SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

After much research, input from the 2+2 forum and coordination with friends, the final itinerary shook out as follows (consider this the up-front cliff’s notes):

Day 1 – Arrive in San Jose, hook up with Sucker.
Day 2 – Passport Day for Santa Cruz Mountain wineries with Sucker, Boris, Diablo and friends.
Day 3 – SF touristy spots, Alcatraz, dinner with Tommy, drinks with Diablo.
Day 4 – Brief Napa stop, spa in Calistoga, CA.
Day 5 – Lake Shasta, Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, OR.
Day 6 – Arrive in Will-AM-ette Valley, have nice dinner, relax and read.
Day 7 – Hot air balloon ride, tour of Willamette Valley wineries.
Day 8 – One last winery stop, dinner in Seattle, night in Anacortes, WA with friend.
Day 9 – Friend gives us a tour of the naval base and Deception Pass state park.
Day 10 – Pike Street Market, fly home from Sea-Tac.

I’m going to keep this as a general trip report, and add in wine detail in a separate thread.

Day 1

So it was with great excitement that Clarkmistress and I hopped on a plane to San Jose.

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One of the smarter things I did on the trip was change my car reservation. I use Hertz and like renting Camry’s because they are pretty cheap at usually $45/day or so. But they didn’t have their NeverLost navigation available in a Camry. So I thought it through and changed to a Taurus to get the nav. Good choice. My only comment is that their nav system is decidedly below-average when dealing with efficient on-off of highways and especially bad in downtown areas. That, and my Taurus had a nasty ding on the front left fender. Bah.

Of note is our shuttle bus driver was basically insane. Slammed the door shut on someone, drove super fast, loved to slam on the breaks, and if your stop came up, you best get the eff off the buss if you didn't want to make another lap around the facility.

We arrived at the Sucker’s place around 10:30 without mishap. Sucker’s friend The Count was there with his fiancée. Sucker cracked open a few bottles of Testarossa and we had a had a nice relaxing evening of wine and conversation.

Day 2

The next morning went pretty smoothly. A little breakfast at a cute little place called the Coupa Café. Good stuff.

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The plan from there was for Boris to pick us up in a rented van along with about 15 others. Predictably with a group that large, things were running a few minutes late, but things more or less went off without a hitch.

I’ll leave a lot of the winery detail for the wine thread, but we hit the following wineries:

Testarossa
Burrell School
Byington
Savannah-Chanelle
Fellom Ranch
Naumann
Ridge

Hitting 7 wineries out of like 30 looks good until one considers how we accomplished it. Our slightly inefficient path looked something like this:

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But, given that Boris was able to score us such an easy to spot vehicle (there are surpsingly few fire engine red passenger vans around), as well as sacrificed his time to drive, it seems a small price to pay. Maybe a larger price than an actual limo driver, but still a small price.

Just a quick comment on the wineries. I wasn’t sure what everyone meant by “that place is too corporate” when talking about the wineries. After Passport Day, I know. Ridge was very disappointing and sterile. Limited tastings, not particularly friendly. The other wineries were all much more warm and welcoming, especially considering that Passport Day brings in more than the normal % of recreational customers. The Winery of the Day was Boris’ selection of Byington.

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Lots of selections available, good cheese and fruit spread, and several pretty good Cabs. Their Select cab was really quite nice and not absurdly priced (for Cali cab) at about $50 IIRC. They also had some nice glasses that were worth taking home as a souvenier. Assuming that someone *cough* Diablo *cough* didn't break them in the van later on.

After 5:00 rolled around and we couldn’t stay there anymore, the group went back near Sucker’s place for some dinner at the sportsbar down the street. Some Gordon Biersch really hit the spot. Two Diablo related events. First, on the advice of Haake who had some insider information, Diablo ordered the prime tip sandwhich “off the menu”. When two of them came, Diablo was confused until I pointed out that I ordered the same thing. I explained that it looked tasty based on the description in the menu. Second, Diablo and I had a prop bet on the authenticity of our waitress’s breasts, but it fell apart and as a result we never actually found out if they were real or not. Regardless, there’s little doubt they were impressive. Diablo et al had to catch a train back to S.F. and after a day and night of drinking, Clarkmistress, Sucker and I headed back to his pad and basically crashed while half watching the Rockets-Jazz game.

Day 3 - Day 10 as well as a separate winery report to come in future installments.

Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

Quality report so far.

Which side of the waitress bet did you each have?

