I like fun.

     I think that it’s pretty terrible to report that this almost-33-year-old-Oregonian had never been to Crater Lake. Thankfully…I remedied that problem last week. On Wednesday morning, Brent and I dropped Roscoe off at the puppy sitter and packed our stuff and ourselves into the Schlager’s car to make the 5-hour-or-so journey South to Crater Lake. It was fun.

     We love a good road trip, especially with the Schlagers and this drive was oh-so-scenic. From Portland we took I5 to Eugene and then HWY 58 SE through the Willamette National Forest. One word: gorgeous. I’m adding Odell Lake to my list of fun places I’d like to camp/explore. Finally we hit 97 South and then cut back west on Hwy 138 – this was the junction where we started to glimpse snow-capped peaks and where I stopped believing the navigation system. It was reporting many too many minutes to drive the short mileage that we had left. Little did I know we had a slow and curvey road to climb.

     When we arrived at the South entrance to Crater Lake National Park our four passenger vehicle felt like a school bus full of excited kids. We were bursting to get there. We greeted the park ranger with our $10 park entrance fee (per carload) and greedily took the map and the guide that she provided. None of us in the car had ever visited and we didn’t really know what to expect. I read factoids about the lodge, the volcano explosion, the boat rides and such while we rubber-necked at the scenery and took the slow drive up the mountain.  Finally we approached the first look-out area and caught a glimpse of the bluest water you’ve ever seen. The car was filled with exclamations and we jumped out to take in the natural wonder that is Crater Lake. It’s awesome – kind of indescribable – and I don’t think any of us will soon forget that first look.

     We finished the drive to Crater Lake Lodge, stopping at each turn-out to catch a different angle of the lake.  The lodge itself is charming and cool and historic. The huge fire places and the porch lined with rocking chairs were by far my favorite parts. Sitting and rocking in one of the chairs, staring out into the blue beautifulness is just about as good as it gets.

     We really had no idea what to expect from our Crater Lake experience. Now, having been there once, here’s what we learned.

1. It’s a National Park which means it’s filled with hundreds of Griswold types on their family vacations. Rim Village is the worst-most congested area to be – avoid it unless you’re looking for a theme-park experience. The ideal place is the lodge’s great room or porch. They serve cocktails there and appetizers starting at 3PM.
2. The water is pretty unapproachable (much to my water-loving-husband’s dismay). It takes a bit of a hike to get to the water’s edge and the climb back out is equivalent to climbing 65 flights of stairs – we skipped it this time because we were in relaxation mode.
3. The boat ride around the lake and to Wizard Island looks cool (it requires the same hike mentioned above). We didn’t do it this time, because we arrived at 2PM and left the following day at 10am. Next time we’ll plan to be there longer so that we can spend a day at Wizard Island.
4. The rooms are small and clean, but nothing spectacular. We had a lake view which I would recommend (even though the windows are small). Next time I’ll try to get a room with a claw-foot tub.
5. The dining room is fun and replicates the original. There’s an awesome painting of the lake that changes color as day turns to twilight and to dark. The food is just ok, but the ambiance/affordability makes up for it. The wine list leaves something to be desired. We brought a nice Penner-Ash Pinot and we’re glad – corkage fee was only $10 and when you see their wine list – you’ll know why. Bring your own bottle, you’ll be glad you did.
6. Star-gazing is pretty radical. We loved those rocking chairs and made good use of them. It’s cold when the sun goes down, so bundle up.
7. Get up at 5AM and watch the sun rise over the lake. It’s worth it.
8. The history of the place is almost as cool as seeing the lake itself. Take the time to read and or listen to the history (there’s a CD in each room that has an oral history recording).
9. It’s a good place to get engaged?! I’ve never witnessed a public engagement, but on Wednesday afternoon while we were enjoying our cocktails alfresco, a man and a woman got engaged – giant sign hung over the porch-railing style. It was pretty fun to be a fly-on-the-wall during their romantic moment. It’s definitely a beautiful place to make a special memory.

All and all our trip to Crater Lake was super fun. You can see more photos in the Facebook album.

If you’ve been to Crater Lake, leave a comment with a tip, or your favorite memory.

