After a gorgeous half-day of driving, we arrived in Portland, Oregon on Monday afternoon. What a great city! It has it all! We stayed downtown at the Hilton-another Priceline gonga! We had a very nice dinner at Ristorante Roma with Heidi and Julie Drabs, followed by an ice cream and a walk at the Riverfront. Before heading out in the morning, we met Julie for a quick bite at the Waffle Window. Why didn’t I take a picture of this? Holy cow! I had a waffle with brie, bacon and basil. Rick had one with bacon, jalapeno and cheddar. What a concept. Every town needs this.

We stopped in a couple of vinyards in the Willamette Valley on our trip south. Thank you, Sandy, for the Stoller Winery recommendation! I bought several bottles there and some at Erath as well. This region is spectacular! Close to the ocean, beautiful rolling hills, gorgeous vegetation….and wine! I could spend a week in this area alone. Well, another time, but I could, really! We made our way back to the highway after some exploring and got all the way to Redding, CA, which is near Mt. Shasta. The entire drive was breathtaking. We have heard of a drought in California, but when you see the low water level in Lake Shasta, it is incredible. I took a photo, but I don’t think it’s clear just how bad it is around here. Not to mention the forest fires in the region. We talked to a man who is a tomato farmer who could not grow tomatoes this year due to the water rationing. I can’t even begin to understand how this would work.

We spent Tuesday night at the Win-River Casino Hotel in Redding, and no, we didn’t win. But it was a fun stop.