Looking forward to the rest of the reports, particularly the pics on the drive.

Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

There will def be more pictures later on. The prob for Day 1 and Day 2 is most photos had pictures of 2+2ers in them, so it cut down the number of available shots dramatically.

Day 3
 

Day 3

Early bed in this case meant early rise. Which worked well since we wanted to spend some time knocking around San Francisco prior to our 12:45 Alcatraz cruise. In what would be a phenomenal trend, we had no hangover from our Passport Day exploits. We had breakfast at a greasy spoon recommended by Haakee called Penninsula a few blocks from Suckers place in the heart of Palo Alto. Tasty stuff.

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After breakfast it was with sadness that we said goodbye to the very hospitable Sucker and his sweet pad and went on our way.

As opposed to Day 2, where the weather was good but we had some spotty showers, Day 3 was essentially perfect. Sunny, 60 and a nice little breeze. We arrived at Hotel Vitale around 11am. Our room was really nice and had a phenomenal view of the Bay Bridge. Here was where I really started to apprciate finally buying a digital camera prior to the trip starting (Canon SD800 IS).

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We then took a little walk to the Ferry Building across the street. They had lots of neat boutique shops. We also scouted out the dinner menu at The Slanted Door, which is where we were to meet Tommy and his wife for dinner at 5:45. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to spend as much time as we would have liked here, as there were several really neat shops to spend time in.

After a little rest in the room, we walked down to Pier 33 where the Alcatraz boat departed. The view from the boat was beautiful in all directions. The City behind, the Bay Bridge to the other side, the Golden Gate Bridge just to the front left and Alcatraz sitting dead ahead.

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The tour was really neat. They basically give you free run of the island with several seminars and a radio tour of the actual penitentiary. We really really enjoyed it. There’s all sorts of cool shortcuts and little tunnels around too. I’m reminded of the penitentiary in Jean, NV just outside of the casinos. The only thing close to being in Jail and looking at a casino every day has got to be looking over the bay to San Francisco every day.

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We then hopped on one of those bike taxis and went to Pier 39 just to knock around for a bit and grab a quick bite to tide us over til dinner. Insert obligatory sea lion photo.

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So a cab ride back to the hotel, a nap and a shower had us ready for dinner with Tommy and his wife. We absolutely love them both and really enjoy when we are able to spend time together. Dinner was great, especially the shaking beef. We ordered some Ponzi Pinot Noir and loved it, an opinion that would be validated later on in the trip. Also of note, their special ice creams of the day included a mint ice cream that was disgustingly good, and I’m no fan of mint ice cream. Thanks Tommy for a great time.

Feeling good after dinner with plenty of wine down the hatch, Clarkmistress and I headed back to the hotel to meet The Diablo for a few cocktails. The missus simply loves him and we really had a good time. The only awkward thing is that Diablo and I were sharing a barstool bench at the bar and I had a heck of a time getting comfortable. Of note was a particularly good Diablo anecdote regarding the wine party they went to after the wine tasting on Day 2. Cliffs notes: they pick an obscure cheap wine so as to not look like they were bringing in Beringer, but the plan works too well when another friend picks that exact bottle for them to drink citing "it was the only one I’d never heard of so I figured it couldn’t be that bad relative to the other swill that was available".

Dinner and drinks down the hatch, we called it a night and prepared to leave the San Francisco and start heading north.

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Re: Day 3
 

Looks like you lucked out and came here on a nice clear day.

I was the one who first suggested arriving @ SJ. ty ty

You have any pictures of downtown, or Lombard street, or anything else in SF before you move on to the next section of your TR?

Re: Day 3
 

[ QUOTE ]
Looks like you lucked out and came here on a nice clear day.

I was the one who first suggested arriving @ SJ. ty ty

You have any pictures of downtown, or Lombard street, or anything else in SF before you move on to the next section of your TR?

[/ QUOTE ]

Here's what I've got that turned out decent enough to bother posting.

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Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

[ QUOTE ]
Quality report so far.

Which side of the waitress bet did you each have?

Looking forward to the rest of the reports, particularly the pics on the drive.

[/ QUOTE ]

I had the "real" side of the bet.

In a nutshell, Sucker made the line +600 on fake, I wanted some of that. Diablo made it +1000 on real, and I wanted some of that, too. Nothing ended up going down, however. FWIW, I figured the true line for real was about +250.

Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

Clark, those are some nice pics. SF reminds me a lot of Seattle with better weather.

Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

[ QUOTE ]
Clark, those are some nice pics. SF reminds me a lot of Seattle with better weather.

[/ QUOTE ]

Seattle seemed more like Oakland in the back bay with all the shipyards than SF. SF to me is more cosmopolitan and touristy while in Seattle its like there's actually work and stuff going on. But that's from a guy who has now been to SF twice and Seattle once, so obviously my opinion is a little suspect.

Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

Peninsula Creamery...sweet. Never actually been to the one downtown, but my wife and I have gone to the one in Stanford Shopping Center several times. Love their breakfasts...

Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Clark, those are some nice pics. SF reminds me a lot of Seattle with better weather.

[/ QUOTE ]

Seattle seemed more like Oakland in the back bay with all the shipyards than SF. SF to me is more cosmopolitan and touristy while in Seattle its like there's actually work and stuff going on. But that's from a guy who has now been to SF twice and Seattle once, so obviously my opinion is a little suspect.

[/ QUOTE ] Damn, I was about to ask you some questions, but I wil wait for the rest of your report [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

BTW, Clark you should have seen Seattle and Portland 10 years ago. You would be amazed at the difference.

Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

[ QUOTE ]
There will def be more pictures later on. The prob for Day 1 and Day 2 is most photos had pictures of 2+2ers in them, so it cut down the number of available shots dramatically.

[/ QUOTE ]
Heh, it always cracks me up how some of you guys go to great lengths to avoid your images ending up on this site.

Anyway, good story. I'm not a wine guy at all but the report is well-written and the pictures are stellar.

Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

agreed tuq.

Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

tuq - that's me walking in to Byington.

Clarky - you ungrateful SOB. Your map is wrong by the way.

Anyways, had a blast. Glad you and the tall blonde could make it out here.

Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

I didn't get permission from anyone to post their pictures or names, so I didn't. Anyone who doesn't mind can just say so and I'll throw one or two up. I have always preferred not to have my own photos up and just tried to extend that courtesy to others.

Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

I had to bust your chops a little!

I submit that the map is 100% accurate. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

[ QUOTE ]


We arrived at the Sucker’s place around 10:30 without mishap. Sucker’s friend The Count was there with his fiancée. Sucker cracked open a few bottles of Testarossa and we had a had a nice relaxing evening of wine and conversation.

Day 2

The next morning went pretty smoothly. A little breakfast at a cute little place called the Coupa Café. Good stuff.


[/ QUOTE ]

This was hangover #1 for The Sucker that day. Hangover #2 was at about 6 pm that evening.

Good times.

PS: Clarky, did you ever realize that every time The Count is around, severe liver damage occurs? Why is that?

Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

[ QUOTE ]
I didn't get permission from anyone to post their pictures or names, so I didn't. Anyone who doesn't mind can just say so and I'll throw one or two up. I have always preferred not to have my own photos up and just tried to extend that courtesy to others.

[/ QUOTE ]
Fair enough, I just thought there was some odd obsession about not posting El D's photo that extended to others.

In the meantime, the back of Boris's head is a good start. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

tug,

The first time you're sitting at a poker table playing cards and some dork walks up and says HEY MAN, ARE YOU EL DIABLO? is pretty much the last time you want your picture posted on 2+2.

Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

[ QUOTE ]
tug,

The first time you're sitting at a poker table playing cards and some dork walks up and says HEY MAN, ARE YOU EL DIABLO? is pretty much the last time you want your picture posted on 2+2.

[/ QUOTE ]
LOL, OK. Enough said.

Day 4
 

Another early riser, we had to leave by 9:45 to comfortably allow us to make our scheduled 2-hour barrel tasting at Del Dotto . Breakfast in bed hit the spot, though not as good as the Penninsula wheat French toast with berries. Shower and checkout and we were on our way, minus a minor Hertz neverlost navigation screwup.

The view of the back bay heading north is way different than what you see in San Francisco. Shipyards and ports abound. Very industrial, but not at all dirty. Kind of odd actually. Our first view of Napa was a Home Depot, McDonalds and a Wal-Mart. Not what I had expected. Of course, all the wineries were up the road and it was very scenic, but I expected a quaint little downtown, not a sprawling strip mall.

We made it to the Del Dotto tasting room a little ahead of time and quickly found out why this particular tour is nicknamed "Del Blotto". They give us a full glass of cab as soon as we check in. While the tour is obviously trying to get you wasted so you buy a bunch of stuff at the end, I didn’t mind. It was refreshing to have the winery encouraging you to drink more instead of having to ask for it, or in some cases getting refused. Plus, you don’t have to feel guilty about spitting or dumping since you can just do so right on the cave floor in between the barrels, something I did a decent amount of since I was driving.

