Neumann’s German Bakery

Posted on August 9, 2012 by David and Karen

NeumannsBakeryThis update is not about beer and it’s not about pizza. Instead, it’s about this great little German bakery, deli and market we found in Portland. Anytime I see or hear the words German and bakery together I’m instantly reminded of Kleinschmidt’s Bakery on West 7th Street in Fort Worth and the eclairs and German chocolate cakes my mother would buy there when I was a little kid. That bakery is long gone but I remember it well, right next door to the 7th Street movie theater. EclairsThis display immediately got my attention as Karen was searching for, then finding, the apple strudel. What a delight to the senses this place is! GermanBakeryBreads, eclairs, strudel, danish, cookies, cakes, pies … and then you walk in a little further and you see the deli with all sorts of cheeses, meats, wursts and brats! And the floor in front of the display GermanDelicases is lined with boxes of bottled German beer. Uh-oh, I wasn’t going to mention beer in this post, sorry. Oh well, we didn’t buy any of it with all of the craft breweries we have up here. Doh! I did it again, sorry. Karen saved her apple strudel for the next day’s breakfast but I ate my eclair right away. “I have to eat it now, I’ve seen it! If I want one for breakfast we can come back”, which we did! GriilledBratsOh, and the brats on the grill are outstanding! Karen is going to fry some potatoes to go with the next ones. Yum!

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Alison Krauss & Union Station

Posted on August 5, 2012 by David and Karen

While we were in Montana we discovered that Alison Krauss would be in concert at a venue only 90 miles from where we would be staying while we were in Portland. On the way to the concert, we found this wonderful little brew pub in White Salmon, Washington – Everybody’s Brewing. EverybodysViewThe first wonderful thing about this place is this view from the patio. It sure would be nice to have one of these in Houston! The next wonderful thing, of course, was beer. We both had the oatmeal stout which could easily qualify as the best beer so far (but we’ll keep trying). EverybodysStoutI thought the little taster glasses were pretty neat, too, and wouldn’t mind finding a set of those somewhere. The food choices on the menu were wonderful and so were the flatiron steak burrito and pulled pork nachos that we finally decided on. EverybodysNachosSince we were on our way to the concert we couldn’t linger so we’ll have to go back … soon!

The 6pm concert was an outdoors affair at the Maryhill Winery amphitheater near Goldendale, Washington. As fate would have it,HeatWave the heat wave finally caught up to the Pacific Northwest just in time for us. Although it was definitely hot, the lack of humidity made it a non-issue and the sun was soon behind the hill at our back leaving us in the much-cooler shade. While everyone else had tickets to see Alison Krauss, my ticket apparently was just to see the back of this guy’s head. HeadHe eventually left long enough for me to get this clip of Wild Bill Jones and Ron Block’s cool banjo lead. It turned out that having to park in the far-away remote parking lot and ride the shuttle (school bus) got us out of there quicker due to the bottleneck and logjam of cars and people attempting to exit at the same time.

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Portland

Posted on July 31, 2012 by David and Karen

We left Montana Saturday morning, stopped for lunch in Sandpoint, Idaho, overnighted in MountHoodSpokane, Washington, and in spite of the contentious winds in the Columbia River Gorge, arrived in Portland, Oregon, Sunday afternoon. Last year we got just a glimpse of Mount Hood before the clouds took over but with clearer skies we’ve had plenty of these views so far. BurnsideBrewingDeschutesPubAnd with a really nice RV park, highs in the mid-seventies and microbreweries on nearly every corner we plan to stay for awhile!AlamedaBrewHouse

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Bigfork

Posted on July 27, 2012 by David and Karen

If we had it to do over again we would have found an RV park near BigforkBigfork instead of near Glacier National Park. That’s because we went to the park only once but after discovering the Flathead Lake Brewing Company and the mighty fine Italian restaurant, When In Rome, we made the 30+ mile trip daily. We had seen the great reviews about the pizza on Yelp but while at the brewery, we got a recommendation for the schnitzel at the Bigfork Inn.RomePizza That and the smoked mixed grill was pretty good but the next day we had to go try that pizza. The first thing we noticed was the place was packed and we were asked if we had a reservation. Well, no, but they did find us a table outside anyway. If we had known the pizza was going to be that good we never would have ordered just one to share! There was only one thing to do to correct that mistake … we went back the next day!RomeOven Their sign outside says Best Pizza in Montana and we believe!

After the pizza we stopped by FLBC for one last pint and then we drove all the way around Flathead Lake, seeing lots of cherry orchards on the east sideMontanaSunset and what would have been spectacular views of the mountains, if not for the haze, on the west side. We were treated to this beautiful sunset, though!

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Flathead Lake

Posted on July 23, 2012 by David and Karen

FlatheadLakeBrewingThis afternoon we took a little drive to check out the Flathead Lake Brewing Company in Woods Bay on Flathead Lake. The food was nothing special but the Espresso Porter and the Stout  were most excellent! FlatheadTapsSo good that we bought one of their growlers – the coolest growler ever! FlatheadGrowlersOnly problem was that our very favorite Espresso Porter is “limited availability” and they don’t fill growlers with it And the Stout, being nitrogen filled, would go flat too quick. However, the Painted Rock Porter is darn good, too, and since the growler price includes two fills we’ll have to come back!

Being this far up north (nearly to Canada) it sure stays light late. LateLightCheck out the photo below. This picture was taken at 9:45 pm. It sure confuses Jake and Peggy when they go for their last walk. If we stay much longer we may have to add some blackout shades in the bedroom!

