Through the Grapevine

Big River restaurant

My husband and I took advantage of Corvallis’ beautiful weather this weekend. We hit the Trysting Tree golf course in the morning to play a few rounds while soaking in gorgeous views of the coastal mountains and basking in the sun. We rented some bikes from Peak Sports in the afternoon, heading out for a long ride through the Riverfront Commemorative Park and Avery Park. We enjoyed a fantastic dinner at Block 15 (definitely try the BBQ Burger) and capped the evening off with a couple of glasses of local Benton County wine and the dessert plate of chocolate truffles and fresh fruit at Enoteca.

You’re only a hotel room away from enjoying a fantastic weekend just like ours. It’s customizable, too. If you’re looking for something a little more filling than chocolate and fruit, there are plenty of dining options, including Big River, Aqua and Terminus. If you’re looking for a more challenging bike ride than the one we took, we have plenty of that, too. (Try biking up Mary’s Peak for a real challenge!)

Stop in to Visit Corvallis when you arrive to find the perfect trails, dinners, and activities during your stay.

-Marci Sischo, guest contributor

Wine, dine and mountain bike on the Corvallis Drive and Ride Adventure Trail.

It’s a wheel race in Eugene to the local breweries.

With shelf-emptying, popular seasonal releases to flagship beers that zing with hoppy perfection, I can’t pedal fast enough to the Ninkasi Brewing tasting room.

Tucked in the eclectic Whiteaker Neighborhood, where two wheels almost always beat four, this craft brewery produces crisp beer ready to cool your throat and rejuvenate the legs.

As colorful beer drinkers liven the outdoor space, my cold pint beads with condensation as I make my way to a concrete table out on the large, outdoor tasting room patio. I sneak my first sip of my favorite IPA as  I weave through the visitors.

Fed by the cold, clean waters of the McKenzie River, Ninkasi’s tasting room reflects its urban yet green-loving roots in this diverse residential neighborhood, where its citrusy and well-balanced Total Domination IPA isn’t afraid to show some bite. The IPA’s seasonal summer sister, Radiant Ale, offers lighter flavors and a clean finish for hot afternoons.

Sharing stories and laughter over two pints of Ninkasi’s best, the afternoon melts away as fast as the pint disappears. As the dusk glow filters through the leafy green trees that line the blocks, live music and food carts continue the party as locals and visitors float in and out of this popular tasting room – but for me it’s time to pedal home, bike bound for the Willamette River paths that lead home.

The first notes of the band sounds sending me off – but I know I’ll be back for more of Eugene’s pours.

-Kelsey Ivey, guest contributor
A freelance wine, beer and travel writer, Kelsey loves to explore the bountiful Pacific Northwest and share its beauty with others. She currently works as the Tourism and PR Coordinator at Travel Lane County in Eugene and blogs at The Joyful Shoehorn.

Start planning your own brewery tour with the Eugene Brews and Views Adventure Trail.

We offered our guest blogger, Laci Hutto, the chance to tell us why she wanted to dive into Mt. Hood Territory Earth and Sky Adventure Trail after we learned how she’s fallen head over feet in love with the idea of dropping from the heavens over our state. Wild and crazy as it may be, now we can’t wait to go, too.

60 seconds is a lot longer than it sounds when those seconds are spent falling 10,000 feet out of an airplane. For the first minute of your skydiving experience, frames of reference drop away. There’s no roller-coaster stomach-drop feeling, and you don’t really notice the ground rushing up at you. You do notice the wind, and the way you spin and soar based on how you hold your body against it. You notice that your laughter and shrieks (if you can force them from your mouth into the wind) are torn away so you never even hear them. It is, without a doubt, the most exhilarating experience I can imagine. The next minute, after the ripcord has been ripped and the parachute deployed, you come slowly back to your senses while the adrenaline from your freefall settles. It is in this post-Extreme Exhilaration daze that you begin to notice where you are.

I’ve been skydiving twice now, both times in New Jersey, not far from my Philadelphia home. For that first minute or so, it really doesn’t matter where you’ve chosen to dive. The important things (the plane, the door you fall out of, the sky, the tandem instructor securely attached and making sure your dive is successful) are pretty much the same no matter which coast you do your skydiving on. But after you’ve come to your adrenaline-depleted senses and settle into the canopy ride back to the ground, you notice the scenery. For me, that meant 5+ minutes of staring at New Jersey farmland, and getting a distant glimpse of my own city’s skyline. When I saw the “Earth and Sky” trail, I realized what my skydiving adventures had been missing. I could picture the lush Pacific Northwest greenery and snowcapped mountains in sight of Skydive Oregon’s dropzone. I could imagine a canopy ride in which the panorama were as breathtaking as the freefall.

So to those of you in the area, don’t let this Oregon summer pass without taking advantage of what Skydive Oregon has to offer. Go for that kaleidoscopic thrill, dizzying ascent, and giddy-making freefall—and delight in your canopy ride over this country’s most beautiful land.

Editor’s Note: Skydive Oregon apparently gives an extra 3,000 feet of altitude buzz for your buck, with jumps starting from 13k.

The trail at Left Coast Cellars

If you’re a wilderness nut like me who’s looking for a wild parcel of land in the middle of wine country, look no further than Left Coast Cellars, where you can wander among dozens of beehives— from bees harvested wild from resident oak trees— and over a trail through wildflower-studded open spaces in one of the prettiest and most sustainable vineyards around. The vineyard has a 9-mile trail take winds through an oak savannah and up to the top of a hill where you can see a rain-collection pond that gravity-feeds water to the vines below. If you need another nature fix, head over to Van Duzer Vineyards to drink the nectar of Jerry Murray’s Pinot gris, watch raptors riding the thermals and feel fresh breezes from Van Duzer’s special perch in a Mid-Willamette Valley wind corridor.

-Jenie Skoy, guest contributor

Go “wiking” – wine tasting and hiking – on the Salem Drag and Wike Adventure Trail.