The tour itself was neat. In a 150 year old hand-carved cave full with muck on the walls and spiders.

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The tour guide echoed what I had read elsewhere that they were excited about how the 05 Cabs were shaping up. In all we sampled 8 barrels, including a bonus barrel when I asked to sample some Cab Franc before they ended the tour. Good times and highly recommended, even at the $40 admission price.

From Del Dotto we made a quick pit stop at Darioush , but a $15 tasting fee for two whites and one cab caused us to pass. Instead we decided to hit our scheduled appointment at Joseph Phelps a little early.

The Phelps winery is gorgeous. Totally set up for corporate functions and private events, the view is simply breathtaking. The ladies up front were also very nice and helpful, giving us recommendations that we would eventually follow for both lunch and dinner.

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We split the tasting, which was $10. Decent enough stuff. The good news was that they had Insignia available for tasting, of which we went back for thirds. A well known wine that retails for like $135 a bottle and won Wine Spectator’s Wine of the Year in 2002, it was very good. Not really $135 good, but I liked it. Clarkmistress didn’t particularly care for it however. Ultimately, it was one of the top 3 wines I would drink on the trip. We also saw this really cool lizard thingy hanging out on the patio overlooking the vineyard.

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By now we were really hungry for lunch, and took the recommendation of hitting the Wappo Bar Bistro , very close to our hotel in downtown (ha!) Calistoga, about 20 minutes from Phelps. More of a Mediterranean than a French menu, the Cuban sandwich special was delicious. The outdoor dining area was also really a great way to enjoy the beautiful 75 and sunny weather.

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It was the first restaurant I’ve been to in a long time that had no soda products other than bottled root beer and bottled cream soda. We’d eat there again.

We arrived at Indian Springs Hotel and Spa with enough time for a quick nap prior to our mudbath and massage treatments. We really, really liked this place. Private bungalows just off a main central lawn area that had bocce ball and croquet, with a barbeque pit and ping pong tables in the backyard. The place also had a giant pool that was fed with cooled mineral spring water and was a tasty 94 degrees.

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I know everyone is dying to know about the mud bath. It went like this. I go to the back locker room where the (male) attendant gives me a quick overview. The whole process is also spelled out on a chart on the wall, along with a newspaper article about the experience. I strip, throw on the walking around towel, and in a few minutes Jose comes back and walks me to the mud bath area.

I shower while he literally rakes the mud in this giant 9 foot by 5 foot tub, of which there are 4. Apparently in between, they boil the mud (oops, I mean volcanic ash. Whatever.) to sterilize it. Anyways, I get into the tub with a board behind my head for support and slowly sink into the mud while Jose starts burying me like we are old buddies out on the beach.

The mud is about 100 degrees. Warm but not uncomfortably so. Jose leaves and I’m like floating in this mud sandwich. Incredibly soothing, the weight and temperature of the mud kind of press the stress out of your extremities. 5 minutes in, I’m starting to get hotter, it’s kind of like being in an oven. Jose arrives around this time with a cool towel on my forehead. I love Jose. 5 minutes after that he asks if I’m done or if I want a minute or two more. I take two, and eventually he returns to help me out. I shower again, while he rakes and boils behind me.

From there I soak for 15 in a tub at about 90 degrees. Nice and floaty. Good contrast to the mud. Jose with another towel across my brow as my head reclines on my tub pillow. Nice. From there it’s another quick shower and 5 minutes in the steam room. The contrast from each of these treatments works very well. One final shower and it’s off to the final stage. I walk down to a private room with a nice cushy bed to lay in. Jose wraps me in dry towels from neck to toe and throws a moist towel and cucumbers over my eyes and face. I borderline pass out I’m so relaxed. 15 minutes of that and I conclude it’s maybe the best $65 I’ve ever spent.

Total time of the above is about one hour. From there my masseuse picks me up and we head back for a quality, albeit pretty standard 50 minute massage. Priced at a pretty normal $110, it’s a borderline ripoff compared to the $65 mudbath deal. Still, I end up feeling like a million bucks after it’s over. I head back to the bungalow and Clarkmistress is already there and she says hers was pretty excellent as well. Feeling pretty mellow and relaxed, we chill for a bit and then start walking towards town for dinner at Bar Vino.

