was a family affair at Katwok. The Goddard family was alot of fun and sushi in the mountains was pretty good. I also had Oregon Pinot Gris for the first time and really liked it. Later we bought one of those huge caramel apples from Rocky Mountain Chocolates which ended up lasting for days.

June 10

My 27th birthday again! We started with a round table breakfast of Shakespeare fans at the bed and breakfast and then walked into town for an impromtu shopping trip. Aside from the planned wine purchase, Mark ended up with yet another pair of zip-off hiking pants. I faired a little better with a pair of funky Camper boots. The sales lady even took $20 off. She said she bought these same boots on her birthday too. Yea for me, Mark bought them.

Mcminnville was our next stop. We had no idea what to expect from this town except that the Spruce Goose now lives there. Before checing in to McMennamins Hotel Oregon we found Panther Creek Winery and tasted a bunch of Pinot Noirs. Three bottles bought later, we checked into the hotel. The first room we had was hot and stuffy with no sink. We ended up with a cooler room that at least had a sink in it. Call me spoiled, but I do enjoy having a private bathroom very very much. It wasn't too bad though. I never say anyone when I did use the facilities and when I showered.
The hotel is cool in that they had live music in two venues as well as a fantastic rooftap bar.


This was right at sunset-oh 9 pm or so. The rest of the night was spent doing more wine, ahem, research and then dinner at Maison Bistro. Very simple french fair with the very famous french dessert- smores. Marshmallows were flying, let me tell you.

June 11

After a suprisingly restful night, thanks to earplugs, we went to visit Howard Hughes' legacy. Here is Mark inside the monster. There were alot of very cool aircraft here. There was even a wine bar! Spruce Goose Vineyards does exsist. Or as I call it Spruce Goose Juice.
Ya know, it wasn't that bad. We had to buy a bottle if only for the label.
Spruce Goose Museum
Next stop Astoria. We knew there was a farmers market there so we got there about 1pm. It was a beautiful, if infrequent sunny, warm day.

We checked into the Hotel Elliott . What a nice hotel. Our room had a view of the Columbia River and even had heated floors in the bathroom. We bought cherries and jam and pickled garlic. Ate steamed clams and grilled oysters.
After a stop at the Lewis and Clark Clastsop Fort, we went to the Astoria Column and climbed the 165 steps to the top.
Marks brother Michael had told us we could buy gliders to sail off at the top-ridiculous but true. Mark bought 5 of them and after some minor adjustments, they were ready for flight. One that Mark sent off was aloft for a good 4 minutes and must have gone .5 miles at least. He really wanted to go around collecting errrant gliders but there was too much seafood to be eaten in town.

We wanted to enjoy the great roof deck at the hotel so we brought our market fresh goodies, including a bottle of Viognier and a melted brie plate from the place across the street to the roof. Gorgeous.

Dinner was actually one of the only low points of the whole trip. The restaurant was called Baked Alaska. Mark had a subpar Salmon and I had a bowl of descent Clam Chowder. The view of the water was nice but the open door had us in our jackets the whole time. Oh well.

June 12

The next day we looked at a house for sale. For $579,000 we could be in a remodeled craftsman with a river view. Thanks but the 150 inched of rain a year could be a bit much for me. On the way out, we snapped a picture of the house from the movie The Goonies. It's funny, they put the location on the official Astoria tourist map, but when you get to the place, it says "No Trespassing".

Next stop: Port Angeles, WA and the Olympic National Rain Forest.
A very typical NW summer day: cool and rainy and just prime weather for yeat another bowl of clam chowder. This time, I supplemented with pan fried oysters. Mark had mussels. The restaurant was right on the water and despite looking like a tourist trap, was quite tasty. On our ride into town, we noticed a Philippino restaurant that Mark really wanted to go to. Not wanting a cafeteria-style, non seafood meal, I said nuh-uh. For some reason, while I was at the internet cafe, Mark went to the Phi. place and orderd some shrimp and pineapple dish that came with egg rolls. The place itself was a bit sad. No customers, no food in the warming trays. The owner/lady there had really long hair and no hairnet or gloves. Eww.

