Dateline June 15, 2018, Oregon and a Touch of Washington Wine
Union, Oregon. A few hours out of Boise we picked the town of Union for the night. In its day it had been a little resort, on the strength of its hot springs; the Hot Springs Hotel went up in 1906 and was grand enough to be called the Mayo of the West, until it failed in the Depression and burned down in 1934. The RV park was built near the old hotel grounds and had a pool fed by those same springs, so we mixed a couple of drinks, paid the "no alcohol" sign no mind, and went down for a soak.
We had not been there long when four lovely children climbed in with us. They were from around Medford, they said, and had come to Union for the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show to show their pigs over the next few days. One of the girls had actually won the year before, though as she explained, her winning pig was sold on the spot, so this year she was back with a new one. It was a pleasure to listen to them talk about how they were doing and how much of their lives they give to the animals.
In the morning we played a county-owned course called Buffalo Creek, and arrived to find it flat empty.
The green fees ran about twenty-five dollars, and as the morning wore on more players turned up, some of them in town for the livestock show and the rodeo that weekend. It was a wonderful round, with long views of the country from the high ground.
We had decided the night before to go to the show and see if we could catch our young friends from the pool. Here are the two girls with their pigs.
It was something to watch all those children groom and gentle their animals before walking them in front of the judges, and we were tickled to find our pool friends among them showing off their prize pigs; on Saturday the whole show goes to auction. It is a different life than most of us know, the chores first thing, then school, then chores again, dinner, study, and bed, and these were as well-mannered and happy a bunch as you could hope to meet. The 4-H and the Future Farmers of America do fine work.
Pendleton. Pendleton, Oregon was on our way, so of course we stopped. We both remembered, as children, how special it was to be given one of their wool shirts or jackets. The last mill tour of the day was over by the time we got there, so we browsed the store instead; beautiful things, all of it, though there is not much call for heavy wool back home in Florida.
The Walla Walla wine. From there we made for Walla Walla. We stopped on the Oregon side to pick up winery maps from a young woman at the visitor center, and learned about a newer growing area with the wonderful name of the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, a tiny appellation that sits, oddly enough, entirely on the Oregon side of the Walla Walla Valley. It is remarkable how finely these wine districts are drawn. We pulled in at Zerba Cellars, on the Oregon side though not in the Rocks District, and the wines were outstanding. We fell to talking with Jim and Robin Giancotti, from Oregon, who told us that of all the wine clubs they had joined over the years, Zerba was the best, so we signed up ourselves and tucked a few bottles into the RV.
It turned out their daughter ran the tasting room at Revelry Winery over in Walla Walla, and they waved us along to join them there for more.
The daughter was due with a baby any time, and they kindly invited us to stay for her shower at three that afternoon at the winery. It was a lovely offer, but we were bound for Yakima that evening, and we had, if we are honest, had enough wine for one day. We spent the night at Yakima Sportsman State Park and gave the next day to the city and a few more tasting rooms.
Hillsboro. Our last Oregon stop was to see John and Sandy Wanner, friends we had made on the South America cruise, who live in Hillsboro, about forty-five minutes west of Portland. Their place is up high in the hills among a host of wineries, with a view toward Mount St. Helens, or there was, until the trees below grew up and filled it in. The house and grounds were gorgeous.
We gave the day to tasting some excellent wines and a long lunch in town.
Back at the house there was a fine dinner and then a hard-fought match of table shuffleboard, on a proper table down in their rec room, girls against the guys. The girls took the first, the men came back for the second, and the rematch, we are sorry to say, is still pending. It was getting late, the Wanners had a full day ahead, and we needed to point north toward John's brothers, so we packed it in.
