Days 2-4 Oregon

We hit the road early and made our way through Oregon. Our first stop was in Eugene where we stopped at two microbreweries- Hopvalley for lunch, and Ninkasi Brewing for an after-lunch tasting. Scott, being the big Pac-10 fan (or is it now the Pack-12?!), we swung by Autzen Stadium, home of the Oregon Ducks. Cat has repeatedly called it Auschwitz Stadium on accident.

Hop Valley Brewing. We loved the beer!

And they serve beer in a box!

Ninkasi Brewing Co. Very popular in Oregon. We like the Radiant Ale.

Autzen Stadium. And there's a huge dog park across the street (where we are).

After Eugene we hit up our cabin in Rhododendron, in the Mt. Hood area. We stayed in a very cute Cabin right on the Sandy River which was rapidly flowing. We think the owners are Native Americans given the decorations. Buster thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sandy River (our backyard)

The next day we left the buster at the cabin and took a day trip to Portland. We started out for a cup of morning brew at Stumptown Coffee. It was great! It was sunny with a threat of rain so we decided to start off outdoors at the Portland Rose Garden. Then of course we had to experience the local bar scene and checked out Bridgeport and Widmer Breweries.

Stumptown Coffee Co.

Smelling the roses at the Portland Rose Garden.

Scott's depiction of the roses

Bridgeport Brewery. The food was good too!

We decided on the Mirror Lake and Tom Dick and Harry Ridge Trail for a hike on our last day. Round trip was about 7 miles. Buster loved it.

Mirror Lake, Mt. Hood in the back.

The fam at the top of the ridge trail, mirror lake and Hood in the background

Buster goes for a swim to cool down. Wet dog!

For a late lunch/early dinner we headed to Timberland Lodge on Mt. Hood. We were there June 22, the day after the summer solstice and there were people still skiing/snowboarding! We grabbed some local brews at the Mt. Hood Brewery in Government Camp on the way home. Late night we decided to go to the nearest town, the town of Sandy, about 20miles away for wifi, but none could be found. Sandy just wasn't a big internet cafe town- we should have known. We tried to hit up KFC for some chicken lickin', but they were out of fried chicken! We ended up at House of Thai for dinner, which we give 5 stars for food and service! Who would have thought..

Skiing/Snowboarding Mt. Hood in high summer.

Mt. Hood Brewery. The Rye beer was good. Cloudcap (both CO and nitro) and the Cascadian pale ale were standouts. The brewery does not bottle so we left empty-handed.

Pacific Northwest - Day 1 - SF to Klamath, CA

We left San Francisco late Saturday morning, packed up the Thule on top of the Mini, threw the doggy in the back hatch, and headed for Oregon. Planning to check out a plethora of breweries in the Pacific Northwest, we decided to grab lunch at Russian River Brewing just an hour or so north of SF in Santa Rosa. Scott says this is supposed to be one of the top breweries in the country, famous for their Blind Pig/Pliny the Elder/Younger IPAs and their Belgians. We tasted all 16 of their beers on tap, and then hopped back on the 101.

Buster getting comfy in the back of the mini for the long ride ahead.

Russian River Brewing- list of the beers on tap

Here is the sampler at Russian River Brewery. 16 2oz tasters. If you count, one is missing.. that one is likely in Scott's fist.

We drove for a half dozen hours through semi-scenic, scarcely populated California, and stopped for dinner at Eel River, another brewery/grill a little south of Eureka famous for their Organic beer and down home food. With stomachs full and another tasting downed, we jumped back on the road to make it to our campsite in Klamath.

Eel River Brewery for dinner. The mushroom and brie burger was pretty amazing. What else was amazing- another dark silver mini parked right in front!

Eel River Brewing. Our second tasting of the trip. Acai berry wheat is one of there most famous and most distributed beers. We thought the beers were drinkable but not outstanding.

Klamath Campers Corral was like fake camping - the grounds were beatifully groomed with a gym, pizza parlor, and game room on site. We picked a spot next on the edge of the woods to make our experience more like real camping. Just as we start to set up camp we happened to see a black bear scavenging the fish cleaning station 50 yards away. Cat thought it was a big dog at first, but Buster knew otherwise. An ok night sleep ended with buster poking a hole in the tent with his nose trying to chase yet another wild animal.

Here Buster (and Cat) watch Scott show off his eagle scout talent setting up the tent.

And this is where Cat decided the tent's final resting place would be for the night..

The big bad black bear in the background (courtesy of Scott's iPhone).