Anyway, we stopped at the Natl Park visitors center and after a chat with the ranger decided that campng out was not gonna do (still raining, no stove, we're wimps...) Luckily, there was a hot springs resort in the park and we decided to head that way. Now don't go thinking Four Seasons hot Shprings or anything. This place was pretty minimilistic. Here's our cabin:
Solduc
We were lucky it was available for two nights because after the first days hike, we wanted to stay. Here are the SolDuc Falls that are a quick walk for the trail head:
We only went 3-4 miles the first day since it was getting late. Dinner was at 8:30 and we were not expecting much. The place is run by Aramark and the whole staff is made of college kids. I had read reveiews about the bad service too. Well, our meals were amazing. I only had salad and, yes, Clam Chowder. Only this chowder had more of a broth base. The bowl itself was huge, like 14" across. So good. Mark had Halibut caught locally in Neah Bay. He was beside himself with joy. So much that he made the waiter get the chef so he could praise him/her. It turns out the chef was a 20 year old from Vegas who had gone to Cordon Bleu. Not to shabby. We could hear the high fives when she returned to the kitchen.

June 13
Our plan was to soak in the mineral hot tubs first thing in the morning. They actually drain all the pools at night and refill them. We figured, after all the other tourists cooking in them all day, fresh sulphur springs would be more enjoyable. There are 3 hot pools ranging from 100 -105 degrees. We lasted about 20 minutes in the 105 pool, showered, had breakfast (yummy blueberry pancakes) and went off on our hike.

It was beautiful. We went 10 miles or so in 4 hours with a 1200 (+-) elevation gain. There weren't that many people there even though the rain held off. We found a great lunch spot at Deer Lake but had to put on all out clothes and jackets since we were at the snow level. The only bad part was my old old hiking boots that I had were killing me. They are 8 years old and they did not leave SolDuc.
Ah the wildlife...
Dinner that night was good as well. Mark again had the Halibut and I had a seafood pasta.

June 14

The next morning we soaked again pre-breakfast and prepped ourselves to go back to civilization and Seattle. The flight was pretty short-35 minutes. We redeemed Starwood points to stay at the W. We are not fans of this hotel. We like the W in general, but they are so pretentious and expensive. I don't want to pay $35 for valet parking and $15 for internet service. Heck, the Best Western offers it for free. Lunch was a business meeting at a fancy Thai place by the market. I can safely say that this Seattle trip was primarily about eating and drinking with a little business thrown in. Laundry was next on our list. Mark found a laundromat on Capital Hill and instead of sitting around watching the spin cycle, we found a little pizzaria called Il Forno at 1356 E. Olive Wy. So delicious. We are both pretty particular when it comes to pie what with our Chicago and New York tendencies, but this was good stuff. I don't know what came over us, but instead of ordeing one pizza, we each got one. Mine had sausage, mushrooms, onions, green peppers and olives. Marks had a ton of garlic with some tomato, artichoke hearts and pesto. Throw in two bottles of beer and it's a wonder we get our laundry finished. Alas, after the last shirt was folded, we headed to our favorite cafe, Victrola and partook of fab capps and free wifi.

Mark wanted to take me someplace at the market. It tuned out to be Place Pigalle (81 Pike Street, Pike Place Market). It overlooks the water and is a tiny place. We sat at the bar with the intention of going out to see the sunset by 8:45. Well, we got so wrapped up in chatting with the owner and his friend, that we ended up closing the place down.

