Oregon Plans – Beach and Wine

During my downtime, Steve and I will also be taking a trip together for one week. We’ll be spending a week in Oregon and I am really looking forward to this visit. We fly into Portland and then will be driving straight out to the coast and spending 3 nights on Cannon Beach. In 2016 we spent 4 days in Willamette Valley and fell in love with the wine area there. Not only is the wine delicious (lots and lots of pinot noir – my favorite) but the valley itself is also gorgeous. This year we added a few days so we could make a stop by the coast first.

Image result for cannon beach oregon — Haystack Rock (traveloregon.com)

I have never been to Cannon Beach so I can’t wait to see the famous Haystack Rock, go for long beach walks and visit the towns of Cannon Beach and Astoria. We also plan to do some hiking at Ecola State Park during our 3 days there. We’ll be staying at a beautiful inn that is located right on the beach and the best part? The weather. The highs are only in the mid 60’s with the lows in the mid 50’s – perfect weather for having a glass of red wine while watching the sunset.

Image result for stephanie inn cannon beach — Stephanie Inn (tripadvisor.com)

After 3 days at the beach, we are heading inland for 4 nights in Willamette Valley where we plan to do lots of wine tastings. We are renting the same adorable vineyard cottage that we stayed in last time and our friend is going to come visit and stay with us as well!

View of Willamette Valley from Penner-Ash Winery (Ribbon Ridge AVA)

I can’t wait to taste some amazing wine and enjoy our vineyard view from our cottage. As the house is a little remote, we usually cook our evening meals at home and between me and my friend, we can make some wonderful gourmet meals (she’s an excellent cook). The last time we were there, we made steaks with an incredible salad with peaches, hazelnuts and goat cheese and another night we made the best shrimp scampi and, of course, had some incredible northwest coast salmon another evening. We’ll also be sampling some wonderful food in the area.

Me with our food pairings at Soter the other year

Hanging with friends at Penner-Ash Winery – we’ll be doing this again in a few weeks!

First things first, though. Before this trip, I have a weekend in Austin coming up and a 4 night stay in Colorado in the middle of August. It will be so nice to get out of this Texas heat, though!