Day 3: Ashland

So as a writer (though you probably can't tell from this blog), I should have gotten to Ashland sooner than this. And I also should have seen a play there, which we didn't. (The timing was off, I am regretful but will likely return. So what if it's partly for the wineries? More on that later.)




It was insanely hot.


We were hungry.



It was lunchtime.


We couldn't check into our B&B until 4 p.m., so we had to get some lunch and tool around. We first went to one place, and you know how you're fine, fine, not hungry, okay, but then suddenly and without warning it tips you over into "I'm going to eat my own face?" It doesn't matter that it's kind of not possible. Hunger makes you do desperate, desperate things. That happened in this one place we went into (I can't remember the name, and wouldn't care to share it even if I did remember). We got seated. And 10 minutes went by. 15. No one came by. Place was packed. It was 1:45 by now and I was ready to eat many faces.


You don't want to be with me when I'm like this. The emergency energy bar in the purse was long gone, demolished somewhere around Crane.

We left and went next door, where there was a salad bar! For immediate gratification. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see a salad bar. And it was a good one, too.


Justin is not as well-versed as I am in "how to make a light, cheap salad." Yes, mine was bigger. But his was more expensive. Everyone (but him, I guess) knows that you don't put in the whole hardboiled eggs to salad bar salads! That's like $2 each! Hee hee. This salad is sold by weight, not volume. Just like cereal, my friends.


After the hunger shakes mellowed, we wandered around Lithia Park.


Did I mention it was hot?
I think I am panting like a dog here. It was 104, I think?


We found a shady spot and lay on the grass, looking up, listening to all the hippies (wow, there are so.many.hippies) play guitar, watching leaves fall, maybe getting a contact high. Occasionally I'd snark to Justin "People are at work now."

Realizing we were in a 2-hour parking spot, and not knowing how rigidly they ticket in Ashland during a hot summer Monday, we drove off to check out Weisingers winery. It's real close to downtown Ashland, which was a plus: We didn't want to go far. We just needed to kill some time (die, time, die!) and so off we went.


Which looks like this:

Justin outside tasting room:


The night before, in Lakeview, we had watched an OPB special on honeybees. Normally I get completely freaked out by anything bee, but this was really interesting and gave me a better understanding of the insects that terrify me so. If there are reasons that things happen, then maybe the stay in the scary hotel was designed to make me entirely un-freaked out and vaguely fascinated by what was in this winery:


Men in ugly hats!

Kidding.

Kind of.

That is a hive! Of honeybees! They come in from the outside, through this tube!



The owner was there, giving tastings, and he helped us spot the queen and talked a bunch about bees and colony collapse disorder (what we'd seen the show about--why bees are disappearing--not just dying, but vanishing--and no one knows why).

Despite that--or because of that--their wines were really quite good. And we had a great time talking to the owner; we covered everything from How We Met to Yes, Thank YOu For Agreeing, It's Totally Okay Not To Have Kids If You Don't Want Them.

We bought three bottles.

Now it was finally time to check into our hotel, the Morical House. Liked it a lot. Very comfy, non-foofy. B&Bs scare me, for their foofiness. This was non-foofy. I recommend. We napped for a bit (see a pattern here?) and while Justin continued to nap, I wandered back into the main house to get some tea to wake me up a bit.

Where I ran into...my old roommate--and her boyfriend-- from when I first moved here! I was totally sleepy still and spaced it at first but it was crazy weird! Not only is Portland a small town, but despite the vastness that we'd experienced on this trip, Oregon is a small place.

At least for those who have taste. And Elizabeth has very good taste.

Later that evening, Justin and I went back into town for dinner. We couldn't decide where to go. We had a drink at the bar in the Ashland Spring hotel, and then wandered around and decided to go to...damn, I can't remember the name, but I loved it. Sesame? Sesame's? Something like that. It is new, and Asian-fusioney, and right by Lithia Park. Good food, great portions, and I was freaking starving. Thumbs up.

Got back to the B&B, crashed out and then the next day it was time to make our way northward.