Day 65...Wednesday, September 17, 2008...Shannon Heads for Home...Back to the Willamite Valley

I am suddenly filled with enormous fear. There's this huge map of wineries in the Willamite Valley and, examining it closely, I suddenly realize that I have missed visiting at least three wineries during my visit a few days ago. And the bees, thousands of bees...all that buzzing. No wait...it's not bees, it's the alarm clock...time to get up and get Shannon on the 4:00AM shuttle to the airport.
I was sorry to see Shannon go back home. She's been a great traveling companion...experienced camper, accomplished map reader and all-around navigator, dutiful "designated driver" in wine county. But, best of all, she encouraged me to take that different route, make that unscheduled stop, open my eyes and see a lot (a whole lot) of things that I would otherwise have missed. I miss her already.
Now back at the Clarion, I'm able to dash off a few blog entries and start planning the next few days.
On that first evening a Crater Lake, the moon was at it's fullest and a reddish color from all of the smoke in the air due to multiple forest fires. And, as I looked at the moon, a thought popped into my head..."Remember Bill, when the moon is big, head for home...M-O-O-N...that spells, time to start home. Well, maybe not right away...I've still got a few more wineries to visit.
Today is a "maintenance day"...a few mundane things before and after I head back down to McMinnville. On the way out of Portland, I stopped at a local Jiffy Lube for an oil change. I checked my Garmin for the total mileage so far on my trip...amazing...I've traveled 11,608 miles!! Wow...that's more than most people drive in a whole year.
I'm back at the Red Lion Hotel in McMinnville. Until this trip, I had never heard of the Red Lion chain, but they're pretty nice...I've probably stayed at nine or ten different ones along the way. This one has a laundry...so...I'm doing four or five loads which should give me enough clean clothes for the trip home.
On the way into town, I was able to stop at two wineries...Rex Hill and Sokol-Blosser...they're both good, so I bought a couple of bottles.
I decide to have an early dinner...after only two hours or so of sleep, I'm tired. So I head into McMinnville for dinner at La Rambla...a Spanish tapas restaurant. It's excellent...erasing the memory of that wretched place in Victoria. I go with a few "classics"...gambas al ajillo, tortilla Espagnol and the charcuterie plate (Manchego cheese, Serrano ham, Chorizo, olives)...they're all really, really good. A glass of Pinot Gris with the shrimp and a bottle of Panther Creek Pinot Noir with the eggs and charcuterie plate. The Pinot Noir is excellent...big, grapey, lots of "black fruit" flavors. The bartender at La Rambla really knows his wines, so I start asking him who produces the "New-World" style Pinot Noirs that I like. Just like that, I've got a whole list of places to visit tomorrow.
Oregon lets you take any unfinished wine with you, so my nearly-full bottle of Panther Creek is heading back with me to the Red Lion...a few glasses before bed.