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Bar Vino is a tappas place that has an extensive wine tasting menu. They not only have wine by the glass, they also have 2oz tasting sizes, half bottles and full bottles, as well as a retail price for any full bottles you want to purchase on your way out.

The décor was really out of place in Calistoga, sort of a neo Asian with deer heads on the wall. Very dysfunctional while trying to be hip and trendy. The food was good, especially their cheese, meat and fruit sampler. We tried the following wines:

05 Tom Eddy Pinot Noir Napa
02 Cornerstone Cellars Cab Napa
04 Terrior Cab Franc Napa
04 Tofanelli Zinfandel Calistoga Napa
02 Atalon Merlot Oakville
03 Jacquelynn Cuvee Cab Napa


Of them them the only real strong memory I have is that the a few were pretty good but none were really noteworthy. I was disappointed with the lack of local wines available (we sampled Napa when they had one), but nothing we had was bad. Just nothing was really outstanding.

Finally we finish dinner, walk back to Indian springs and I lose a quick game of bocce. It’s now like 10:00pm and it feels like 2am. Time for bed and some rest before the first of two back-to-back days with heavy driving. The catch for tomorrow is we have to leave early enough to arrive in Ashland, OR for our 5:30pm dinner reservations prior to the show at the Shakespeare Festival. This time constraint forced us to forego heading west to see the redwoods, but it gives us an excuse to come back.

Re: Day 4
 

nice work Clark. I am enjoying this thus far.

Re: Day 4
 

beat: i tried to make the same drive but totaled my car so i had to fly home.

Re: Day 4
 

[ QUOTE ]
nice work Clark. I am enjoying this thus far.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks. Not your typical ha ha trip report, but hopefully interesting nonetheless.

It's tough balancing the need to keep these summaries complete while still keeping the appropriate wine nerd stuff for the supplemental wine-only post.

Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
tug,

The first time you're sitting at a poker table playing cards and some dork walks up and says HEY MAN, ARE YOU EL DIABLO? is pretty much the last time you want your picture posted on 2+2.

[/ QUOTE ]
LOL, OK. Enough said.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you think that's bad, imagine if your handle was Clarkmeister. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

Re: Day 4
 

you are doing a good job man. I liked the mud bath portion.

Day 5
 

Day 5

We wake up earlier than I expected, and decided to head over to the hot spring swimming pool for a quick morning plunge. Really really refreshing, especially after Day 4’s spa treatment and a full nights sleep. I lose another game of bocce and we check out and drive down the block for breakfast at Café Sarafornia.

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Café Sarafornia is a nice little joint in downtown (which is really just a quaint little three to four block area with shops and restaurants.) that is known for breakfast. It’s name is related to the name of the city. Apparently Calistoga got it’s name when the founder of the city was having a few drinks, and instead of calling the city the "Saratoga of California", instead slurred out that it was the "Calistoga of Sarafornia". Who knows if it’s true, but the legend impacted both the name of the town and eventually a humorously named café with no website.

After an amicable breakfast, we hit the road north with a deadline. It was about 10:45 when we finished breakfast, and I estimated we’d arrive around 4pm, giving us plenty of cushion.

We first drove through Robert Lewis Stevenson State Park on our way up north to Clearlake. The road was more than a little windy, as evidenced by our trusty Hertz neverlost.

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After we came through the forest and headed north, we had our first experience with what would be one of the most pleasant surprises of the trip.

Christian Rock Radio.

Scanning for music can be a pain in the butt. But starting on Day 5 and going through the rest of the trip, we consistently found a Christian rock station somewhere between 89.1FM and like 91.7FM. Now, I’m pretty close to agnostic and certainly don’t like in-your-face messaging, but goddamn, they play some catchy tunes. I honestly can’t recall ever hearing so many quality songs in a row. I only caught the lyrics of some, but as background music it simply couldn’t be beat. I think the master company is called KLove , and the call letters kept changing as we made our way north to Seattle. But they all played the same, hauntingly catchy tunes. Jesus died for youuuuuuu-uuuuuuuu-uuuuuu, for youuuuuuuuuu-uuuuuuuu-uuuuuuuu. Hallelujah!

One of many nature sightings, we caught these elk on film mere miles after a "watch for elk crossing" sign on the highway.

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Around an hour into our drive, we hit Clearlake. Now, I’ll be damned (Christian rock or no) if I’m going to go past a town called Clearlake and not check out their dang lake. So we shot off in search of said lake and were disappointed, as it was not particularly clear. I claim false advertising in the city name, unlike Calistoga which clearly delivered.