June 15

A quick workout to prime myself for another day of culinary debauchery, Mark had a meeting at 10. We went to a few baby stores to take a peek.
The cultural stop on the days agenda was REI. There must be something piped into the air here because this place is the only place that Mark is a shopaholic. I am the one tapping my toes, waiting for him to decifer the merits of every headlamp on display. He did end up chooing one. It will most likely end up in our drawer with our other 6 lamps. I do love this store though. Everyone who walks out is happy and the service is just right. Not too granola, not too techy.
In order to celebrate our trunk full of new gear, we headed to Victrola Cafe. Again. I was in a Cappucino trance and found a promising place for dinner on-line.

First, a quick 2 dozen oysters at Elliotts oyster house and we were off again.
t was past 9 and still light. We got to Crush around 10 and were surprised there were people still dining. The place is in a converted house with an open kitchen and modern furnishings. I had read how they liked to use locally, organic products and I am a sucker for that. When I opened the menu, I literally gasped. Two words. Foie gras. That starter would be my main course. My appetizer was the Prawn Agnolotti. Excellent; pasta with fresh peas and 2 large grilled shrimp. Wine was great too. Cooralook Cab-very rich. Mark ordered, wait guess... Halibut. He said it was good but I didn't even taste it because I was so enthralled with my perfectly seared piece of, dangerously close to being boycotted, foie gras. Of course it was served with some sweet reduction. I just concentrated on the foie gras. I just like writing that. foie gras. mmmm. I was so happy. The warm chocolate cake we had after was like a cracker in my mind. Good, but not fo....I won't make you read it again.

June 16

A few stops at some more baby stores. I found a little bakery called Bella Dolce (2711 E Madison St). They had one ham and cheese brioche left (mine). I couldn't leave with out a chocolate bread pudding and the compulsury cappucino. The brioche was heaven. Light and airy yet dense and chewy. The bread pudding was good but I was smitten with the brioche.
Mark had called the owner of Place Pigalle, Bill and he agreed to shoot a Random Eye. I stayed in the car since parking was a bear. We had decided to stay another night but switched to the Sheraton. Better location. We packed out of the W, taking all the toiletries (hey they were Bliss) and Tea Bags. Hey, it was good tea too. The room at the Sheraton was nice: a Starwood Preferred Guestroom. ooh.
Then we went to a few shops in Ballard. I like Ballard. Would like to spend more time there in the future.
Our planned late lunch was happy hour at Elliotts oyster house. Starting at 3pm, oysters are 50 cents each rising 20 cents every 30 minutes. The gods were smiling on us because we found a space right outside the restaurant that turned into a pumpkin at 5pm. We would be long gone and full of oysters by then.
There were some initial server issues but in the end, we were plated with 3 dozen oysters as well as a sausage and clam dish that ended up being half price. Good lunch! We left and went up to the market. It was pretty much closed down. Today's afternoon capp was from Seattles Best while Mark disappeared to eat stuffed cabbage at a little Russian joint. I guess oysters leave enough room for comfort food. We decided to go the Tasting Room on Post Alley. The wines there were not that impressive. We only ended up with one bottle of Sangiovese. I suppose after all the tasting in Oregon, my palate must have been pretty picky.
After a quick snooze in the room, I was barely able to get out of the bed. Mark was rushing to catch the sunset. We hoofed it down to the water and caught the last rays and walked around Bell town in search of dinner. Nothing really caught our eye so we headed back to Place Pigalle. We were worried that Bill might think we were stalking him, but he was as noce as could be. We had a table by the window and had another great meal. Sauteed greens, beet salad, Salmon and Sea Scallops. Mark had--just kidding. Somehow we ended up with 2 comped desserts. But the best part was the wine. Bill recommended a 2002 Isenhower cab that would come into play again soon.

Ah, our last supper in Seattle. We are now at the point in our trip where we start the journey south towards home.

