Sam and Bonnie (and Russell of course !) were keen to visit some wineries as the region is particularly known for its Pinot varieties, a favourite of theirs. Sam’s research led us to the Dundee Hills region of the Willamette Valley, about 45km south of Portland. I was the designated driver given I’m not a big red drinker and we had encountered a major problem earlier in the day with Hertz (never rent from them in the US!) meaning that as yet Sam wasn’t able to be listed as an additional driver.
Our first stop was White Rose Estate in a beautiful setting atop a hill with views all around, lovely landscaping and a cellar door that was a dark cool escape from the 36 C outside. The young guy who was pouring was very interested to hear of Sam and Bonnie’s winery experience and offered to take us on a full ‘downstairs’ experience which was pretty cool.
More importantly he waived the hefty $25 pp tasting fee for the three of them which encouraged us to buy a bottle and then he gave us recommendations for a nearby lunch venue.
After lunch we visited Stoller Family Estate, another stunning setting which DID have a nice rosé which we enjoyed in their beautiful outside area.
We decided to finish up at this point as I had made a dinner booking in Portland to celebrate Sam and Bonnie’s birthdays and we wanted time to shower and cool down.
Dinner at St.Jack ( a French themed restaurant) was lovely but somewhat impacted by the extreme ambient temperature (for me at least) and returning to our house the aircon was most welcome! (Are you seeing a theme here? This weather for Portland was quite unusual ☀🔥)
The following day ( our last in Portland) we visited the Columbia Gorge, a beautiful area east of Portland featuring lots of waterfalls and the mighty Columbia River.
I really wanted to visit Multnomah Falls (allegedly the second highest continually running waterfall in the US at 189m) and the highest in Oregon. Circumstances conspired against us today though, the road in was closed and we were directed to an overflow car park where the free shuttle would take us the 15 min drive to the falls . We waited about 35 hot minutes for the bus and climbed on with other red faced tourists to be driven to the car park adjacent to the falls – where there were plenty of parks! Very frustrating indeed. The falls themselves were spectacular but it was totally the wrong time of the day to photograph them and it was very busy. The pic below is courtesy of google images 😉
After the considerable amount of time spent here it was now lunch time and we drove further along the gorge to Hood River, a very windy spot where kite and windsurfers were competing on the river. We had a pleasant late lunch in the pFriem Tap room and headed back to Portland mid afternoon, Sam and Bonnie still needing to check out Powell’s before our departure the next day.
Tomorrow, on to the I5 and then rejoining our old friend Highway 101 to La Push and Twilight territory!🧛🏻♂️