Thursday evening, April 30, finally arrived and boy were we excited! Prior to our trip, I was looking for interesting “pet friendly” things to do in Portland when I came across a restaurant on the internet called Thirst , a wine bar which generously welcomes pets! The owner’s, Gary Kneski and Leslie Palmer, are big dog lovers themselves and when I emailed them asking if we might dine with our pets, they immediately made reservations for us. Little did we know, but by Thursday, we had gathered another 5 Bernese friends of ours wanting the same adventure with their dogs…so the total to dine that evening would be 7 people and 6 dogs! First things first, we needed to get to the restaurant. So, I called the local cab company called “Radio Cab”, asking if they could service 7 people and 6 dogs to downtown Portland. They graciously accepted saying that they are a totally pet friendly cab service! They promptly sent two mini-van’s to accommodate our menagerie of seven humans, four dogs, and two puppies. Wow! This was the first time that I have taken a cab to dinner with Smokie and Valentino! The cab drivers were very friendly and patient, as we all clambered into and out of their vans. Thank you Radio Cab for a great experience!
When we got to Thirst, it was a beautiful evening, and their patio dining is located on a quiet pedestrian walkway overlooking the Columbia River and the Harbor. There were already two tables taken with people and their pups, including one humungous Neufy which dwarfed our 6 rather large Bernese Mountain dogs. Leslie immediately brought the dogs out some fresh water and their chef brought out a box of treats. Boy were the pups in heaven!
Just as our pups enjoyed the water, treats and getting to dine with their beloved owners, we went to work tasting the delightful Oregon wines in which Thirst specializes. Our favorite in the end was a delightful Pinot Noir, which we ended up getting three bottles of! Also, to take note of is that on Thursday evenings, Thirst offers free wine tasting at its bar…a great way to get introduced to the many wonderful wines that they carry. As we sipped our wines, we were served wonderful salads, gourmet appetizers and main courses. Gary and Leslie are currently trying to get the word out that they are not just a place to have a glass of wine or two after work, however one can get a beautiful meal there as well.
After dinner, Sandra, an amazing dog trainer in our bunch, had all 6 dogs doing stay and come commands on the promenade! We indeed had quite the crowd of passers by in the end, all fascinated by our beautiful pups and their love of obeying and performing commands. It was quite dark when we finally paid our bill and headed for our awaiting “Radio Cabs”. All-in-all a wonderful evening had by all!
Monday morning, we awoke to yet another glorious day. After checking out of our wonderful “Pet Friendly” luxury Condo at the Columbia Cliff Villas, we went back to our favourite European-style café, Café Doppio, in downtown Hood River. We sat and had a leisurely breakfast on their totally “dog friendly” patio, and were approached by many other dog lovers/owners who wanted to say “hi” to Smokie and Valentino.
I had my favourite breakfast Panini with spinach, cheese and egg, whilst Michael had TWO chocolate chip scones. Yum for me and Yum for him! Michael Barthmus, the owner, came out to chat with us and tell us more about his German heritage and how he wanted his Café to be a nice, pet friendly and relaxing place for breakfast, lunch and evening. He definitely got a thumbs up for his coffee concoctions, his food, the atmosphere and excellent internet access. We even finished one of our blog postings whilst sipping on our frothy cappuccino and soy latte. Before leaving, we popped into the bathroom and to our surprise, there was a big poster of Telluride on the wall!
We could have stayed there all day, however today was the day that we had to move on to Portland, where we had to set-up our Alpen Schatz booth for the show.
Little did the pups know, but we had plans for them, too. Our first stop upon arriving in Portland was at a local Petco which happened to have grooming facilities. And so whilst we were sweating it out setting up our portable “store”, the pups were treated to an afternoon of beauty and bath! It was early evening when we picked them up and WOW! What a great job the groomers did! The pups looked a million dollars and we were the proud parents of pups worthy enough to be in the ring with the top show dogs of the country who had come to Portland to compete for the National championships that week.
A little background about the National Bernese Specialty: it is an annual show taking place in a different part of the Nation each year. Alpen Schatz has been supporting the show with a booth since 2002, as many of the attendees love Swiss/German things both for themselves and their pups. These people are not only wonderful annual customers of Alpen Schatz, but have become our friends over the years. Therefore, the show is not only a selling event for us, but an annual reunion each year of delightful Berner lovers.
I always love wearing my Alpine “Tracht” or traditional dresses called Dirndl’s at the event and this year even got to dress Michael up in Lederhosen – his first time!!! I gotta say, that he looked quite handsome in them and had more pictures taken of him than the pups at our booth! He was such a hit and looked so “good” in the traditional wear. I guess it was his “Heinz” ancestry coming out!
The week was filled with early mornings and late evenings. One evening we attended the Awards Banquet, where we and two friends all went in our traditional outfits. It was quite the hoot! Another night, Michael and I took the local public transportation, the MAX light rail, to downtown Portland and had a fantastic dinner at Jakes, a great seafood grill. On yet another evening I organized a “dining with your dog” at a Portland Wine Bar called Thirst and will post about this evening in the next post as it is worthy of it’s own story.
Valentino's breeder, Stacy Temples was also at the show, and she was very excited to see the pup which she bred from her own magnificent Bernese from her kennel in Fort Collins, CO called Wagontale Bernese. Stacy was so proud of our little pup and said that he was growing up just fine and looked great! She would take Valentino on little walks to show him off to her friends and others who also had Wagontale Bernese from her. Hence, Valentino got to meet many distant cousins of his, many of whom were showing at the Specialty.
