Wife on the Farm

Italy

We've been home a month and I'm just now getting around to posting about our trip to Italy.  This year was my year to select our vacation destination.  Jim remembered me saying that I'd love to return someday when we visited Italy in 2009.  So that's what we did this year.  Since we'd already seen Venice and Rome on the first trip, we decided to spend three days in Florence, then drive south to Naples and west to the famous Amalfi coast.

When researching hotels, I like to find places that are interesting in their own right and not necessarily listed in the guidebooks.  We stayed at Hotel Torre Guelfa, which boasts a medieval tower that provides a wonderful view of Florence.  It's also located less than a block from the Ponte Vecchio, one of the oldest bridges in Italy.

I wasn't an art major, but I did enjoy seeing all the sculptures and painting in Florence.  We visited the renowned Uffizi Gallery on our second day in Florence, with room after room of priceless paintings, mostly from the Renaissance era. It was overwhelming to walk between works by Michelangelo, Botticelli, Rubens, Raphael, da Vinci, Rembrandt, Caravaggio and so many other artistic giants.  We also walked to the Accademia Gallery, to view even more items by Florentine artists, and got to see the magnificent sculpture of the Biblical hero, David, the masterpiece of Michelangelo's youth.

We also visited the Santa Croce Church, which is forced to compete for attention with the more famous Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Duomo of Florence, pictured), but which is just as beautiful of a cathedral.  Santa Croce is the burial place of some of the most illustrious Italians, such as Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Foscolo, Gentile andRossini.

One of our favorite pastimes during our vacations is to simply wander through the cities we visit. It's fascinating to observe the local citizens going about their daily lives, and we love finding shops, restaurants and sites off the beaten paths of most tourists.  We walked from piazza to piazza and all the little side streets in between and enjoyed every minute of it, stopping for a gelato now and then, of course.

After three days in Florence, we drove south and bypassed both Rome and Naples, driving straight to the Amalfi Coast.  Well, not exactly straight.  I disregarded an instruction by our GPS unit, thinking it was in error, and we ended up driving up one side of Mount Lattari, along hairpin turns and clifftop roads, then down the other side to the oceanside town of Amalfi.  Getting the scariest part of the famously frightening Amalfi coast drive out of the way, the rest of the week's driving didn't seem all that dangerous.

If I could describe the Amalfi Coast in one word, it would be 'lemons'.  Every small and large patch of ground that isn't covered by a building is planted in lemon groves.  Millions of them.  Amalfi is famous for its large, flavorful lemons many of which find their way into Amalfi's major cash crop: limoncello.  I've enjoyed wines and liqueurs from around the world, but there is nothing quite as tasty as Amalfi limoncello.  The lemons mask the alcohol taste - a delicious but dangerous concoction!

We took one side trip to Pompeii.  The site is much larger than I expected - it took us about five hours to walk through the ruins.  During our walk, I kept thinking about how many lives were lost on that day in 79 A.D. and how close our own home is to several active volcanoes.  The ruins are

well-preserved, having been buried for almost two thousand years beneath the ash.  There is much controversy about current preservation methods of the site, as exposure to the elements is gradually eroding the buildings and artifacts.

I would love to visit Italy for a third time, because we've actually seen so little of this beautiful country, rich in history and culture.  I'd love to visit the Liguria area, which I've read about in books.  And I think a drive along the Adriatic side of Italy would be a fascinating journey through less-touristy coastal and mountain villages.  Our destination list is very long, though, and since Jim gets to select where we go in 2012, we might end up on the other side of the globe next time.

Leavenworth

The farmer and I took a little vacation earlier this week.  During the harvest, we look forward to the day all the crops will be harvested, usually at the end of October.  We've created a tradition of sneaking out of town for a couple days after the harvest - a reward to ourselves for all of our hard work and long hours.  This year, the farmer wanted to visit Leavenworth, Washington, so that's where we headed last Sunday.

