willamette wine country.

after a couple of days in portland, we loaded up our ford fusion rental and hit the road to wine country - the town of dundee to be exact, located in the willamette valley.

my parents decided to make the 4.5 hour (each way!) drive from their home in oregon to spend the day with us. well, my dad did. my mom had no idea what was going on and literally jumped when she heard my voice. it was a fun surprise. and since my dad still doesn't have a cell phone, we had to make plans a week earlier to meet at 10:30 a.m. at the Red Hills Market for brunch. we started there and then headed into the dundee hills without any plans but to stop where we wanted and stay as long as we like. 

picnic style brunch at the market.

our first stop. literally the SWEETEST Riesling i've ever tasted. vicky & bjoe would have loved it.

feisty little winery cat.

this guy was on a mission for a vineyard with a view. he & his stache found one. 

brand new winery with a view. danny got to know the owner.

hi, dad.

at alexana winery, named after the owner's daughter.

toasting all kinds of things... birthday, anniversaries & family.



surprising for a holiday weekend, we had most of the wineries to ourselves.

inside joke of the day.

at anne amie winery - we didn't stay for long

it was super cute, but they wouldn't sell by the glass or allow you to picnic. lame.

our final winery of the day. 

the winery owner picked fresh hydrangea as a bouquet. aww... a bride again. 

10 years. 

sexy little devil.

per the inside joke.

daddy's girl for life. 

in two days, we went to the red hills market THREE times. first for brunch, where danny spied a "spicy italian pie" but didn't get it. later that same day, we swung by for cheese, crackers & meats... danny ordered the "italian pie" but as we were walking out to start tasting again, he realized that he never got the pie. the chef checked and it was still burning in the oven. dang. so the NEXT morning, danny and i went to the market for coffee and breakfast and danny just HAD to get the "italian pie" for breakfast. they all remembered him from the day before and threw the pie in for free. ha.

your typical, cute wine country market.

day after wine tasting coffee. proudly serving (and drinking!) stumptown. yuuuuum. 

danny and his damn italian pie. which wasn't even that good :) 

happy camper. nothin' like kicking the morning off with coffee & italian meat pie. bleh.