Treehouse Adventure

Lothorien Woods

The treehouse

Treehouse

I've been wanting to stay in a treehouse.  My original plan was to stay in Taklima at the Out'nAbout Treesort.  It was going to be part of our Southern Oregon adventure.  However, I waited to long to book a treehouse.  By the time I got in contact with someone, all weekends were booked and her waiting list was full.  YIKES!  (I will be staying at the Treesort in Taklima next summer).  So I researched and found Lothorien Woods.  It looked quaint and quiet.  I adjusted some plans to stay in the treehouse....possibly go on a hike, hunt for huckleberries, do some wine tasting and pick up some fresh fruit in Hood River along the Fruit Loop.

Well the treehouse was quiet and quaint.  It was not the easiest to find, dark and along a windy gravel logging road.  No cell service.  I attempted to be funny and say it reminded of Blair Witch Project which completely freaked Karen out.  The house was nestled and built within multiple trees...there was a hot tub and ski lift chair swing - which we did not really partake in.

An attempt at picking huckleberries

Huckleberry season was just ending so we decided to go into Gifford Pinchot National Forest and make our attempt at hunting some down.  The ranger said that the past two years have not produced much fruit and wished us luck.  I have a new appreciation for those who pick huckleberries and would gladly pay for the high priced berries anytime.  The are not easy to find and are hidden amongst the leaves.  The ranger was not lying there was not much fruit and between the 3 of us we did not collect many berries.  We decided to head back toward White Salmon and picked up 5 lbs of berries.  The berries looked completely different.  They were big, beautiful, juicy berries.

Wine tasting in SW Washington

So you may have noticed I'm a wine connoisseur and in the sense that I enjoy wine.  I'm definitely not an expert but love finding new small vineyards.  I have personally not gone to many wineries in Washington.  We made our way to Aniche which provided and food and wine pairing.  The manager was working alone that day and have sevderal large groups.  She handled everything well and remembered everyone's wine they were on.  This is why she is manager.  I didn't love anything.  Then we attempted to find Ziegler wines which went out of business. Our next stop was White Salmon winery and we met this sweet woman who was the owner's wife.  We tasted three wines and again I was not really loving anything.  We then drove to Bingen and stopped into AlmaTerra.  It was like girls night out....as the three of us chatted up during out tasting with a local and the server.  They were super cool and we talked about wines (VA makes fantastic Viognier - now I need to make a trip to VA!), the area, things to do, restaurants and even about my blog.  I bought 2 bottles of the Terres White - a blend of Viognier, Roussane and Marsanne.  Our plan to have dinner at the Solstice Wood Fire Cafe, but there was a wedding.  We crossed the toll bridge into Hood River and decided to hit one more wine tasting at Cascade Cliffs tasting room.  Wines - eh and the woman serving wasn't really interested in us as much as the other couples there.  But Karen took a pretty picture of their Rose.

Rose on the bar

My cell phone died and I had her take a picture of my future bar stools.  My friend, Ken, has not responded to my request to create these for me.....this may be another venture like the bookcase he said he would build me.....as in if I want them I will have to go buy them.

My future bar stools

Fruit Loop in Hood River

First thing is first - I must have coffee in the morning.  Everyone should have a vice, mine is coffee and all things considered it's not that bad in comparison to other vices.  So first stop was at Dog River Coffee Co.  The day prior we stopped in a cute town called Trout Lake and had possibly the most sickening sweet coffee.  We went to Rasumussen Farms.  I purchased peppers (they had purple bell peppers), squash (zucchini, yellow, acorn and butternut) and flowers!  For $5.25 I stuffed a bunch of you cut flowers into a cup.  They did bear the heat on the way home but still provided two gorgeous bouquets.

Fall Sunflower Bouquet

Pretty in Pink Bouquet (see my second hand blown glass piece - the green bowl

Our next stop was the Gorge White House and did a pear cider and wine tasting.  After our tasting we checked out their selection of pears but didn't buy anything.  Well Kelli and Karen bought some pear hard cider.  

Next stop was Marchesi vineyard.  We enjoyed wines outside with lunch.  They have a great set up to enjoy their wines and vineyards.  After lunch we headed out and stopped by McCurdy Farms and bought crimson and bartlett pears.  I think they have the best selection of pears by far.  

Then the loop brought us back to I-84 and our adventure came to close.  We headed back to Portland with pears, laughter and memories in tow.