June 17

Walla Walla woop woop. We were meeting the Smiths for lunch since they had a wedding that evening. Our courtesy car at the airport was real hum-dinger: A Pontiac Catalina. I could not even open the door when I was in the passenger seat. It was nice though.Mark had to be chivalrous. Thankfully, Sharon and Smitty let us use their Escape to drive around wine country. We might have passed out from the exhaust fumes otherwise.
Ater checking into the superluxe HOJO Express, we hightailed it to Isenhower Cellars. We only had time for one wimery and since we loved the Cab from the night before, we figured it was a safe bet. Yup. Good stuff. The staff there was so impressed that we had had a 2002. They are rare, they said. We ended up joining the club. So twice an year, we will be getting a care package from Walla Walla.
There are over 80 wineries in the area, although most of the grapes are ground elsewhere. Cool barn
Mark wanted to wash Sharons car since we put it on a few dirt roads.
I would love to open a wine bar downtown. Maybe the Smiths of WW and Santa Monica could get something together. hmm. The places we did go to were good. Grapefields had a nice, but small selection of wines by the glass but a nice pizza snacky. 26 Brix is the fanciest place in town. We opted to sit at the bar. Low and behold, they had foie gras on the menu. Yes, that's what I ordered. Mark had something with green beans and a lemon sauce. Not sure, my foie gras tunnel vision was in effect.

June 18 (Fathers Day)
Breakfast with the Smiths. Cool folk.
It's interesting meeting people who have known Mark longer than I. It would be fun to return to Walla Walla again for a longer period. Maybe to look for real estate...
Leaving was tough-there are 13 wineries right at the airport. One could fly in. Deplane and wine taste 2 minutes later. Mark didn't try any but I tasted wine from two good ones: Dunham Cellars and Tamarack. I couldn't resist and bought another 6 bottles to add to our stash.

Silverton, OR. Wierd place. Really wierd B&B with an even wierder owner. Sorry, just soggy waffles with hairy bacon not my style. Two bright spots here: The Silver Grill
mine: rabbit with gnocchi
Marks: halibut (noo!) in a bordelaise sauce

and the Silver Falls State Park.

June 19

The hiking is not technical at all, but we did a quick 6 miles with lunch in under 2 hours. There are 8 waterfalls to see and you can even walk behind a few of them. I started to come down with something today but motored on.


Roseburg, Oregon. The airport is right in town and we were given a crew car-yeah free car! It was a Honda Accord with 230,000 miles. Nice. It was kind of late when we landed so we heded for the "downtown area". There are some nice old Victorians around but downtown is not happenin' yet.
This is another investment possibility. I love the fact that the Umpqua river winds it's way through the city. Fishing is supposed to be great around here. Dinner was at the only place still open at 8 pm-The Mark V. It was tapas style and I have to give it to them. They tried hard but the best thing here was the tomato soup.

June 20

Breakfast was tasty and the restaurant is an up and comer: Brix 527 (There are definitley recurring themes on this trip). Good coffee and good pancakes. My scramble was not hot at all, barely warm but good.
We had 2.5 hours to tour and we spent it looking for land and finding one winery-Henry Cellars. The piece of land we did find was gorgeous. River frontage and the pricetag to go with it. The wine was nice. We ended up bringing it to dinner at Doug and Jens in

Nevada City.
Doug picked us up at the airport and drove us to our hotel. The Parsonage Mark got us a cute room for $100. They were asking $150 but were willing to negotiate. Hurray for midweek vacancies. That night we just hung out at Dougs and had our first homecooked meal in weeks. Peanut sauce pasta and baked cod with apples. Thanks guys, it was great. My cold was at it's peak and the cat/dog didn't really help. We had to call it quits early but nut before a nightcap at The National Hotel. It's the oldest continuously-operating hotel west of the Rockies. Built in 1854-57.

June 21

Last day of the trip. Great breakfast. Homemade quiche, fruit and bacon with fresh squeezed OJ and good coffee. We walked though town-man it was hot already. I stopped in a great gallery, Julie Baker Fine Art. Very cool jewelry and art plus bags from Sew Pretty. Go Switchborders go!
Doug was kind enough to drive us back to the airport for the very last leg of our NW adventure. We got home around 3pm. After we unloaded the car, this is one part of the aftermath: Yes, a very good ending indeed.