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We passed by a number of huge orchards. Very neat. There were also these weird square, shallow looking water holding pens that I can only assume have something to do with irrigation. As we joined I-5 and headed north, it looked like the Midwest with mountains, lots of cattle and fields. It was difficult to believe we were still in California, and not for the last time. Oceans, mountains, cities, vineyards, quiet spa towns, agriculture and even the "olive capital of California". Amazing to see it all in such a short timeframe.

Soon enough we rolled up to Lake Shasta . We took a short drive to see the damn and some views that we were told were beautiful. We were not disappointed. On our way up the hill we saw several eagles. From the crest, we saw Lake Shasta with Mount Shasta in the background.

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Then, a few minutes later, we pulled over at a rest stop and took another snapshot while we scarfed down our Burger King lunch.

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Heading north from there was pretty cool, as we got to see what we affectionately called three hundred sixty degrees of Shasta.

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Rolling onward the extreme north end of California was pretty beautiful in a weird way. Mountains, plateaus and cattle. Pretty neat. I was also disappointed that California couldn’t find a way to stretch I-5 a few more miles as California ran out of land at mile marker 796.

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I wish I had a photo, because the view from the mountain top as you descend into the valley where Ashland resides is one of the more breathtaking things I’ve seen. If you asked me to say what Rivendell looked like, this wouldn’t be too far off. Sadly, I don’t have a photo as I was driving down a steep grade at 60mph, but it was really pretty. All green with scattered houses and fields surrounding a small lake about 2,500 feet beneath us. I did dig up a photo of the valley from another website though.

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We arrived at The Peerless Hotel right on time at about 4pm. The place is an old hotel with 7 rooms that was a former inn for Coca Cola employees a long time ago and is in the National Historic Hotel Register or some such. We chose "Guest Bedroom #1" and were very happy with it at a very reasonable $120/night or so. No TV in the rooms, but they did have wireless internet. Nice.

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Dinner at The Peerless, the restaurant adjacent to the hotel was almost flawless. We had a bottle of Bethel Heights Seven Springs Vineyard Pinot (02 or 03, not sure) to start off with. Then a cheese, meat and fruit sampler (can you tell we like these?), that had huge quality and portion to price value. They were particularly proud of some award-winning Oregon bleu cheese. I’m no big fan of bleu cheese, but even I liked this one. This was followed by an A+ lump crab cocktail. We ordered our second bottle, a 2002 Domaine Serene Evanstead Reserve that was a harbinger of an eventual love affair with Domaine Serene wines.

The main course arrived and I had a rack of lamb, medium rare, that was perfectly done and absolutely delectable. Clarkmistress had the filet, also medium rare, except that it was medium well. This ended up being frustrating. Rather than just take it back and redo it, they took it back, then brought it back out to us saying that the chef said it was, in fact, medium rare and that the light in the room was tricking us. I quickly put her steak side by side with my lamb and asked how the light could make one dish look medium rare and another look medium well. Eventually they just comped us the steak as we didn’t have time for them to cook another at this point. It left a sour taste on an otherwise excellent experience.

Desert was great, but it took a long time to get out, causing us to have to rush down the block to the Shakespeare Festival. I’d certainly give them a second chance, but I am disappointed with their approach to the situation.

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It’s a nice seven block walk from The Peerless to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival . I wasn’t as excited as I wanted to be, however. Of the two shows available on Day 5, I wanted to see Tracy's Tiger , a jazz musical set in 1950's San Francisco about Thomas Tracy and hid imaginary Tiger and how it helps him find a girlfriend who can also see the Tiger. Then, the Tiger runs away. Dramabomb. That one was sold out when we booked a few weeks ago.

Instead, we ended up with The Cherry Orchard . The Cherry Orchard is apparently a well-known play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov about the rise of the middle class and just how much the former bourgeoisie was out of touch with reality as times changed in late 19th century Russia. Sort of a Russian Gone With the Wind. The acting was great, they let us pre-order wine for intermission, but the play wasn’t what I was looking for. Well executed, but I can’t imagine it’s as good as Tracy's Tiger. But, what could be. Next time.

Surprisingly, when we arrived back to the lobby of the B&B for post-play cordials, the group staying there didn’t seem interested in discussing it with the two drunks. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] So, after about 60 seconds of hanging out, we just rolled to bed and called it a night.

