I am not sure what it means

but only the Rotarians were able to break awayearly for the tour. Stewart Martin, Vicki Yates and I spent a wonderful Wednesday afternoon with Ryan Wilcoxen touring his work place, Clear Creek Distillery.

Though I admit I found these photos on the web, we got the full tour and tasting and left with our favorites for ourselves and gifts. It truly was interesting and fragrant - they had just crushed the pears - but my personal favorite was the scent in the barrel room. If only I had the kind of bank account to buy my own 1/4 barrel of whiskey...I sure would! thanks again Ryan- what a great afternoon.

Our latest meeting on November 15th...

...included a potluck of delicious foods. And apparently one really strong stinky cheese that got a thumbs down from Trish! Ha - it was a part of my grand plan to ensure everyone was willing to try new foods - and all passed with flying colors. After the "Does this taste bad to you?" comment, we all dutifully checked by tasting it! This group is filled with adventurous spirits. Yeah team.

It's a small world

Yesterday I was riding with a friend on the streetcar, when a group of people got on. My friend noticed one of them wearing a jacket with the Rotary insignia on it. We asked one of the group if they were with Rotary. As it turns out, they are members of the Greater Clark County Rotary Club--the club sponsoring Trish for this trip and the same club that has a water project in Davao. We chatted a bit about GSE and this particular trip. All of them spoke highly of Trish, and their excitement about our opportunity. They also look forward to seeing pictures and hearing about our trip to their project in Davao. For me, this little experience only reinforced the great sense of connection that Rotary builds between people, even in small ways like a brief, friendly chat on public transit.

Greetings from Neahkahnie mountain

A few more pictures from Manzanita

Beach Trip more images from our beach walk

It was windy...oh wait, it is the Oregon coast, of course it was windy.


Trish looked glamorous.


Marie did not.


Hey - check out Stewarts home!


Whose feet are those??


What a beautiful sunset. Let's go drink wine.

Thank you Stewart!

Special thanks goes to our very generous host Stewart. We stayed at the lovely spindrift inn, got some work done and made an amazing dinner on a two burner kitchenette!