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Happy Halloween from Travel Oregon!

October 31, 2006

Who says the Oregon travel industry team can't have fun? This morning, the Travel Oregon crew was joined by our partners at the Oregon Travel Information Council (OTIC) for a Halloween fashion show! The theme was “Come As Your Favorite (Oregon) Region.” See the video to believe it.

Dixie (our operations manager), Karen (research guru), Ashley (marketing asst.) and yours truly served as judges. Curious about our winners? Check below!

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Ankeny Winery- Exquisite Wines and Even Better Company

October 27, 2006

There's nothing better than spending a crisp, fall afternoon talking with friends and listening to great music in the beautiful outdoors, while sipping a delicious glass of Oregon Pinot Noir.

I recently had the opportunity to do just that, by taking part in Ankeny Vineyard's Harvest Party in Salem. When I first arrived on the gorgeous grounds of Ankeny, it felt like I had immediately stepped out of the hustle and bustle of the city. Luscious green fields and miles of blue sky surround the quaint vineyard, in addition to Ankeny Wildlife Refuge and Cox Cemetery. It is the perfect location to escape your to-do list and fully relax.

When I first arrived, the delicious smells of seafood and the sounds of laughter filled the air. I traveled toward the outdoor patio area, where I was immediately greeted by Hershy, the vineyard dog. Hershy spent the majority of the afternoon mingling with guests and guarding the driveway leading up to the festivities. Hershy even has a wine named after him, complete with an adorable mug shot on the label (which is an absolutely delicious red wine). Once I arrived in the tasting room, my friends and I filled our glasses and chatted with the vintner himself about each wine. We then ventured outside where Celtic music filled the air, and hot salmon chowder and shrimp cocktail waited to be devoured.

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Close encounters…with a deer!

October 24, 2006

Photo Credit: Dennis Oliphant & OPB

We were intrigued on Monday by a story on Oregon Public Broadcasting about a close encounter of the wild kind. Kevin Cox, a seventh grader running a cross-country race in Bend, apparently stumbled upon an amorous deer…that seemingly got a little too comfortable and frisky with him. The story went on to say that the lonely deer gave chase and at one point even smothered him with kisses!

Curiosity got the better of us...after a search online, we found some amazing photography of this incident to share with you. Check it out...our friends at KGW and OPB both have slide shows of this bizare, "Only in Oregon" story.

Live Wire …Radiolicious!

October 20, 2006

This summer, Travel Oregon decided to sponsor Live Wire! – a one-hour radio show recorded in front of a live audience at the Aladdin Theatre in Portland, that is broadcast on Oregon Public Broadcasting (Download a podcast here). What is “Live Wire!” you ask? Ok...well may be I should rephrase the question. What ISN’T Live Wire!?

Some say it is “Fresh Air” meets “The Partridge Family,” but “without the bus.” The show’s characters say that it’s not just a show it’s a “happening.” It’s a place where you can expect sightings of radical cheerleaders, audience members dressed as giant evil bunnies and on-air head shavings! I bet you're curious now! What ever it may be, we can tell you that it’s a refreshing radio variety show featuring “music, scintillating conversations, sketch comedy and performances from the famous and fascinating to the unknown and unabashed.” Our own Carina (she works in our operations dept.) hit the road last week to find out what Live Wire! was all about. Here is her report.

Carina on Live Wire:
On Thursday, October 12, I had the pleasure of being part of the audience at a taping of the OPB Radio show Live Wire! It was a blast! I screamed. I laughed. I even cried. I clapped so hard my hands stung!

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Inside Scoop - Drama & Bounty in Ashland

October 16, 2006

In about two weeks, the curtain will close on another wonderful season of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) in Ashland. Over the past two years, my wife and I have been among the 120,000 theatre lovers who annually flock to this charming Southern Oregon town for a weekend of delectable food, fine pinot noir & shopping - all interwoven by a wonderful blend of classic and contemporary plays.