We stayed at the Run of the River Bed & Breakfast, which I enthusiastically recommend.  The rooms are furnished with Jacuzzi tubs, four-poster beds made from logs, fireplaces and balconies overlooking the adjacent wildlife reserve.  The breakfasts are scrumptious and included homemade organic yogurt, freshly blended fruit smoothies and homemade dishes like chorizo and rice blend in a sourdough bread bowl, pear and granola crumble, oatmeal coffee cake, scrambled eggs with cilantro and peppers, pumpkin pancakes and baked apples.  We didn't eat lunch those two days; we just didn't get hungry again for hours.

We detoured from the freeway and enjoyed the fall colors along the Klickitat Highway from the Colbumia River to Goldendale, Washington.  We visited Liberty Orchards in Cashmere, where Aplets and Cotlets have been made for decades.  We drove up the Icicle Road, a gorgeous drive along the river and Enchantments Range.  We drove to nearby Lake Wenatchee, where we were surprised and a bit disappointed by all the development.  There must have been two hundred homes along the shore!

We wandered up and down the streets of Leavenworth, popping into many of the shops that beckon tourists.  We snapped pictures of the German-themed buildings all over town.

And to top off the trip, we enjoyed the blanket of snow that fell at Blewett Pass the night before we left for home.  And the side trip along the Old Canyon Highway south of Ellensburg.

I'd visit Leavenworth again in a heartbeat.  We didn't get to hike at all - not enough time and too much rain in the valley.  I'd love to wander around the many side roads and trails we saw along the way.

Anniversary at the Coast

Our fourth wedding anniversary was last Thursday, so the farmer and I packed our bags and headed to the coast last Sunday.  We stayed at the Inn at Spanish Head in Lincoln City, because we weren't sure where we wanted to hike this year, and Lincoln City is a good starting point to explore either north or south.  We reserved a room with a kitchen, which is wonderful for brewing up a cup of hot cocoa right after my feet hit the floor in the morning.

We decided to take a small hike before checking in, so we headed north and stopped at Neskowin.  It's a tiny little town, but we thought we'd hike along the beach starting at Proposal Rock, a large rock where it's said that many a guy has popped the question over the years.  We started walking north and didn't stop until we arrived at a stream just south of Winema Beach.  The round-trip hike was about 5.5 miles.  So much for starting out slowly.  The farmer can hike, I tell you.  After forcing our (my) tired legs back to the car, we grabbed some champagne, beer and sandwiches and enjoyed a quiet dinner back in our room.

On Monday, we decided to take an even longer hike.  We started at the West Winds campground at Sand Lake, trudged through the soft sand to the beach and then turned northward and hiked all the way to the base of Cape Lookout.  It's a 3.5 mile hike each way.  We grabbed some pop and ice cream on our way out and then got the bright idea on our drive home to take up where we left off on Sunday, so we drove south to Winema Camp and walked out to the beach and hiked southward a half-mile till we reached the stream where we stopped the day before.  Just because we didn't want to leave a little piece of beach un-hiked, I guess.  My old tired legs said "no more" so we headed back to the room and ordered up a romantic anniversary seafood dinner and were blessed with one of the most gorgeous sunsets we've ever seen.  We just sat there with beer and champagne in hand, kicked back and enjoyed the gorgeous display in the skies.

Today, before we headed home, we drove back to Winema Camp, but hiked northward this time, where after a mile, we reached the Nestucca Bay.  We could look across the bay and see sea lions playing on the southern tip of the Nestucca Spit.  Since that hike didn't take too long, we decided to drive north to Oceanside along the Three Capes Loop.  Oceanside is where we stayed during our honeymoon, and we enjoyed wandering around the places we visited four years ago.

We missed a turn after leaving Oceanside and ended up in Tillamook, but decided that we'd driven along the Three Capes route several times already so we took Highway 101 and then Highway 22 back to Valley Junction.  It was a nice drive in the countryside, past the dairy farms of Tillamook County.  Sometimes, wrong turns end up being right turns.

We've traveled to Hawaii, Switzerland, Yellowstone and New Zealand for our week-long vacations in the past four years, but we think our long weekends at the coast are just as wonderful.  The Oregon Coast is as gorgeous as any place on the planet and it's only an hour or so away.  The hiking options are endless and we've completed only a handful of the hikes in our 101 Hikes at the Oregon Coast guidebook.  I hope we're able to visit the coast many, many more times in the years to come.

