A Day of Rest

I just had to step away from the election hoopla for a day.  Had to take a day to "have a life."  My two cousins are in town from Chicago...they came out to visit my Mom on her 82nd birthday (which we celebrated at a yucky little rinky-dink restaurant in Eugene last night, by Mom's request...bleah!)  Anyway, the cousins arrived in Portland on Wednsday afternoon.  Freak weather in the Columbia valley Wednesday night...it was actually clear enough to see the lunar eclipse.  We watched it unfold over Multnomah Channel and Sauvie Island as we drove back into Portland for dinner Wednesday night.

Yesterday, we drove down Interstate 5 to Eugene.  Of course, the weather couldn't cooperate for two days in a row, so it was chilly, drizzly, and misty.  We didn't let that stop us from carrying through with our plan to stop at a winery that is just off the freeway south of Salem.  After all, it was literally ON the way down, and wine-tasting is an all-weather activity!

The picture above is of the view from the tasting-room deck, the vines voicing a last shout of color before dropping into their winter snooze.  Too bad the light wasn't right.  But if I waited for optimum conditions before taking pictures of anything in Oregon in the fall, I'd not have any pictures at all!