Good Wine

This morning we started out the day with a bike ride around campus and the surrounding neighborhood. We took a picture of my son's future apartment complex, and then rode from there to the music building to see how long it would take - 5 minutes even at Mom's pace. :)

Paul's apartment complex

After the bike ride we drove a little ways out of town on some beautiful roads to a couple of local wineries. There was a cycling tour traveling on the same road. We saw a number of fully loaded cyclists (with their gear, not with wine) and several couples on tandems pulling their gear behind them.

First we went to Kings Estate winery, which is one of the largest and probably best known of the Oregon wineries. The winery itself is perched at the top of a large hill - it looks like it is in the middle of Tuscany.



We started at the tasting bar, where they feature a sampling of eight different wines.


After the tasting, we settled on their Pinot Gris and ordered lunch at their award winning restaurant. The scallops and the crab cakes were amazing.


We will be coming home with several bottles of their Pinot Gris, as well as a bottle of Pinot Noir and a dessert wine.


One amusing side story - as we were leaving we noticed a drivers ed car (with an instructor and two students inside) leaving the winery.


Following lunch, we headed to the Sweet Cheeks winery, where we had another tasting and picked up some more wine. Sooner later we will need some help drinking all of this wine, so a party may be a necessity soon.

Oregon

So far we've had a successful trip. We drove out, staying in Ogden the first day and driving to Eugene the second day. It was about 12 hours the first day, about 14 hours the second. Fortunately, the scenery made it interesting. The drive up the Columbia river gorge has to be one of the most beautiful in America.



After looking at several horrible apartments, we found a nice one for Paul about 8 blocks from the music building. We then had time to head west out to the coast, where we visited a sea lion cave, a lighthouse, and a beautiful beach. We then drove to Florence for a nice seafood dinner on the harbor.

Sea Lion Caves

Heceta Lighthouse

Heceta beach


View heading up to the Lighthouse

View of harbor from the restaurant

Today we are going to take a bike ride around the campus area, then head out to some wineries for some wine tasting and lunch. More to come later.

Change in plans

I am going to Omaha on Saturday night, and will not be able to go hear Blue House at Red9 this Saturday.  Maybe we can do this the next time they are in town.  Still planning on riding on Saturday morning, though.

Random thoughts while watching Le Tour

• I never received my Duathlon t-shirt - did any of you get yours?  Anyone know who to contact about this?

• 12th Street Pub = good FAC site

• I haven't had time to ride much during this great weather, but I had a nice 15 miler with my wife last night - she had to climb some real hills for the first time, and did great.  Fun.

• I will ride the teamFIRE ride tonight, and would like to do a Jamaica trail ride tomorrow night - will there be anybody at the bench at 6 p.m. tomorrow to ride with me?

• This Saturday, a blues band I have subbed in (Blue House) is playing down at Red 9 starting at 9 p.m.  I may head down to listen and maybe sit in on a tune or two.  Anybody want to go?  There will be a $5 cover.

• Leaving for Oregon for a week on Sunday - hope to take bikes with me and get a couple of rides in.

That is all.

Be careful when riding solo...

You don't want this to happen to you.

Aha! Take on me, jazzercizing bike peeps!

http://fantasy.versus.com/cycling/draft/draft.asp

League: jazz-n-bikes
Password: jazz

Sign up on Versus and take on my uber-ultimate team!

Or add yours if you already have one.

Lincoln Muncipal Band Concert

Ride your bike down to see Julie and I at the Lincoln Municipal Band concert on Sunday, July 12 at 7:00 p.m. in Antelope Park. I'll be conducting, Julie will be playing.

Tom Boonen Crash

Of the three tours I have watched from beginning to end, this one is by far the most interesting.  Today, the entire peloton was having trouble riding in the rain, especially when they got into Barcelona and had to ride over the white traffic control lines, which get especially slippery when wet.  Here is video (w/French commentary) showing Tom B. crashing because of one of these white lines:

I don't speak French, but I really hope that the commentators are saying something like:

"Tom Boonen crashes - the Belgian continues to have trouble with white lines."  :)

First date "don'ts"

For that certain someone -- here's a few tips that might be helpful (brought to you by iVillage)...

Do NOT:

1) Pretend to be someone you’re not. If you eat meat and she’s a vegetarian, fess up to your carnivorous ways. Ditto if you’re a two-pack-a-day guy and she’s a non-smoker. The truth will always out eventually: Sooner is truly better than later.

2) Make a snap judgment about your feelings toward her. Unless she’s a TOTAL boor or potential nutcase, give her another try or two before writing her off.

3) Leave her hanging. If you’d like to see her again, say, "I had a great time. The time really flew." Yes, you can kiss her goodnight but don’t act desperate to set up a second date on the spot. If the first date is all she wrote for you, say, "It was a pleasure meeting you. All the best." Don’t dilute the message by engaging in kissy-kissy. (I disagree with this one -- get the kissy-kissy in regardless and leave her hanging.)

4) The most important first tip of all: Date safe. Don’t take risks with your safety. Just because your cousin’s friend’s boss introduced you to this chick doesn’t mean you should invite a virtual stranger in for some wine and music. Besides, not rushing into intimacy gives you something to look forward to on future dates. (totally disagree on this one, especially if she's hot.)

You can thank me later with a beer.

ok, tomorrow go green

I'm going for a bicycle ride tomorrow... short and/or far, cold and/or hot, windy and/or hilly... bum shoulder and all.

I will NOT be dweebing.
I will NOT be leading.
I will NOT be attacking.

I might be toodling though.

who's with me? GO GREEN

No Road Ride to Cortland Tomorrow

Jen can't make the ride tomorrow, so I am going to do Adrian's off-road ride instead.  Good opportunity to try the new Surly on a longer ride and see if the fit is dialed in.  Adrian is leaving at 8 am from the bench.