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Glacier National Park

Posted on July 22, 2012 by David and Karen

GlacierNPToday we drove the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park. One of the many highlights of the day was the 3-mile round-trip hike we took from the Logan Pass Visitor Center to Hidden Lake. No kidding, it was uphill both ways and in the snow! SnowHikeWe thought we might see a bear but a ranger soon dashed that hope with a comment, “there are no bears up here”. But what we did see was some of the most amazing scenery, marmots, bighorn sheep and mountain goats. I’m sure we’ll add pictures to the Favorite Photos section real soon. KarenHikeI don’t think I remember ever seeing a sky that color of blue. Although we were totally unprepared for an uphill hike through the slippery snow and ice, with our well-worn slick-bottomed tennis shoes and no hiking sticks, we did pretty good and were really glad we made the effort. A total of zero was the number of bears we saw today but we made up for that with countless waterfalls, mountain lakes and the incredible beauty of God’s creation!

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Teton Valley

Posted on July 16, 2012 by David and Karen

TetonView1UPDATED – Jul 19, 2012

We’re back!  This is the view from our motorhome at the Mountain View Lodge in Tetonia, Idaho. Last year we stayed at an RV park a few miles closer to Jackson while visiting Grand Tetons National Park. We noticed this place and decided then if we ever came back that we’d want to stay here. So, here we are. ApplestrudelNo plans to visit the national parks again but just stay here awhile and enjoy this side of the Tetons (the best side, many agree). Grand Teton Brewing Company is down the road in Victor and there is pizza to be tried at Tony’s Italian Grille in Driggs. Also in Driggs is Pendl’s Bakery & Cafe which according to Karen, has the best apple strudel this side of the Atlantic!

We’ve been in the area for several days now and think we could spend an entire summer here. BrakemanBurgerThe Tony’s pizza thing was a bust but the Wildlife Brewing brewpub in Victor more than makes up for that with their Trophy Trout Stout. Another thing Victor has going for it is The Brakeman American Grill. It would be easy to defend their slogan, “best  burger ever”!

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Los Cucos

Posted on July 14, 2012 by David and Karen

Our favorite restaurant back home is the local Tex-Mex chain, Los Cucos. We go there so often that we’ve gotten to know our waiter, José, and the head chef, Miguel, pretty well.  LosCucosOn our last visit José mentioned that they’ve opened up a new restaurant in … Sandy, Utah. Really? Well, in spite of the fact that we brought several quarts of their red salsa (the best in the entire world, by the way) frozen and vacuum-sealed with us, we couldn’t help but route ourselves through Sandy, Utah, on our way to Idaho. So, would it be as good as our Los Cucos in Pearland? KarenLosCucosLet me tell you, the people in the greater Salt Lake City area don’t know how lucky they are to have a great Tex-Mex restaurant available.  Or, maybe they do. We got there at 5:30 and there was quite a crowd and a waiting list. We also took home another quart of that fabulous salsa.

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Ouray – Silverton

Posted on July 13, 2012 by David and Karen

Today we took a drive and headed for Silverton, Colorado. It was a beautiful clear morning and the scenery was the best we’ve seen so far. CoalBankPassIt was only about 30 miles up to Silverton and once we got close we decided to continue on to Ouray and do Silverton on the way back. Karen was a little apprehensive about the Million Dollar Highway, with it’s winding climbs, descents, hairpin curves and no guard rails, but we really enjoyed the beautiful drive and I was reminded that I made this drive 34 years ago – in a VW bus! Ouray2Ouray is a neat little town with its many late 19th century buildings, one of which is the Artisan Bakery & Cafe which was our first stop (can you believe it?).  One chocolate croissant and oatmeal-walnut-chocolate-chip cookie later, we made our way through a few shops and suddenly found ourselves at the Ouray Brewery.  There we snacked on chips and queso while enjoying their Box Canyon Brown Ale. Before heading back to Silverton we drove around town a bit and found an RV park that has some great views. We could spend some time here in the motorhome and, yes, we could do that Million Dollar Highway in the big rig!  Silverton is an old mining town and today is best known as the destination end of the Durango-Silvertion Narrow Gauge Railroad.Silverton While enjoying a pint of Red Mountain Ale at the Silverton Brewing Company I thought I remembered an old photo of our family standing next to the train in Silverton from 34 years ago.  A quick check on Shutterfly with my iPhone proved me right. Check out today’s Photo of the Day!

Since Jake & Peggy were left in their room and waiting for our return we decided to get on back to take them for a walk and find something to eat back in Durango. What we found was Fired Up Pizzeria – and what a find! With a wood-fired pizza oven like this Ovenwe figured it had to be good and it certainly was! We agreed that this one even tops Amarillo’s 575. FiredUpI don’t know about the winters here but I do know for at least a summer, we could live here!

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Durango

Posted on July 12, 2012 by David and Karen

We have certainly found the beautiful scenery and cool weather that we look for.  The Durango Riverside Resort & RV Park is a great find.  This is the view from David’s “office” window.  DurangoRiverWe arrived on Sunday afternoon and haven’t spent much time in town but instead have enjoyed eating at home in the mountain-fresh air and watching the river flow by. Durango2Friday, we will take a break from our stay-at-home routine as David takes a vacation day from work and we will drive up to Silverton.  We looked into taking the train but it would mean leaving Jake and Peggy locked up for 11-12 hours so we’ll drive instead and keep our own schedule.  We may even venture up to Ouray on the Million Dollar Highway.  We’ll let you know.

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