We stayed at the beautiful Red Lion Hotel at Jantzen Beach. Our room was extremely quiet, large, and had a balcony which overlooked the Columbia river. We also had a fridge and microwave, which always comes in handy when travelling with pets and children. In fact, this and all Red Lion hotels are pet friendly and a great recommendation when travelling with one’s pet. Indeed, for this show, they accommodated over 1200 (big) Bernese Mountain dogs and their people…which I thought quite commendable. Indeed the staff were nice and overall, the week-long event went by quite quickly.
Last day…Saturday…Best of Breed and many last minute sales, so we did not get started on the pack-up until after 4pm. When we finished, it was after 9pm…and we were supposed to already be 5 hours down the coast in Yachets…so instead, we drove south as far as we could to a little town called Wilsonville, and stayed at the Wilsonville Inn …a quaint and clean highway Inn which took people and pets. We were so tired, that the moment we checked in and had walked the dogs…we were out like a light…
The gardens are magnificent and well worth a visit whether residing at the Hotel and Villas or not. They were built around the Phelps Creek, which meanders through the gardens under quaint European style stone bridges and eventually rendezvous with the Columbia River via the spectacular 208’ highWah Gwin Gwin Falls, native American for 'rushing and tumbling waters'. These falls are the third highest in the Gorge. The beautifully manicured gardens are filled with color and native Oregon plants which provided an amazing backdrop to an already stunning view for pictures of the Columbia Gorge, us and our pups. What a great place to get married, I thought…
After a quick gourmet take away breakfast at the European style Cafe Doppio in downtown Hood River, we began our scenic journey around Hood Mountain. The first part of our drive followed part of the famous “Fruit-Loop” drive, so named for all of the thousands of pear, cherry, and apple tree orchards in the valley – not to mention the multitude of Vineyards and wineries. This fertile valley rests at the base of the mighty Mount Hood Volcano and boasts rich soil and indeed is the Nation’s largest pear growing region!
We happened to be there at the most beautiful time! All of the fruit trees were in full bloom and we began our drive at the Panorama Point, where we got magnificent pictures of the blooming orchards and the Snow Capped Mount Hood in the distance. The dogs loved this area, as there was lush grass for them to play and roll in.
After driving through the rich valley floor, we headed towards the forests and Mount Hood itself. Our road gradually ascended and before we knew it, we were back in snow again! The first that we had seen since we left Telluride the previous week! We decided to check out the local ski area and drove up to the famous Timberline Lodge and Ski Resort at an amazing 8540’ elevation. The dogs got to romp in the snow and were petted by many ski and snow boarders who came over to see them. The Timberline Lodge is a National Historic Landmark, and is known not only as an architectural wonder, but because it was built during the 1930’s depression, funded by the Federal Works Progress Administration, offering many unemployed craftsmen work during a dismal time.
After our exploration of the lodge and checking out the Ski facilities, we piled back into our car and headed down out of the snow and back to the lush, green forests at the base of Mt Hood: our goal, the Historical Columbia River Highway. This highway is one of the most scenic highways ever built in the Nation. In fact it is the first scenic highway in the US to gain the distinction of National Historic Landmark. It was built in 1913 for the sole purpose of taking in the many magnificent waterfalls and vista viewpoints of the Columbia Gorge along the way. At the time it was considered one of the greatest engineering feats of the modern age.
The highway wound up and up amongst a botanical treasure of plants and trees. In fact, we learned that there are over 50 species of plants flourishing in this perpetual cool and moist area along the gorge. There were many scenic over looks along the way, with the cumulation of them being at the Vista House, a great spot to take photos and to grab a map showing all of the waterfalls to visit on the next 20 mile stretch of highway.
We only had time to explore two, and the first, called Latourelle was our favorite. It is set back off the highway amongst a lush rain forest of trees, ferns and other moist loving plants. I hiked up to the top of the falls with Valentino and Smokie Bear whilst Michael took pictures and explored the base of the falls. We eventually joined up again at the base of the falls. We especially liked this Fall, as it was not that over crowded with tourists and it was indeed spectacular to be able to hike from the base to the top.
By now it was getting to mid-afternoon, so the next falls that we stopped at were the most famous falls on the by-way and the “must do” on most tourist lists if one has limited time: The Multnomah Falls . This fall, although spectacular, was marred by hundreds of tourists, hot dog carts, solicitors, etc., so we did not spend as much time as we did at the Latourelle Falls, however snapped a few quick foto’s.
The reason for our rush was that we wanted to visit one of the famous Columbia River fish hatcheries and fish ladders erected around the Dams, enabling spawning salmon and steelhead to continue their instinctual navigation up river to their breeding grounds. The Hatcherie of choice was the Bonneville where we got to feed humungous Rainbow Trout, see Salmon and the most fascinating thing, to meet Herman the Sturgeon , a 70 year old fish, coming from one of the oldest boney fish families in the world, dating back 150,000 years!
After visiting the Hatcherie, we drove over to the Bonneville Dam, where we watched fish using the fish ladders to bypass the damn – super cool!
Back in Hood River, we watched the sunset and had an “ok” dinner at the Big Horse Brew Pub. Although the food was so-so, Michael confirmed that the Brews were just fine and the sunset views were spectacular.
Back to our Villa for a restful evening and early night in bed.