With just two weeks left of the 2006 season, I recently e-mailed the communications team at the Shakespeare Festival for their impressions of this season and what to expect next season. Here’s what Amy Richard, the Media Relations Manager at the OSF had to say:

Amy, what has surprised you the most about the 2006 season?
We expected full houses for the outdoor productions (The Merry Wives of Windsor, Cyrano de Bergerac and The Two Gentlemen of Verona), but we didn’t anticipate that we’d have the enthusiastic response that we did in all three theaters. Tickets to a number of performances in the New Theatre and Angus Bowmer Theatre have not been easy to secure. Shakespeare’s King John is running at 94% of capacity (with two weeks to go) and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is currently at 97%. That’s great!

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Oregon Bounty International - Japan (Day 1)

October 15, 2006

Yo, yo, wasabi.

No, I'm not trying to be cool or coy, that is the actual name of one of the magazines in-state to research this celebration called Oregon Bounty. WaSaBi

First off, let me introduce myself: Mr. Sean Egusa, Asia Tourism Manager for Travel Oregon. I promote inbound tourism to the state to the Asian markets, first and foremost Japan. So we have some Japanese in town interested in this culinary tourism product that has been snowballing in conjunction with the Oregon Bounty celebration this month (and next). This project involves a lot of good food, fraternizing with some of our best chefs, tasting some of the world's best Pinot Noir and in general showcasing the best of Oregon... Say no more...

Our guests are here courtesy of our friends and partners at Northwest Airlines. The direct flight from Tokyo is a boon to the tourism industry in Oregon and from Singapore to Shanghai to Tokyo, they are jonesing to get the international crowd hip and in the know on the Oregon experience. Are we ready???

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Oregon Bounty International - Japan (Day 2)

October 14, 2006

October 13, 2006 (yes, it's a Friday)

But there was no cursed weather or bad luck on this day.

Day #2 of promoting Oregon's Culinary Tourism in conjunction with our statewide Oregon Bounty was another whirlwind of activity but, as always, done in classical Oregon style (laid-back and leisurely).
www.traveloregon.com/Bounty

Our day began leaving the foggy banks of the Willamette behind to head into the Columbia River Gorge after being caffeinated at Urban Grind in the Pearl District. I decided to start high so diverted at Corbett off of I-84 and headed for the amazing view at the Portland Women's Forum. Blue was the color of the sky and it was good (but a little chilly).

We proceeded on down towards Multnomah Falls where we made a quick stop at Wahkeena Falls. Upon reaching Multnomah Falls I was hailed by a familiar voice and looked up to see Petra (POVA) who was on a research tour of her own with some guests from Europe, only she was heading back towards Portland. Kind of appropriate her heading west and me heading east...

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Jennifer's Southern Oregon Trek

October 13, 2006

Happy Friday!
Looking for something fun to do this weekend? Have no fear...we've got another fabulous trip idea lined up for you. Our very own Jennifer (she works in the Tourism Development Dept.) recently headed off to Grants Pass in Southern Oregon for a weekend escape.

Read her travelogue for some excellent ideas on how to spend an adventure filled weekend in Grants Pass. ~ Mo

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Fall…Harvest, Halloween & Foliage

October 11, 2006

Crisp mornings, golden leaves and blue skies, mugs of hot cider and spicy chai tea, pumpkin bread and butternut squash -- fall is here!

Driving to work through picturesque Highway 20 (between Corvallis and Albany) this morning, I couldn't help but notice the obvious signs that this wonderful Oregon summer is slowly fading away. Though the skies are still blue and it's almost 75 today, the days keep getting shorter and fiery red and gold leaves are falling softly on the ground...only to be gently swept away by a slightly chilling west wind. What a perfect time for harvest, Halloween and foliage!

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The Unintended Experience

October 9, 2006

Happy Monday,
We hope you've all enjoyed Greg's "On the road with Oregon Bounty" segments. While his road trip may have ended, Oregon Bounty is certainly not over! In fact, you’ve got about eight weeks to experience first hand what makes Oregon taste so good, and meet the people and places that make it happen. Check our Bounty page for events happening all over the state. Just pick a region and click on "Harvest Festivals" or "Winery Events."