Re: Day 5
 

I miss Ashland. The restaurant scene there is pretty inbred and fubar though.

Re: Day 5
 

Simply excellent trip report, Clark. Makes me want to finally get my butt over to the States.

Re: Day 5
 

Keep it up Clark, it's great and much appreciated.

Holy crap I can't remember seeing the water level that high in Lake Shasta in the past 8 or 9 years. It seems that usually the ring around the lake is 3 or 4 times higher than that.

I would guess the bleu cheese they were proud of in Ashland is Rogue River Bleu...awesome stuff (as are the rest of the cheeses from Rogue). I love bleu cheese but R.R.Bleu can be a little challenging to eat when it's not crumbled. Let's just say that it really reminds you of what makes the cheese 'bleu': huge veins of mold....yummy, yummy mold.

Re: Day 5
 

Excellent post.
This sounds like a dream vacation.


Scanning for music can be a pain in the butt. But starting on Day 5 and going through the rest of the trip, we consistently found a Christian rock station somewhere between 89.1FM and like 91.7FM. Now, I’m pretty close to agnostic and certainly don’t like in-your-face messaging, but goddamn, they play some catchy tunes. I honestly can’t recall ever hearing so many quality songs in a row. I only caught the lyrics of some, but as background music it simply couldn’t be beat. I think the master company is called KLove , and the call letters kept changing as we made our way north to Seattle. But they all played the same, hauntingly catchy tunes. Jesus died for youuuuuuu-uuuuuuuu-uuuuuu, for youuuuuuuuuu-uuuuuuuu-uuuuuuuu. Hallelujah!

This made me lol pretty loud.

Re: Day 5
 

Great reports. Looking forward to the Willamette Valley reports.

Re: Day 5
 

[ QUOTE ]
Great reports. Looking forward to the Willamette Valley reports.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed, fantastic stuff.

BTW I think I've driven back from California probably 5-10 times in my life and I think every single time it was night so I've actually never seen the view he was describing of Ashland. There are a lot of places where the Oregon countryside is excellent that are somewhat similar, around Myrtle Creek for those familiar for example I would describe the same way Clark did.

Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

Hey Clark,

Great trip report. We go to Lake Almanor, about 45 miles east of Red Bluff and near Shasta, in the late summer for a lazy family week. I've always loved the highland forest of California.

The Wilamette Valley wine touring should be great. We had a 2004 pinot noir at Delmonico's last year from Penford Ash (may have been Penfold Ash) that was perfect. Hope you make it to that one.

Matt

Re: SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)
 

Matt,

Thanks. We didn't make it to Penner-Ash, but we did get to taste (and buy) the wine you mention. I agree that it was very good stuff. I hope to at least get out Day 6 tonight.

Day 6
 

Day 6

Day 6 was scheduled to be a pretty relaxing day. We had the "&B" part of "B&B" at The Peerless in the morning which consisted of a really nice bowl of sliced apples and oranges, and a scramble of mushrooms, leeks and goat cheese with a side of bacon. Good stuff, though I had Clarkmistress take the one with more goat cheese. A few pleasantries with the innkeeper Catherine and we were on our way.

We hit the road and pulled into a gas station to fill up. Some dude, like, just walks up to my window. I ask what’s up and he asks how he can help me. I say "oh, this is full service? That’s ok, I’ll just go across the street." The rest of the exchange goes something like this:

Guy: You can’t pump your own gas, all the stations are full service.
Me: ORLY?
Guy: YA RLY
Me: ORLY?
Guy: YA RLY
Me: I doubt that, DUCY
Guy: Welcome to Oregon.
Clarkmistress interjects: Thanks for the information, we didn’t know that.
Me, defeated: Ok, fill’er up.

Defeated and saddled with a full tank of gas and clean windows, we went on our way. It was really scenic for the first part of the trip. Then, when you are passing a town that dubs itself the Grass Seed Capital of America, you know it’s getting boring, even if you do take a photo of a grass field.

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Or of a cropduster. Who cropdusts grass? Apparently they take their grass seriously up here.

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From TGSCoA onward, it was pretty boring. Except, of course, for KLove delivering the goods yet *again*. Booya! I never heard the Jesus died for youuuuuuuuuu-uuuuuuuu-uuuuuuuu, for youuuuuuuuuuu-uuuuuuuuuuu-uuuuuuuuu song again, but that didn’t stop KLove from straight up kicking ass. I may have to get some sort of time-life monsters of Christian rock CD for future trips in more urban areas that don’t embrace the lord’s love like the Pacific Northwest does. Heathens are everywhere, BYOCR.