     Goonies – it’s a Spielberg masterpiece, filmed in Oregon and a personal favorite.  I’ve seen it about a hundred times and last Friday night Brent, Roscoe and I watched it again for the one hundred and first time in the most magical and unique setting imaginable.
     Anne Amie Vineyards has this awesome (it really is radical and I don’t use either of those words lightly) event every other Friday during summer called Flicks n’ Flights. They set up a movie screen with their fields of vines and the coastal range as the backdrop. You can sit (on your lawn chair or blanket), sip wine, nosh on a picnic (bring your own, or try one of their cheese plates) and watch the sun set. It’s spectacular AND the view is only the opening act. When it gets dark a movie starts. I’m going to say it again. It’s awesome.
     I’ve been looking forward to Flicks and Flights all winter and when I found out Goonies was the flick for last Friday, I was ecstatic. Brent and I grilled out at home and then left Portland for wine country just after 7. Our strategy was to skip the CRAZAY Pacific Hwy. traffic and enjoy the drive (it’s about an hour) to Carlton. The plan worked like a charm. We had an easy drive west and I passed the time by quoting my favorite Goonie lines.
     When we arrived we were pretty much gob smacked (in a good way). The setting is picturesque to put it mildly. We picked out wine and settled onto our blanket just in time to see the gorgeous sunset. And then much to my delight, as the pink and purple hued mountains faded to black, I was watching Chunk do the truffle shuffle and Cyndi Lauper sing Good Enough. I was giggling like a school girl and cuddling my puppy and my favorite date. We watched the movie (I continued to quote lines) and lay on our backs amazed at how fortunate we are to live somewhere so beautiful.  The vineyard is far enough from the city that you can see the stars. We let Orion’s belt direct us to the big and little dippers while Data chanted “Chester Copperpot and ranted about bootie traps. It was getting chilly, so we snuggled even closer as Troy hollered (and I wispered) “Andie, You Goonie!”
     By the time Sloth was shouting “Hey You Guys!” we were pouring the last of our bottle of Rose. We had just enough wine to see a marble bag full of jewels save the goondocks while a pirate ship set sale on the Oregon coast. It was a super fun date night and one we’ll repeat frequently.
      A note about the wine, since I love wine and we were at a vineyard – the bottle of Rose that we drank was the Cuvee A Midnight Saignee Rose of Pinot Noir and despite its long name was totally fabulous, perfectly refreshing for a summer evening and not too sweet (too much sweetness bums me out). Their website boasts that Pinot Noir rules at Anne Amie and I beleive them. I had one of their Pinots last night and it was also very tasty.  
     The next Flicks n Flights is July 30. The rumor is that they’re showing Young Frankenstein, which I think will be fun and maybe sorta creepy. It really doesn’t matter what the movie is, the experience is so amazing everyone should partake. Watch a movie at a vineyard. I’m checking it off my list of future funs. You should also plan a trip to Anne Amie – you will love Flicks and Flights as much as we did.

You can see more photos from our Goonies + wine date night on Facebook in the Summer 2010 album.
Cheers!

     If you’ve read this blog, even just a little bit, you’ve probably figured out by now that I like fun, and I LOVE wine. After a slow and rainy start to summer, we finally have sun and the beautiful days that we live for in the Pacific Northwest. Sunny afternoons sipping wine on a vineyard’s lawn are perfectly dreamy and one of my most favorite activities.

     I come by it honestly. My parents used to pack us up with a picnic on sunny Sunday afternoons and head to St. Chapelle vineyard in Southwest Idaho. The vineyard was about a 45 minute drive from our house in Nyssa and amazingly scenic for what I think of as a not-very-pretty part of Idaho.

     We would spend the afternoon in the grass listening to live jazz. My dad was a huge Gene Harris fan and if my memory serves me correctly he would play there sometimes. It makes me nostalgic and happy when I think of those lazy days spent grooving to great music and munching on grapes. I’m incredibly grateful that my parents taught us (and also taught us how) to enjoy life.

     I’m glad I don’t have to drive all the way to Idaho to enjoy an afternoon at a vineyard. One of my favorite PDX vine spots (and pinots) is Oswego Hills Vineyards. It’s on Rosemont in West Linn (about five minutes from my sister’s house, which is VERY convenient). It’s a family run operation and after a few visits you’re feeling like one of the family. They’re open for tastings on Sunday afternoons. It is seriously fabulous to sit in one of their adirondack chairs, or in the lush green lawn, and look out over the vineyard at the Cascades while drinking their tasty wine.

     If you’re looking for something fun and relaxing to do next Sunday afternoon, check out Oswego Hills Vineyards. You’ll be glad you stopped to enjoy life there.

What’s your favorite (or one of your favorite) NW Vineyards?

PS – they’re dog friendly. Roscoe loves it too. They have a super-cute Yorkie who I fell in LOVE with at first site. Actually…come to think of it…my visits to Oswego Hills are the reason we have Roscoe!

