Day 14 - A great day in Willamette, damn it!

I am smiling as I write today's blog page - life is so crazy!!! I rode up from Yachats this morning expecting to meet my friend Brian Marcy for lunch and then head west to the Columbia River Gorge. Brian and his wife Clare own "Big Table Farm" winery - excellent wines, check them out! Their winery is in the heart of the Willamette Valley (Willamette rhymes with "damn it" - a local joke), one of the best wine making regions in the USA. Anyway, I thought I would just meet Brian and then be my way. But noooooooo, that was not what God had planned for me today. Instead I walked into the restaurant and was met by Brian, Mikey, Myles and 6 of the nicest bottles of wine you have ever met; vintages that go back to 1977! It was a great lunch, great wine and very interesting conversation. Then Brian invited me to an AVA meeting (American Viticultural Area) tonight to hear about whats going on locally within the wine industry and then to have dinner with 40 or 50 of the local winemakers. What a fun, different and great way to meet interesting people from this area! So I am smiling as I write this because life is so unpredictable. What a crazy day. So that was my day - I rode up to Amity, OR and had a great lunch sampling some great wines at the Blue Goat Restaurant (FYI - I drank less than a glass total and ate a full lunch), rode to Brian's farm (over gravel roads - my nightmare!!), toured his farm, went to the wine association meeting and had great dinner hanging out with some of the best wine makers in the USA. We then went back to Brian's farm and visited all of his animals including chickens, pigs, cows, horses, ducks and a goat. Tonight I am staying at his farm and then heading to the State of Washington tomorrow. I may never have made it to the Gorge today but that is just fine with me - I had an amazing day with a good friend and met a lot of very interesting people. Thank you Brian - I had a blast today!