Eventually, good ole Neverlost takes us on a slightly out of the way path, past many llamas, but we persevere and make it to our place in Dundee, OR on time and in great shape, looking forward to a few days in the same place.

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We weave through the Dundee Hills and pass Lange, Torii Mor, Maresh Red Barn and Erath signs just as we pull up a steep winding hillside driveway to The Black Walnut the B&B where we will be staying. A pretty new building, the Walnut is very Italian in appearance. The whole building is very well done. The cobblestone courtyard where you drive in is very nice, as is the dining area. We especially loved the oversized greatroom and would ultimately spend several hours reading by the fireplace.

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We arrive and chat with the owner Karen for a bit. We kind of discuss our plans, get a few tips, and she then offers to upgrade us from Guest Bedroom #2 to The Tower Suite. We go and check both out and while I actually preferred Guest Bedroom #2 slightly, it wasn’t attached to the main house. Opting for the ability to wander around the house at night without going outside wins the day and we take The Tower Suite. The room is really cramped, but nicely appointed. The key is there’s a winding staircase which takes one to a rapunzel like living room upstairs in a tower that overlooks the whole valley. Super cool.

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Quick naps and showers get us ready for our dinner at the Joel Palmer House, which got the nod over Tina’s as our choice for tonight. But first, we make a quick stop at the Ponzi Wine Bar to pick up a bottle to drink back at the pad after dinner. We have a great chat with "Jonas" the wine guy. In what would become our home away from home this trip, we leave the Ponzi Wine Bar with a bottle of what I think was Sokol Pinot Noir.

Another place given some sort of national historic register designation, The Joel Palmer House is a small high-end restaurant in an old house. Seating about 40 total people at capacity, service was conducted by their entire team of four. That included our waiter, the owner, his wife, and the chef. The place has a great reputation and did not disappoint, delivering the Meal of the Trip.

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The Palmer House is known for mushrooms. Soup, sides and sauces alike. So when the waiter enthusiastically told us they had a morel mushroom appetizer made from several large clusters that the owner had foraged for that same day, I couldn’t pass. The investor in me also couldn’t help but be envious of his COGS. Clarkmistress got the mushroom soup and beef stroganoff off the menu while I got a salmon salad and tried to hit back-to-back rack of lamb home runs. We ordered a bottle of 2003 Ken Wright Guadalupe Vineyard Pinot Noir that went with the food so well it was sick. It joins the 2003 Phelps in the medal round of wines sampled on the trip.

They were so excited about the morel mushrooms that the owner, Jack, came around and showed us a raw clump. They were huge. They were also delicious. I bet Jose would’ve liked them.

My lamb was perfect. Done very differently than at The Peerless, the portion was a little smaller and instead of a mint sauce it had a spicy peppery sauce. Fabulously good. For desert I had their homemade sorbet sampler. Blood orange, raspberry and marionberry. Other than the mayor of Washington DC, I’d never heard of a marionberry. But dang was it good. Of note, they do a fixed 18% tip for all parties and note that the customers have the right to take it up or down as they see fit. All in all a great experience.

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Well satisfied, we head back to the Walnut. Karen is there and we chat a bit about our plans for tomorrow. Namely, balloons and booze. When we ask about ideas for our dinner tomorrow, with an eye towards someone who delivers (we anticipate being blotto when we return from the tastings). She suggests a pizza place in town that has good pizza, but warns us to stay away from the rest. Pizza after balloons and booze sounds perfect, so we salt that knowledge away.

Then we simply unwind. The Walnut has some excellent wine glasses for use. I crack the hutch, take a pair, then pop and pour our bottle of Sokol. Reading some local wine mags and cruising the internet, I put my feet up on the living room table by the fireplace. Clarkmistress curls up and reads a book. A couple of very leisurely glasses later, we call it a night at about 9:30. After all, tomorrow is scheduled to be the most tiring day of the trip.

Re: Day 6
 

clark,
this trip report is awesome, and is giving me lots of great ideas for my wife's birthday weekend. thanks!

Re: Day 6
 

Clark, did you hit up Lumpy's Landing in Dundee? My cousin works there.

Re: Day 6
 

No.

Re: Day 6
 

Day 7 tomorrow (Wednesday) night. Too long to get out in addition to Day 6.