Christine and I headed to the northwest in search of Pinot Noir and Bordeaux-style blends. American explorers headed to the northwest in the nineteenth century in search of gold, timber, and animal pelts. Neither of us contracted dysentery on the Oregon trail, but we did lose a fortune (and in exchange gained some excellent food and drink and many, many bottles of wine, most of which will be delivered in the future).
Here's the itinerary:
- May 3: explore Portland, live the dream of the 90s;
- May 4: search for Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley;
- May 5: drive up the Columbia Valley, stop to see a fish ladder, head to Walla Walla, Washington, participate in a comparative single vineyard tasting of Bordeaux blends at L'Ecole No. 41;
- May 6: wine tasting in Walla Walla wine country;
- May 7: drive to Seattle, stopping at Mt. Rainier on the way;
- May 8: explore Seattle; and
- May 9: explore Seattle and then head back to Cedar Rapids.
Earlier voyagers to the northwest from the east found Native Americans. Christine and I learned a bit about them at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland.
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| Oregon natives had linguistic diversity. If you've ever heard about endangered languages, languages spoken by fewer and fewer folks as dominant populations take political control and less spoken languages are displaced by the language of the politically dominant group. The features of Native American languages are usually so different from any other languages we're familiar with. And those that aren't dead are dying. |
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| Pete Hornberger on 30 Rock once said, "This is America. None of us are supposed to be here." See above for more information on those shameful European diseases. |
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