Not Exactly the Ritz Carlton

I spend a great deal of time planning my two annual vacations - one each winter with the farmer and one each spring with my sister.  I try to find lodging that meets all my criteria: affordable, luxurious, magnificent view, marvelous service, etc.  I didn't say that I always find lodging like that, but I spend a lot of time researching.

So I found this site fascinating.  I've stayed in a caboose-turned-motel in Northern California, and my son has stayed in a tree house in Canada, but I had no idea that a person could find lodging in an underwater hotel, a renovated airplane, an ice hotel or an ancient cave in Turkey.

Now I have so many more options.......

New Zealand

We arrived back home on Wednesday evening after spending nine days on the South Island of New Zealand.  It's a gorgeous country.  The South Island, especially, is surprisingly varied in terrain, weather, foliage, and even lifestyle.  The west coast of the island is right out of a Survivor episode - lush rain forests and snow-capped mountains, rugged coastline and deep gorges.  The central Otago region, which lies between mountain ranges, holds orchards, vineyards, ranches and the beautiful city of Queenstown.  The eastern side contains the island's largest city - Christchurch - which is as urban as any American or European city I've visited.  Their are more lakes and mountains than you can possibly count.  The Kiwis are extremely welcoming, hospitable and love to show off their remote paradise.  Their Maori heritage is proudly displayed in the names of many of the lakes, towns and mountains.

Some of our activities:  hiking alongside the Franz Josef Glacier, walking through the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki, cruising the famous Milford Sound, touring Arthur's Pass through the Southern Alps, driving along the Haast Highway from Queenstown to Haast on the west coast, touring Christchurch by tram and gondola, spending an afternoon on a farm near Rakaia and driving along the winding, no-guardrails summit road of the Banks Peninsula.

I've added an album of some of our photos.  Email me, and if I know you, I'll send you the link to our complete album.

Vacation

It's that time of year again, when almost all of the crops have been harvested and sold (although it's been slow going with the onions this year because of the low market prices).  We're leaving on Sunday for our annual vacation.  We've lined up somebody to watch the farm (Jim's brother, who has generously agreed to help out again this year) and somebody to house sit (my daughter, who will be here off and on and who cleans my house while we're on vacation so that I can walk back in the door and not have to deal with the mess that I'll leave tomorrow).

This year was actually my turn to select our destination, but the farmer has always wanted to visit this faraway place, so we'll be spending nine days driving around on the "wrong" side of the road in a car with the steering wheel on the "wrong" side as well.  I'm getting nervous just thinking about that part.

The traveling to and from will be brutal.  It will take us over 19 hours of flying time to get to Queenstown, plus another 4 hours in airports in San Francisco and Sydney, Australia.  Returning home will be a little better, only 16 hours in the air plus 3.5 hours in airports because we fly from Christchurch to Aukland to Los Angeles and then Portland.  The one good thing is that New Zealand is only 3 hours behind Oregon, so jet lag shouldn't be a problem.  They are, however, an entire day ahead of us because we'll cross the International Date Line someplace along the way.

Our planned itinerary includes a cruise on Milford Sound, a helicopter trip over Franz Josef Glacier, a drive along Arthur's Pass and a day of exploring Christchurch during our relaxing stay on Akaroa Harbour.  Oh, and we've arranged to visit a couple of farms while we're there.  You can take the farmer off the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the farmer.  Or something like that.

One thing we won't do:  bungy jumping.  It looks like fun and is very popular in New Zealand, but it also looks like a quick way to distribute my estate.  No way.....

Astoria and Cape Disappointment

For our post-harvest trip this year, the farmer and I drove up to Astoria.  I hadn't been there in almost twenty years, and the farmer was a grade-schooler the last time he remembered visiting Astoria.  It's just far enough away that it's not the first place I usually think of when deciding to spend time on the coast.  I think that will change, now, because we had a really great time.

On Sunday, we arrived around noon and had lunch at a small restaurant right on the river walk.  Next to the restaurant was a large wooden lookout that we climbed to take pictures of the river boats.  We drove up to the Astoria Column after lunch and climbed all the way to the top.  It was hazy that day, but the view was still very nice.  We could see over to Cape Disaapointment lighthouse, look down on the town of Astoria, see over to Warrenton and up river, too.  A restoration had been completed since my last visit to Astoria, and the artwork on the column seemed so much more detailed.  It depicts scenes and events from Astoria's history.

