One With The Road

Where Are We Now? Why Are We Going? What Will We Find?

 

There are some places near us that we never explore. Not due to lack of curiosity. Only that we are nesters, as many humans tend to become after living in an area that is as familiar, as the wolf's range area.

This week I am heading down to Corvallis, Oregon to speak to some researchers at Oregon State University, check out  jobs there, and to visit my niece, who is in the Equine Sciences Program. She and her thoroughbred, Hercules, live there and she is heading to Ireland, to the National Stud School, for her Master's Program, in the not too distant future.

The great thing about Corvallis is it is a great, little college town, and I have never been there. It is a 4 hour drive south, from my little city above the Puget Sound, and since it is also Christmas shopping time, the wineries of the area may be able to supply me with a few well-intentioned gifts, for those of my adult friends and family, who definitely need to celebrate this holiday season.

Her invitation to me to spend time with her, brightened up what could prove to be a very, wet, rainy week, here in the South Sound.

She lives a pleasant co-ed's walk from the campus, which meanders through coffee shops, bookstores and great, organic restaurants. She needs a car to get to Herc's stall and riding arena, since she is up there in the ranks, among NW and US Eventing circles, with many ribbons hanging on her walls and Herc's stall.

Riding and jumping have been her thing, since she was about 10, and she was also the youngest thoroughbred trainer at Emerald Downs, in Auburn, WA., before heading off to college, a few years ago.

She knows horses and bloodlines, and is consulted by buyers,  and has been studying to be a thoroughbred breeder, who will have the great advantage of traveling around Europe and the Mid-East, to breeding farms owned by Kings, Queens and Sheiks during her studies, overseas. What a charmed life for a young woman who is also smart and knows how to jump a horse over a 5 ft. high fence.

Thinking of places I have wandered into in my travels, brought up the memory of a place outside Oceanside, CA., which the gas guy in Fallbrook, CA., told me about, a few months ago, when I was lost up in the hills above the Pacific Ocean, trying to get to Rancho Santa Fe.

If you are ever wandering around the hills, between Oceanside and Fallbrook, turn your car southeast and head for the California Wolf Center, Tall Pine Rd & K Q Ranch Rd, in Julian, CA., and pay 185.00 for a personal tour with one of the staff members, to spend time with the wolves. It is an incredible experience. Here is the link: California Wolf Center

Their gift shop, which ships for Christmas, has some amazing things that animal lovers will smile about when they open the package. They support the Center's work and conservation efforts. They train vets and conservations, from around the world, a few times a year, about the wolves, and the have an annual Wolf Week, usually in the Fall, when you get a great opportunity to spend time with wild animals, who seem so familiar as progenitors of dogs, and are very incredible sentient beings.

However, onward to the Willamette Valley, Benton County, Oregon home to some of the best wineries and organic farms and restaurants in the US. http://bit.ly/dHo2SF

I have two friends who are on a 5 acre ranchette there and will spend time with them, toasting the new lives we have created in the past few years, and introduce my niece to them, since they do have an enclosed riding area and no current horses in residence.

There are many reasons to take to the road when the urge strikes. Most people go from point A to B, without much diversion into the nether areas, past the speed signs, and miles of empty vistas.

I like to be a little more adventurous, and always find the most intense self-conversations going on, between my ego and true self, when lost on the road, metaphorically mirroring the state of mind I had when departing from point A, and clearing out the questions of my life as one gas tank after the other is filled along the way.

During the trip, the destination becomes less of a care, as new people, road signs and weather systems force me off my path, and onto unknown, terra firma. It is always a surprise, a challenge, or an opportunity to see if I can deal with the world, without any of my back up support at home.

It is traveling without a home, without a safe haven, and only the name and address of that night's eco-friendly hotel, or, at least, a quiet top floor, with a view, provides the dreams of my future.