I also want to share a trip idea from my friend Stephen, who had an amazing time wandering the Dahlia fields with his family in Canby last Saturday.

The fields normally close at the end of September but with the great weather we’ve been experiencing (70’s and sunny skies), they’re open through the end of this week (call 800.410.6540 to confirm). Great excuse for taking the afternoon off! ~ Mo

Oregon Bounty 2006 Day Seven: The Coast - A Wine Snob Reeducated

October 6, 2006

I learned today that you should never ask an artisan beermaker if a hop is just a hop. If you do, you’ll get a 20-minute dissertation on the complexities of growing conditions, aromas and hand-feel. In a word, they take this stuff as seriously as any winemaker worth his vineyard-designated Pinot noir.

My last stop on this journey took me to the Pelican Pub and Brewery in Pacific City. Located off Highway 101 between Lincoln City and Tillamook, without the requisite saltwater taffy shops and bumper car carnivals, Pacific City is on the verge of being the next cool place on the Coast. The Pelican is the focal point of this growing beach town, from the surfers braving the chilly Pacific waves to the Dory boats that launch each morning to bring in the daily catch.

After a morning learning the ropes of microbrewing with the brewery’s head honcho, I had the pleasure of discovering how beer and those fishermen’s bounty can be a great culinary match. I was skeptical at first. Putting wine and food I understand. But beer and food? Come on, I thought… beer is just beer, right? Lesson number two: never tell an artisan beermaker that beer is just beer.

To prove that, we began with a New England-style clam chowder matched with the Pelican’s India Pale Ale. The contrast was amazing, with the IPA proving to be the perfect foil for the creamy texture of the chowder. Next up was a Tombo (aka Oregon Albacore Tuna) that had been crusted with fresh hops and served over an heirloom tomato broth. For this course, we tried Pelican’s Elemental Ale, a brew made using the same fresh hops that adorned the fish. This time, the effect was an echo of the flavors. It was just like I was in one of those fancy wine dinners where everyone was crawling over each other to identify what was happening on their palate, only without all the hype. I quickly became a wine snob reeducated.

During Oregon Bounty, the Pelican Pub and Brewery is offering the opportunity to relax at the next-door Inn at Cape Kiwanda and have your own beer and food experience. There are also lots of hotels and inns featuring special Oregon Bounty packages and rates. Check out The Coast section of traveloregon.com/bounty for details. Or, you can read about my memories of catching and eating at source here on the coast.

Next stop on this On The Road With Oregon Bounty journey? Home.

Oregon Bounty 2006 Day Six: The Willamette Valley - Getting The Dirt

October 5, 2006

Winemakers and farmers love to talk dirt. They might not spend a lot of time yacking about whether the guy three parcels over is going through a divorce, but they can go on for hours telling you in minute detail the origins of the soil they farm.

In the Willamette Valley, these stories start some 15,000 years ago, and center around a giant lake up in Montana created by climate change at the end of the last Ice Age. Apparently, giant earthen dams holding back the water gave way, causing a series of dirt and debris tsunamis to flood through the Columbia River Gorge before taking a left turn toward Eugene. Known as the Missoula Floods, this geologic activity and the rich soil compositions it created is why the Willamette Valley is such a fertile place to grow grapes, and why you can’t drive but few miles in most parts here without running into a farm stand selling Oregon’s bounty. Yesterday, I enjoyed the results of that prehistoric turmoil.

