SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)

[Mike Gallo]

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.

[nolanfan34]

Great reports. Looking forward to the Willamette Valley reports.

[JaredL]

[ 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.

[Matt Flynn]

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

[Clarkmeister]

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.

[Clarkmeister]

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.




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




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.




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.




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.




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.





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.



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.

[turnipmonster]

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

[ThaSaltCracka]

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

[Clarkmeister]

No.

[Clarkmeister]

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