Hello again! Are we friends now? Another Monday has arrived! How was your weekend? Reply and let me know.
If you missed my first newsletter, you can read it here.
In it I explain who the hell I am and why in the world you are receiving email from me.
I’m not even trying to sell you anything. Isn’t that refreshing? I think so.
Actually I do have something to sell you but I’m kind of hoping you don’t buy it.
You see, you can continue receiving this weekly email from me for free or you can sign up for the “I really love you, Heather” service and pay $7/month to receive an email from me every other day. But if no one signs up for this I don’t have to write an email every other day and that would be a relief. So although I have something to sell you, you really shouldn’t buy it.
We spent the weekend in Hood River, Oregon visiting wineries. I will miss all the wineries when we move. There’s something so enjoyable and relaxing about sitting outside (in the cold) at a beautiful vineyard overlooking the vines, tasting Pinot Noirs and Cabernet Sauvignons and Syrahs that were so expertly and painstakingly crafted.
The sun was shining and the rain was pouring. Both, at the same time. Welcome to the PNW. A random cat jumped in my lap. We munched on dried mango, marcona almonds, local cheese and gluten free crackers.
Donald basked in the sun and ate treats handed to him by winery folks.
We walked over a waterfall and ate breakfast al fresco overlooking the Hood River and Douglas Firs. I brought my binoculars but no eagles were spotted this time.
It was a lovely weekend. We belong to a wine club in Wishram, WA so we had to pick up our Spring wine allotment. We have so much good wine to drink! The problem is we’re always waiting for a special occasion to drink it and a Tuesday dinner at home never seems to suffice. So we keep collecting good wine and buying cheap wine from Costco to drink. Silly, huh?
Now we have this large collection of good wine that we have to move across the country. Did I tell you we’re moving? Yep, heading back towards the east coast again. I have mixed feelings about it.
Things I will miss in Oregon:
Wineries
Farm stores
Beautiful views of rolling green hills and mountains
Not a long list, I know. Oregon was quite a bit different than I expected.
With 700 wineries in the Willamette Valley, it’s a oenophile’s paradise. We visited wineries nearly every weekend but still didn’t make a dent in the 700 that blanket the landscape.
We even had the opportunity to take a (self-made) wine tour through the Columbia Valley and Walla Walla over Christmas and New Year’s, which was wonderful. It was all outdoors so we bundled up. I bought a Canadian vegan winter coat special for the occasion. The coat is extremely heavy and incredibly warm and has served me very well this winter.
Washington wines are much bolder and more full-bodied that Oregon wines. The bolder, the better, I say. I love bold, rich, and spicy. I wrote my favorite wines down in my wine notebook. I’d be happy to share my recommendations with you, if you’d like.
Let’s see, what else did we do this weekend… I went down a slide with Donald (see here)! That was fun and it made me laugh. Who needs a kid when you have a dog?
I think I decided I prefer living near the mountains than the beach. If I had to choose. When we lived in Florida in 2019, we lived on the beach. It was gorgeous. Beautiful artful sunsets of blues and purples and pinks nearly every night, crashing waves, dolphins swimming by. It was very relaxing.
However, unless I’m living on the beach, I rarely ever see the beach. It takes so much effort and time to pack all your beach gear up, find parking, and fight the annoying crowds to find a secluded peaceful spot on the sand. Then you have sand all over your everything and you are brushing it off days, even weeks later. Plus I don’t swim.
But when you live on the beach, you get all the benefits of the beach without any of the negatives like sand, people, and lugging.
Then there’s the mountains and the serenity they bring. The rushing rivers and the gushing waterfalls. The soaring birds overhead and the crisp air. The majesty of the green trees and the glory of the wildflowers. The best part is you can usually see it all everywhere you go! Whether you’re looking out your living room window or driving to the store or hiking in a park.
What do you think? Do you prefer mountains or the beach?
Also, if you like to swim there’s usually lakes or rivers near mountains. I don’t like to swim but you might.
Plus there’s no sharks. When we lived in Florida, we saw a couple guys who were fishing catch a baby bull shark accidentally. They were able to safely cut the line and toss him back in the ocean but it definitely kept me from wading in for days after.
So we’re heading back east but not to the mountains or the beach quite yet. Somewhere in between for the next six months. After six months we’re thinking of moving to the mountains.
Stay tuned and I’ll let you know where that is.
But for now I’m starting the countdown until we’re on the road again.
Toodles!
Heather
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