My destination was the Campbell House Inn, located in Eugene. When we arrived, I met Jeff Parker, executive chef and a man who’s never met an ear of local corn that he couldn’t get really excited about. Jeff and I headed out into the farmlands surrounding Eugene. Once we left the sprawl of mini marts and burger joints, we hit a long stretch on River Road where the Burma Shave-style signs let us know what awaited. We stopped at Thistledown Farms, where we loaded up a basket-full of corn, peppers and herbs before heading back to the Campbell House’s kitchen. There, Jeff showed me a few tricks as we made an autumn salsa of sautéed corn, red bell and yellow banana peppers finished with a little cilantro (something I learned: if you boil corn in the husk, you can remove the silks much easier and save on the dental floss). Our dish wasn’t fancy, but it tasted just like Oregon in the fall. When you have corn that erupts with that much flavor, why get in its way?

During Oregon Bounty, Jeff is running a series of “Shop With The Chef” packages where you can stay overnight, head to the market to choose your own bounty, and then sit back while he prepares your feast. There are also dozens of events at wineries throughout the Willamette Valley, as well as harvest festivals and events. Check out the Willamette Valley section of traveloregon.com/bounty for details. Or, you can read about my earliest experiences on the farms of the Willamette Valley.

We’re in the final stretch of On The Road With Oregon Bounty. The Oregon Coast is waiting.

Oregon Bounty 2006 Day Five: Southern Oregon - The Whey It Is

October 4, 2006

Yesterday I learned that mold is a good thing, and I’m not talking about the stuff covering that orange that’s been sitting in the bottom of my refrigerator for weeks. The mold in question is the green-blue running through the bleu cheese being handcrafted at Southern Oregon’s Rogue Creamery.

My mission on this leg of the trip was to try my hand at being a cheesemaker. What I learned is, that while milk and mold are an important ingredient in making great bleu, passion is what really pushes it into the cheese stratosphere.

The guide on my cheese journey was David Gremmels, co-owner and cheesemaker at Rogue Creamery. His is a quintessential Oregon story: four years ago he stopped by the creamery to taste products for a new wine bar he was opening in Ashland. He ended up buying the company.

It was one of those right place/right time encounters. The previous owner, a second generation cheesemaker getting ready to retire, was looking to sell. He had offers on the table, but knew the prospective buyers would eventually end up scavenging the brand, shuttering the plant, and moving production out of state. David threw in an offer, spent a day making cheese, and left with a handshake deal. Within a year, Rogue Creamery was at the top of the bleu cheese heap, winning a string of awards over the world’s top cheesemakers.

As David led me through the process of creating their limited edition Rogue River Bleu (a creamy, earthy bite of heaven), it became clear very quickly why he’s selling more than just cheese out of his small, decades-old creamery. While I went elbow-deep into the curds, helping to turn the soft-yet-firm morsels for yesterday’s batch, David’s exuberance for what would rise out that whey was barely controlled. He adores his cheese. He constantly complimented and called by first name the creamery’s few dozen employees, and not in a the-boss-is-giving-someone-a-tour-of-the-plant-acting-like-he-does-this-all-the-time kind of way, either. I got the feeling that it didn’t matter if David made cheese or sold appliances; he’d love what he did and would be incredibly successful at it.

During Oregon Bounty, you can drop by the creamery, located about 15 minutes north of Ashland in Central Point. You can also learn the magic that chefs can make with these cheeses during special events at the new Harry and David store in Medford. Wineries throughout the Rogue, Umpqua and Applegate regions are having special events each weekend where you can taste Rogue Creamery’s products, local pears and more along with the latest vintages, too. Check out the Southern Oregon section of traveloregon.com/bounty and go to Winery Events or Festivals/Events.

Finally, check out the video diary of my cheesemaking experience, or read about my reflections of visiting the ranch in Southern Oregon where my great, great grandparents settled in the 1800s.

Now, it’s on to the Willamette Valley. See you on the road tomorrow.

Oregon Bounty 2006 Day Four: Central Oregon - You Want To Do What?

October 3, 2006

Today is a bit of a homecoming for me. I’m in Central Oregon, where I was born and raised. A lot has changed here over the past 45 years. Growing up, we had to drive 20 miles for a special night out, and that was at the region’s one pizza parlor, on the south side of Bend. Today you can eat meals here that rival the best you’d find in Portland’s top restaurants.

