wine-tasting weekend
This past weekend was the annual outing to the Willamette Valley Wine Country with my parents. We had a great time. We headed out after school on Friday and got to Portland just about 9pm. We all fell in to bed and went to sleep.
Saturday morning, after a very busy breakfast at the Embassy Suites (that's where we stayed this time), we went over to Washington Square Mall. supersech bought me my belated anniversary gift. My wedding band has been through a lot--sizing and then breaking. (but getting fixed) I knew it had to get sized again when I had to use soap and water every time to take it off, but I was afraid to--it would have been so weak. :( I told a jeweler what I had to do and they said to stop doing that and wear it around my neck. Eek! So, we started looking for a new ring for me. I found the one on that trip in July, but still wanted to look around and make sure. Yup, that's the one and we bought it tax free. :D Today, I will take it to the jewelers here and get it sized to fit my ring finger. After some more shopping, we finally headed out to the wineries. Our wineries that day were ArbroBrook, Solena (a newly built winery which was just gorgeous!) and Tyrus Evans. Between Solena and Tyrus Evans, we stop for a late lunch/early dinner at Cielo Blue. A delicious Italian restaurant. Yum! We only bought two bottles that day. (My parents were a different matter though...)
Sunday we met up with some of my parent's friends who were coming back from Cannon Beach and went to Sake One (a yummy sakery). They teased us with their sparkling plum sake--it was on tap and not bottled...yet. We all wanted to buy a case of it, but it'll have to wait until next year. *sigh* After that, we headed over to Aramenta. After the tasting, we sat outside (no rain!) and ate some lunch. Salami, smoke salmon spread, crab-artichoke dip, crackers, pretzels and a sesame honey-mustard dip. It was great! Our friends said good-bye at that point and we headed to WillaKenzie--just before closing time. We got our annual Christmas pictures taken there and then headed to Argyle--just before closing. :)
For dinner, we met up with Uncle T, Aunt K and their kids, L and P at the Olive Garden. Good times! Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel for some pre-packing and Sunday night TV watching. Then...sleep. ZZzzzzzz....
Monday morning, we finished packing, did a little bit more shopping (birthday and Christmas!) and headed home. We pulled in to my parent's house at 3:30pm. Unpack the car, re-pack my car and we headed for our home. We had a great time and always enjoy it down there, but I'm so glad to be home.
Saturday morning, after a very busy breakfast at the Embassy Suites (that's where we stayed this time), we went over to Washington Square Mall. supersech bought me my belated anniversary gift. My wedding band has been through a lot--sizing and then breaking. (but getting fixed) I knew it had to get sized again when I had to use soap and water every time to take it off, but I was afraid to--it would have been so weak. :( I told a jeweler what I had to do and they said to stop doing that and wear it around my neck. Eek! So, we started looking for a new ring for me. I found the one on that trip in July, but still wanted to look around and make sure. Yup, that's the one and we bought it tax free. :D Today, I will take it to the jewelers here and get it sized to fit my ring finger. After some more shopping, we finally headed out to the wineries. Our wineries that day were ArbroBrook, Solena (a newly built winery which was just gorgeous!) and Tyrus Evans. Between Solena and Tyrus Evans, we stop for a late lunch/early dinner at Cielo Blue. A delicious Italian restaurant. Yum! We only bought two bottles that day. (My parents were a different matter though...)
Sunday we met up with some of my parent's friends who were coming back from Cannon Beach and went to Sake One (a yummy sakery). They teased us with their sparkling plum sake--it was on tap and not bottled...yet. We all wanted to buy a case of it, but it'll have to wait until next year. *sigh* After that, we headed over to Aramenta. After the tasting, we sat outside (no rain!) and ate some lunch. Salami, smoke salmon spread, crab-artichoke dip, crackers, pretzels and a sesame honey-mustard dip. It was great! Our friends said good-bye at that point and we headed to WillaKenzie--just before closing time. We got our annual Christmas pictures taken there and then headed to Argyle--just before closing. :)
For dinner, we met up with Uncle T, Aunt K and their kids, L and P at the Olive Garden. Good times! Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel for some pre-packing and Sunday night TV watching. Then...sleep. ZZzzzzzz....
Monday morning, we finished packing, did a little bit more shopping (birthday and Christmas!) and headed home. We pulled in to my parent's house at 3:30pm. Unpack the car, re-pack my car and we headed for our home. We had a great time and always enjoy it down there, but I'm so glad to be home.