     Yesterday Brent and I had a perfect PDX day.  We discovered a-little-known gem hidden in plain sight in the No.Po. We’re on post-vacation budget (stay tuned for a vacation re-cap post, I’m seriously overdue), so I busted out my trusty Zinester’s Guide (it is full of great free ideas for fun) and was charmed by a story I read about Peninsula Park. Apparently a lot of Portlanders refer to it as Penguin Park, because in the 50’s the zoo housed its penguins in the park’s pool while a permanent penguin home was built in zooland. There was also a sub-note about 69 species of roses in a garden that’s older than the more famous test gardens in Washington park.
     I was sold. The sun has been playing hard-to-get this spring and its bad behavior has nearly broken my spirit. I decided that a day discovering a new park in the on-again sun was exactly what we needed.

     We drove the 3 miles north on I5 from downtown to Rosa Parks Way and turned right. We passed the pool and parked on the north side of the park. Dog on leash and arms full of picnic supplies we walked through the baseball field toward the gazebo. As we approached the top of the small hill that the gazebo perches on, my breath caught and I looked over at Brent with wide, excited eyes and we both started grinning like fools. What we saw was a fountain nestled into a garden of what looks like 1 billion roses in full bloom. The pictures do not do it justice. It is BEAUTIFUL and fragrant and peaceful and all the things a garden should be. I was immediately in love.

     We spent the entire afternoon there on our blanket in the grass. We read, chatted, played with the dog and just enjoyed life. What of the many things that I love about Portland is that it holds so many little unassuming places that most people only dream of visiting.
     Peninsula Park is a MUST see, especially when it’s sunny and the roses are in bloom. Go there and take time to smell the roses. You won’t be sorry.

        This spring we discovered Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. It’s a gorgeous peaceful haven filled with cascades of colorful flowers, water features, ducks+geese+other birds and winding paths to walk. It’s about a 10 minute walk from our place and we take Roscoe there frequently. We wander through the gardens and watch people feed the ducks and sit on benches to chat or read our books. I’ve also taken a bazillion photos. You can check out my facebook album to see more. The place is seriously beautiful. The gardens are now on my list of places to take out-of-town visitors.

        Most of the ponds are lined with stone walk-ways. Roscoe tends to scale the ledges on his hunt for ducks. He’s become very stealth as he creeps along the narrow walk-ways. I keep thinking one of these days he’s going to lose his balance and take a nose-dive into the water.

        This fear, I’m certain, stems from the time I fell into a reflective pond in DC.  You know the one. It’s long and narrow and reflects the Washington memorial (it’s where Forest and Jenny reunite in Forest Gump). If you’re having trouble visualizing, I’ve provided an image. I was about 8 years old and on a family vacation in DC. We were cruising down the length of the pond, on our way to see the next sight. I was excited – probably overly excited – about the trip. I always longed to visit the places that I’d read about in books. I remember thinking that I was the luckiest girl in America as I carried my Instamtic filled with a vacation’s worth of photos. I was skipping down the narrow marble boarder of the reflective pond when disaster struck. My saltwater sandal caught the water-side ledge and I tipped into the pond. The left side of my body shot through the mossy-murky water and the thick layer of bottom sludge as my hand and knee banged hard onto concrete floor. I sucked in a mouthful of dirty water that muffled my howl as I heard my camera crack on the marble side. It was strapped to the wrist of my right hand that was gripping the wall ledge (I had some weird fear that I was going to get sucked into the abyss). I’d saved my soon-to-be photos from the water, but cracked the flash, the bottom of the camera and the 110 film. This last part I didn’t find out until the film was developed to reveal rainbow-striped images of the family at the white-house and in front of count-less monuments.

        My dad (he seems to be the unsung hero of all my stories) in a svelte move reached down and scooped me out, soaking wet and sobbing. I was of course, mortified that the entire world of Washington DC saw me take that graceful dip. I was half-drenched and had a broken camera. It was a very sad afternoon, but it makes a funny memory.

        These days when I watch Roscoe scamper down the stone water boarders at the rhododendron gardens, I’m frequently taken back to that moment when I fell in that reflective water. Thank goodness he’s not as clumsy as me and is totally capable of staying on dry-ground.

        If you’ve never been, or it’s been awhile, put the rhododendrons on your list of fun things to do in pdx this summer. The garden seems to be open all the time. There’s a $3 admission charge March – Labor day, Thursday through Monday between 10am and 6pm. The rest of the time it’s free.

Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden
SE 28th and Woodstock Blvd