My little 5 day mini-vacation was absolutely perfect! The drive down to the Willamette Valley on Wednesday morning was relatively quick. All of the rush hour traffic was missed, but it was absolutely pouring rain, which made for a few dicey moments. But once down there it was perfect weather. Oh sure, there were a few clouds here and there, but plenty of blue skies and it was just gorgeous.
McMinnville is a cute little, old town. And the Mcmennamin Hotel Oregon is a very old building that has been updated somewhat. I had reserved the best room which was one of the two rooms in the hotel with bathrooms en suite! I hear that the shared bathrooms are nice and clean but ... ick. I have to say that the food there is SO bad and the beer that they serve is their own and it too is pretty much the worst beer I have ever had. I ended up drinking Coors light because that was the only other beer you could get. Our of sheer laziness being in the sun and all relaxed I dared order a personal pizza and it was truly inedible. I should have listened to all the locals. They do know what they're talking about.
The majority of wine tasting was done on Thursday, with just two stops on the way into town on Wednesday. Friday before heading out to the coast there were three I wanted to visit, but my palate was completely fried so after the first one I threw in the towel.
The second part of the mini-vacation was out on the coast in Lincoln City. The hotel room was HUGE - a suite with a full kitchen and two bathrooms and a queen sized Murphy bed in the living room. It was much colder at the ocean but so nice to watch the sea.
Friday night there was a fun blues band at the Roadhouse 101 and Saturday was spent cruising the outlet mall. That's pretty much all you've got in Lincoln City if you're not into the gambling, which I'm not really. My friend Scott and his girlfriend came to spend the night Saturday and we had a ball. That woman -- she's a talker. But it was so wonderful to see Scott again after who knows how many years.
I brought knitting with me but only got so far as to put it on my lap for the ride home. I didn't even open it up! And I was just WAY too exhausted last night to do anything. I was gong to make dinner but instead ate some cheese with a lovely Pinot Noir from Lange. I was surprised when the wine was unpacked that there were only six bottles! I thought for sure I bought more than that. But they're all great bottles and each one will have a prime place at a meal or, like last night, a quiet evening with some nice cheese and that's just fine.
It was great to have Tinkerbell back at the end of the bed. She is always so worn out after I pick her up for a stay at the Doggie Resort. They bathed her and then she rolled in the mud so they had to give her a second bath! She was still a little damp when I picked her up. But very happy to see me.
Five more weeks until the next mini-vacation. Better get my nose to the screen.
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