I shall enjoy a glass of The Grand Cuvee Pinot Noir 2006 from Belle Vallee Cellars,   with my niece, one evening. It is a little expensive for a college student, with large boarding fees and vet exams, for a 1500 lb thoroughbred, however the $42.00 bottle always goes well with some of the Willamette valley's finest goat cheese, wrapped in Dill.

This little piece of heaven on earth, the Willamette Valley, is hailed, by visitors and wine connoisseurs,  as a wine region that rivals Burgundy, France, in production of premium wines such as Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Gewürztraminer.

I know Gewürztraminer is not your favorite wine, or for that matter, may never have read the word, on a printed page, or wine label before, but believe me, as a woman who has some French DNA, in her veins, it is a little bit of liquid heaven for someone like me, who loves white wines, to be with someone who can actually pick a great Gewürztraminer, let alone pick the right bread, cheese and Spanish tapas to go with it. That man, with that palate, gets something special in his Christmas stocking, if I ever find him. Rare palate and man, indeed!

Gewûrz means "spicy" in German. It is the main characteristic of Gewurztraminer. Traminer means "coming from Tramin", a small city in the south Tyrol, where the grape originated. 

The wine is delicious, fruity and with strong aromas, a very perfumed and flowery bouquet. Riesling is sweeter and better suited for drinking with lobster tail and garlic smothered mussels. Just warning you, incase you are a Riesling fanatic.

Gewurztraminer is a thick and rich wine, and is better with sauerkraut, sausages and an Alsatian cheese, such as Munster, with curry seasoned dishes, Chinese and Mexican cooking.

I  love to drink it with a piece of chocolate cheese cake, slathered with dollops of whipped crème with cinnamon, and shaved Swiss, hazelnut chocolate bits. And some of the best Gewürztraminer vines have been planted, harvested, and bottled just a few hours south of this girl's driveway.

When I was in San Francisco over Thanksgiving, I headed down to John Walker's Wine Shop on Sutter, which is somewhere I spent a lot of time when living in SF, years ago. I get excited when I walk in the door and look across the rows and rows of shiny bottles, and soon to be discovered new varieties. If you ever have some time on your hands, wander in, and enjoy the history of the oldest wine shop in SF, starting back in 1933. Here is a picture of John Walker, Wine Merchant.

I also went to the Wine Club and tasted their Chardonnays'  bouquets, over TG weekend.

It is a pleasant thing for a single woman, who likes great food and wine, to do, when traveling alone. Adds a little zest to a day of meeting friends, gazing into shop windows, and needing a little down time from the busy city streets.

For a small tasting fee. you can taste and talk wine, and maybe encounter some handsome, erudite men, who are out buying wines for their next homemade dinner, for some woman they are trying to impress into their bed chamber's mysteries. A man who knows foods and wine, and actually understands what it takes to make them, is a good guy to know. You will always be well dined and intrigued.

The other place I will be heading for some of the best cake and honey on the planet is the Trappist Abbey in 9200 NE Abbey Road | PO Box 97 | Lafayette, OR 97127, located  in the foothills of the Willamette Valley, on 1,358 acres.

The monks and nuns are famous for their Creamed Honey, and Fruit and Nut Cakes.

 

 

Check out the www.Trappistbakery.com and here is the link: http://bit.ly/fERq7c .

Your purchase helps supports the 32 monks .

The original monks arrived from Pecos, New Mexico, decades ago, and turned these acres into a wonderful, holy, organic wonder. They finally got a church built and dedicated in 2007, and are still hoping for a pipe organ, so they are looking for a benefactor. Check them out and do order some of their delicacies. You will be happy.

So, how did I start this blog today? Oh, I was Christmas shopping on line and realized some of the best Christmas and Hanukah presents will be found on my road trip coming up this week.

I will also get to spend a few hours in the research library, at the University, and meet with some people who might even have some job leads for me, since I am looking for a new mission in my field of technical writing, and they are developing a lot of new software programs, in the area.

I could also work at a winery and write their marketing materials. Anything can happen, while you are on the road. The great thing is you never have to worry about something happening. It always does.