OR 6/10- Mount Hood and Hood River

The Joseph Mattey House is an 1892 Victorian era home, on a 10 acre vineyard.  The current owners, Jack and Denise, are British, and are meant for this line of work as they both really like to talk (although I think Jack believes that Denise is the only one who is chatty...).

This frittata was the talk of the trip.  Eric always said he didn't like frittata but couldn't say no to the morning meal that was offered to us.  He ended up not only loving it, but he hasn't stopped talking about it ever since.  As it turns out he had never had frittata and just assumed that he didn't like it.  

After breakfast we drove two hours to Mount Hood.  One of the best parts of the drive is seeing the old houses and barns that have been taken over by vines (some of which look like they are about to fall over and are still in use).

Our final destination was Hood River.  We could have driven straight there without going to the top of Mount Hood (the tallest mountain in Oregon) but that didn't seem like fun.  

As soon as we turned off the main road to drive up to Timberline Lodge it started to snow.  Timberline Lodge is the only ski resort in North America that is open year-round.  

The Timberline Lodge was built in 1935 with funding from President Roosevelt's "New Deal".

Aerial shots of the lodge were used in the opening scene of the Shining.  

The lodge has 1,415 acres of skiable area.

On our way from Mount Hood to Hood River, we stopped for some pictures and the clouds behind us cleared, exposing the apex of Mount Hood, at 3,427 meters.

On our way to the hotel in Hood River, Eric saw Full Sail Brewery (which happened to be the exact same building that his grandfather and great grandfather were cannery employees, before Full Sail bought it and restored it).  We hurried over to the brewery in time for the last tour of the day, which ended with free Full Sail pint glasses.  

I had no idea what a great company Full Sail is.  They are an employee owned company.  They have a Brewer's Share Series so brewers can create and name their own beer, and the profits go to the charity of the brewer's choice.  They buy wind power, and have reduced their water consumption by about a third of what other breweries use (which saves 3.1 million gallons of water each year).  

I am pro Full Sail (some beers are sold at Trader Joe's).  

This is just part of Full Sails daily production.  

Each flight came with a complimentary Full Sail taster glass.  

Right around the block is Double Mountain Brewery, which is a much smaller scale than Full Sail.  The India Red Ale was Eric's favorite.  I got the Jumpin' Jack Flash, a cider.  

And for the grand finale, we had the best pizza we have ever had in our entire lives, the F.O.T.M.

"A spicy pie with mozzarella, roasted chicken (on half), tomato-hot wing sauce, blue cheese crumbles, and fresh green onions.  Hot wing sauce courtesy of our good friends at Fire on the Mountain in Portland."