On Monday, we drove over the Astoria-Megler bridge (over 4 miles long) and hiked around the Cape Disappointment park.  We visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in the park.  We climbed up into the North Head lighthouse and spent some time visiting with the volunteer stationed there.  We weren't able to hike to the Cape Disappointment lighthouse that day, because the Coast Guard unit stationed at Cape D was conducting firearms training and that part of the park was blocked off.  When we drove back to Astoria, we spent some time at the Maritime Museum.  That's a very interesting place - lots of information about the history of Astoria's once-thriving fishing and canning industry, as well as natural history artifacts, Lewis and Clark information, and articles from various ships that were lost trying to cross the Columbia River Bar.

We decided to return to Washington on Tuesday before heading home, and were able to hike up to the Cape Disappointment lighthouse.  It was a nice, sunny day and we spent an hour just watching the gigantic cargo ships come in and go out of the river.  Each one has to be guided by a certified Columbia River pilot, because the mouth of the river is quite shallow except right through the shipping channel, and over 2,000 shipwrecks have been recorded at or near the mouth of the Columbia in the past two hundred years.  In fact, the mouth of the Columbia is called the Graveyard of the Pacific - I didn't know that before.

We didn't make it up to the Cathedral Tree, and we didn't get to take a trolley ride around Astoria or walk the length of the river walk.  There are still many hikes through Cape Disappointment Park that we want to take, and we never made it up to Long Beach at all.  I guess that means a return trip one of these days!  I hope so.

America's Favorite Cities

I don't live in Portland, but my son and daughter-in-law do, so I visit the Rose City several times a year to hang out with them and enjoy our favorite pastimes:  dining out and record store shopping.  Apparently, Portland is a favorite city of others, too.

America's favorite cities is a weekly feature on www.cnn.com.   The best cities in the country, as suggested by its readers, are profiled.  Portland made the list this week and got rave reviews for the coffee, mass transit systems, its citizens' affinity for walking around town, fantastic-but-unusual places to dine and of course, for the (in)famous Northwest weather.

I wonder when Brooks will be featured?

New Hiking Adventures

While spending a long weekend at the Oregon Coast for our anniversary, my farmer and I selected three hikes that we hadn't done before.  Two were on beaches and one inland a few miles.

The first day of our arrival, we explored Devil's Punchbowl and then walked to the other side of the road and down to Beverly Beach, and hiked a little over 4 miles round-trip along the shore.  We saw several people flying kites in the strong winds, and watched surfers trying to master the waves near the Punchbowl.

The second day, we chose a morning hike along the beach at Road's End State Park, where we were thrilled to discover a hidden cove and rocky beach after climbing over the rocks at the north end of the beach.  The vista was surreal - dozens of huge lava rocks just off the beach that appeared as though they had been dropped there haphazardly out of a giant bucket.  It was hazy and my photos don't do justice to the view there.  We want to return to that secluded beach someday when there's no haze because there was a hill at the northern end of the secluded beach that we wanted to climb that offered a view of Cascade Head.

After a healthy lunch at Coldstone Creamery, we drove up to Drift Creek Camp and hiked the 3 mile round-trip trail down to Drift Creek Falls.  What an amazing view awaits at the end of the trail!  The falls are only 75 feet - small by Northwest standards, but spectacular nonetheless.  And the suspension bridge across Drift Creek is quite a thrill.  It sways just a bit with the movement of the hikers.

It was a wonderful mini-vacation.  Lots of delicious food at our B&B in Depoe Bay, a great dinner at the Tidal Raves restaurant, a lovely sunset on our last evening and enough rest and relaxation to keep us going through the upcoming harvest season - after which we'll head out on our annual post-harvest getaway - location still to be determined.

New Seven Wonders of the World

Now I have seven more locations to add to my very long list of places to visit someday.  All of these are contained in the book 1,000 Place to See Before You Die, which is one of the resources we use to help us decide where to go on vacation each year.  By the way, several Oregon sites are recommended in that book.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/07/06/seven.wonders/index.html