The redefining of Central Oregon has come in phases, led by individuals who took risks and defied the odds. John Gray developed Sunriver in a place that seemed at the time to be in the middle of nowhere. Bill Healy took a mountain where you couldn’t go directly from hotel room to lift chair, and turned Bend into a winter destination. Today, Doug Maragas hopes to take a bare patch of land north of Redmond and make Central Oregon a winegrowing region.

Doug knows there are plenty of naysayers. But, there was a chorus of detractors in the late 60s and early 70s who said people like David Lett, Dick Ponzi, Dick Erath and others were nuts for thinking you could grow Pinot noir in the Willamette Valley.

I toured the spot where Doug hopes that vines will one day greet visitors arriving in Central Oregon from the north. He believes he’s found a microclimate that, with some careful tinkering with varietals and farming practices, will produce fine wines. While you’d think that the first ones in line to poo poo his plans would be the long time farming families who’ve tilled this ground for generations, Doug says they’ve talked about following his lead. Wine grapes -- just like hay -- are a commodity. If they can double the yield on their annual crops, well, money talks. So, they’ve watched the nouveau red barn rising out of the desert -- soon to be home to Maragas Winery -- with more than just passing interest.

During Oregon Bounty, Doug is featuring tastings of his recent vintages at the new winery. Check out the Central Oregon section of traveloregon.com/bounty and go to Winery Events. To see a video diary of my experiences today, just click on the video window here.
Or, read about my reflections of growing up in Central Oregon and how times and places have changed.

I’m back on the road today, headed for Southern Oregon. I’ll catch up with you tomorrow.

Oregon Bounty 2006 Day Three: Eastern Oregon - A Taste Of The Source

October 2, 2006

I’m about as far east in Oregon as one can get without tumbling into Hells Canyon. After a stunning drive up the Columbia River and through the Blue Mountains, I landed in Baker City. The food elite of the Willamette Valley would have you believe that I passed the last culinary oasis about 220 miles ago. In their mind, I think the food world ends right around Hood River and picks up again in New York, with a brief stopover in Chicago. Actually, I feel like I’ve traveled closer to the root of what makes food wonderful, rather than farther away from it.

Out here, things like eating local and knowing who makes your food isn’t some chic 15-year old mantra. It’s just what they do here, and have for generations. Your neighbor might be a couple hundred acres away, but there’s a good chance he raised that steak you grilled last night. And in Baker County, there’s a good chance that neighbor is Sexton Ranches.

After my long drive east, I headed out to Haines, a whistle stop northwest of Baker City. That’s where I met Dick and Andi Sexton, a sixth generation ranching family, and learned about their natural and sustainable lamb and beef. For Dick and Andi, tapping into the market of consumers who are willing to pay a premium for knowing where their food came from is the future.

It’s a philosophy they’re also impressing early into their two young children. While other kids more urban might be worrying about the next Play Station release, Jake and Samantha Sexton showed me their real-life version of a video game: two three-month old calves weaned early from their mothers. Jake and Samantha are responsible for remembering when they need to be fed, where they are in the field, and what they’ll do with the money once the cows go to market. That’s a life lesson that endless soccer games will never teach.

After a tour of the Sexton’s 1,200-acre spread, we came back to the house, sat in front of the wood stove, and enjoyed a taste of their bounty: spicy beef chili, ground lamb balls, and roast lamb shoulder. It was just simple, flavorful, natural food, made and served without a lot of pretense by the people who raised it. You can’t get any closer to the source than that.

During Oregon Bounty, a visit to the Sexton’s ranch is just one of many packages available. Check out the Eastern Oregon section of traveloregon.com/bounty and click on Experience Packages. To see a video diary of my experiences today, just click on the video window here.

Read about my reflections of some of my early travels to Eastern Oregon.

Now, it’s time to get back on the road. Next stop? Central Oregon. See you there.