I'm still recovering over the fantastic day I had in Washington County. After eating a hearty breakfast at the Reedville Cafe, I head off to my second favorite pastime: wine tasting. (Second to my obvious favorite thing to do, shop!) So, I call my designated driver and a few friends and start making our way through Oregon's wine country.

Our first stop is Cooper Mountain Vineyards, which has a dessert wine that I often dream of. Of course, their Pinot Noir is an excellent choice, as well, and I don't plan on leaving the tasting room empty-handed, as I plan on purchasing several bottles of their biodynamic wines.

Just down the street is Ponzi Vineyards, where I am looking forward to tasting their latest Pinot Noir. If we play our cards right, there just may be a chance for us to join in on a game of Bocce Ball.

Next stop is Oak Knoll Winery, where I already have my sights on buying a couple of bottles of their Raspberry Frambrosia, to sprinkle over vanilla ice cream to create a scrumptious summer dessert.

All of this wine tasting is making us very hungry, so we travel just a few miles down the road to The Vintage Room at The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club. The view is amazing, as is the menu, which offers a vast array of entrees to please almost any craving.

For a little change of pace, we decide to try our luck with sake at SakeOne. Although I'm a wine and beer kind of girl, SakeOne's fruit-infused sakes are a treat. Try the Coconut Lemongrass sake - I have to admit, I had to buy a few bottles for my collection. With a bottle of sake in tow, I will be the hit at this year's Fourth of July barbecue!

All of the wine and sake tasting has really made us restless, so our designated driver takes us to Scoggins Valley Park in Gaston  for a friendly game of Disc Golf - a fun game played with a flying disc (aka Frisbee).

Tuckered out, we decide to call it a day. Unfortunately, the weekend is over. At least we'll have the memories....

My Washington County weekend would ideally happen after the twins are born and while one of the grandmothers are in town babysitting so my husband and I could enjoy the finer things Washington County has to offer. Namely those things you can't do while pregnant, i.e. drink wine and eat sushi. So here goes my "ideal" weekend in the county....

Friday night we'd have dinner at Syun Izakaya where we would be greeted with a bowl of edamame as the server came to take our drink order. We would order a bottle of sake to share, my personal favorite is the Silver Momokawa and Darrell's is the Plum Moonstone so we would have to flip a coin to decide. After hearing the specials, we would order my favorite--yellowtail--and one of the rolls on special because they are always the tastiest. After our meal we'll be brought perfectly-cut oranges for after-dinner dining. Stuffed from dinner and ready to enjoy some peace and quiet away from the kids we would head to Orenco Station Manor to check into our suite.

 
Saturday morning I would awake to Darrell making breakfast (this is my "ideal" weekend and no one ever said it had to be realistic!) in the full kitchen in our suite. We would leisurely enjoy our breakfast and then head outside to finish the rest of our coffee on the deck swing. By the time we'd be done it would be about 10am, almost time for massage treatments at Opulence Spa, right downstairs. As I'd check in, Darrell would head out for a run around Orenco Station as he has started training for the Helvetia Half Marathon. We'd both be done around noon and ready for lunch so we'd head to McMenamins Cornelius Pass Roadhouse for some of my favorite hummus and a few beers on their outside patio. The sun is out and the weather couldn't be better so after lunch we'd walk around the six-acre former-pioneer farmstead and just enjoy ourselves. We would order dessert to go so once the walk is complete we'd take our doggie bag and head over to David Hill Winery. We'd join in the merriments around the tasting-room bar, sampling all of their phenomenal wines. We'd take our last samples out to the picnic tables to savor with our dessert. The tawny port is the perfect pairing with our cheesecake. My favorite turned out to be the Sparkling Brut and Darrell likes the Estate Pinot Noir. We decided to buy a couple bottles of each as well as a bottle of Sweet Simplicity since we could not get the menu mention of it poured over ice cream out of our heads! By this time it's 5pm and, unfortunately, the winery is getting ready to shut down for the evening so we would head back to the hotel. Before heading back upstairs we'd pop into the New Seasons market across the street and pick up noshes to enjoy on the deck with one of our recently purchased bottles of wine. We'd relax and enjoy the summer sunset over great conversation and delicious wine until it's time to head out for our evening at the Jester's Comedy Club. We would thoroughly enjoy the show and head back for a good night of sleep, worn out from our long day of activities.

 
Sunday morning we would sleep in and enjoy the fresh-baked cinnamon rolls we picked up last night on our run to New Seasons. We'd lazily enjoy our last few moments of peace and quiet until check-out time at noon. Then we'd load up the car and head home to the twins because as surprised as we are, we have missed them like crazy; that and we don't want to wear the grandmas out yet, as we are going to need a weekend away in Washington County again ... soon!