Wednesday, November 21

Mt. Shasta, CA to Hood River, OR

Hwy 97 to Hwy 26 to Hwy 84

We were both awake at 3a and tried watching the weather channel, SciFi to fall back asleep and then just kept on the music that plays on the rolling tv schedule.  But.  We got up at 3:30 and got ready to move out.  Raining.  There was a thing in the room that said a bakery/coffee shop opened at 4:30a which excited us to no end but when we drove by at 4:45 there was only a light on in the back where the baker was baking… sigh.  Knew that was too good to be true.  Got gas and headed out.

Very dark and very rainy and chilly.  Got Dutch Bros coffee in Klamath Falls (coconut milk 🙂 yay).  Rain by now was combo of slush, ice… and still really really dark.   Snow started falling and sticking as daylight appeared.  I Yelped breakfast and we hit the Big Mountain Cafe in Chemult OR just at 8a as it opened.  Sierra happily peed in the inch or so of new snow in the parking lot and sat on her pillow awaiting breakfast leftovers.   We were the first and only people in the tiny restaurant.   Bob ordered short stack of pancakes with a sausage patty and I had a poached egg, griddled butter biscuit… yes, a griddled butter biscuit.  As. Good. As. It. Sounds. A baking powder, light as air biscuit sliced in half and toasted on the griddle with butter on it.  I have never been so happy not to have ordered “dry.”  Also had some of Bob’s tasty sausage.  It was so freezing that we kept moving around to a table that was in the wake of the heater.

On the road again at 8:30 and it immediately got dicey.  Really snowy all the way up and over Mt. Hood.  Bob put the truck in 4WD high and still was gripping the wheel.

Note the last photo… no more tracks on the road in front of us; just SNOW.

Road got better as we got to about 3000 ft but still big fat snow flakes.  Last 1/2 hour or so was gorgeous farm, orchards, vineyards with off/on rain showers.  Happily arrived at the Vagabond Lodge in Hood River about 12:30 after a pretty hairy 7+ hours of good, safe!, driving by Bob.  Our room (#23) wasn’t ready yet so we headed to the downtown part of Hood River about 2-3 miles away to find some lunch.  Bob got some recs from the real estate office where we street parked the car (meters are 30 cents per half hour….).  We had a fantastic cozy lunch at the bar at Romul’s, an Italian restaurant that recently opened based on the long-time success of a sister restaurant in The Dalles (a nearby town on the Columbia River).  We sat at the small empty — though *full* — bar and ordered cocktails.  Bob had a Chivas and I had a lovely Italian pinot grigio that I completely forget the name.  Oh, it was raining still which is what made everything feel so cozy.  Bob ordered a pasta dish that involved tomatoes and capers and… I have no idea because what I ordered was so superb: special soup of the day that was spicy sausage and lentil (very earthy, a bit of a bite) and a pear salad with field greens, grilled slices of pear, cranberries, candied walnuts, sprinkling of Gorgonzola and an herby champagne vinaigrette.  I ate every spoonful and bite.  Told Bob it was one of those occasions that the idea you have in your head was matched exactly with reality.

We freed the dog (who got a big bite of their homemade bread) and walked up and down the town til we got the call at 3p that our room was ready.  We investigated potential coffee and breakfast places for Thursday but everything was going to be closed or not opening til 9a (Doppio coffee).  We investigated places for dinner and decided on Brian’s Pourhouse until we saw a big sign that said “Wednesday 2-for-1 steak night.” Hello?  What?? So we hiked up a very steep 1/2 block to a converted large house with a beautiful tiled mosaic retaining wall that runs along the sidewalk.  It was in fact get any steak (from filet to ribeye to beef and lobster) with second steak or various other entrées free.  Um, yes, we made a reservation for 7:30.  Sierra got some dog treats at the ubiquitous over-priced, environmentally PC, healthy for dogs, adorable pet store and we headed back to check in.

Bob found this place via a Groupon deal and just booked it on his gut.  OMG.  It is so perfect.  Sort of funky (built in the 1950s and upgraded through the years) with spacious grounds, big trees, right on the bluff overlooking the Columbia River and steep shore/cliffs on the other side.  Our room/suite is an end unit and has full kitchen, a nice big dining table, large stone fireplace, decent-sized flat panel (phew… was worried about the football watching so brought the XM unit from the kitchen in case we had to listen to football), nice separate bedroom and bath.   It is perfect.  Took us about 1/2 hour to unload and play house organizing kitchen and *supplies*.  Relaxed with a fire, catching up on emails, reading and stuff.  At about 4:30 Bob made a cocktail that he read about and then amended, sort of like an Old Fashion but now called the Rembow:  Knob Creek, sugar cube soaked in bitters, grenadine, slices of lime, lemon, orange, with a splash of club soda and ginger ale.  Very pretty and festive and felt like a holiday.  New favorite!

The Rembow.

Bob was surfing around on the tv and found what I have only seen headlines about and has been on the periphery of my consciousness: Boo Boo Honey or something.  omg.  I was reading (NYer October 15!  catching up!  Determined to be caught up by end of the year!!!) and trying to ignore it but seriously it was difficult.  These people are speaking English and they had to use subtitles because you literally could not understand a word they said.  And I am from Oklahoma!! No idea where it takes place or any idea about how these people got on tv.  Well, scratch that; given who and what is on these days.  (Yes, I am a curmudgeon).  At one point Bob said, “I can’t make myself change the channel.” Me, “Please try.”   He did and found Gone With the Wind.  Time suck of a different sort!  We caught it about 1/2 hour in (Scarlett is widow from first wrong marriage to Charles and in Atlanta with Aunt Pittypat) and were sucked in til the end at 8pm.  Naturally reams and reams of advertisements including hideous ones for The Walking Dead (note to AMC: those endless trailers/teasers did not convince two non-watchers to give it a try; not even the one of us (him) who actually dabbles in stuff like that) during which we Googled/Wikipedia’ed and IMDBd all the actors (wiki Hattie McDaniel!  amazing bio — way way more than you think you know about her).   Somewhere around 6:30 we decided we were too tired, not hungry enough to go to 2-for-1 steak night so called and cancelled.  When GWTW was over we bundled up (raining and cold) and walked next door to Charburger Country which I smelled (good) when out with Sierra.  Walked in to … a sort of odd, tired almost empty place with a salad bar (! old school much?), soup bar (!! ditto) and condiment bar (yes?!?).  In normal (or *snobby*) circumstances we might have left.  You order at the counter (Bob: Big Burger (1/2lb with french fries and a Sprite); Me: Charburger (1/4lb burger, no fries)) and sit with the number on your table til they deliver it.  They WERE charbroiled and quite good.  Nice grill-toasted bun.  We made our way to the condiment bar which was quite generous.  I ditched half the bun and loaded up on onions, pepperocini (sp), pickles, lettuce and Dijon mustard.  Stole a few french fries.  Turned out to be the perfect solution to dinner; we have so much food with us but all geared to Thanksgiving and this was easy, close, quick.

Got back to the room (raining) and we could have watched GWTW again.  No.  We poured a glass of zin, made a fire and sat with Sierra.   Bob brought a slice a apple pie back from the restaurant that he didn’t know had plastic wrap on it inside the styrofoam so microwaving it made it melt….:-(  We watched a new Restaurant Impossible and turned in at about 10p.