Oregon Trip | Stadium, Wineries, and Family Time

Day three of our Oregon trip consisted of visiting Autzen Stadium on the campus of U of Oregon in Eugene, family time, and wineries.  Everyone else got up early to take a one-hour drive so they could go on a hike to waterfalls.  The two of us decided to stay local and go see the stadium.  It was Saturday gameday and the U of Washington Huskies were in town.  It was a glorious fall day with clear blue skies and awesome red & orange trees!

We started out the day by going for some coffee at Dutch Bros Coffee. 

After breakfast at the hotel, we drove near the U of Oregon campus and found parking in a lot for $10.  We walked alongside the street surrounding the stadium and checked out the sights.

Apparently the parking we found was cheap!

We found some early tailgaters.  But in general they did not let people into the parking lots until 4-5 hours prior to game time.  The game was at 5pm that night.

We got some photos in front of the stadium in different places.  In case you did not know, going to stadiums across the country is our THING.  We have been to over 41 stadiums in the USA.

After checking out the stadium, we drove to Aunt Diane’s house to meet up with everyone after they hiked.  We grabbed some lunch there at the house.  Then we hung out and watched some college football on the big TV. 

It was so nice out on the river, so we decided to go kayaking.  Luke’s brother Travis and his wife Daniela went fishing right on the property.

Aunt Diane has three kayaks and we hauled them out of storage, pumped them up, and put them on the back of her truck.

Todd and his dad rode on the back of the truck on the drive up the river to the dock.

Todd, Tim, and Amy put their life jackets on and got ready to get into the kayaks.

Off they went!

I waited for them to come by dock #1 to take photos of them again.

That house on the right is Aunt Diane’s house.  Could it be at a more picturesque setting?  I don’t think so!

I didn’t get to kayak because right after the three of them finished, it was time to go to the wineries!  The drive was an hour away.  I told you everything was an hour away!  Our first stop was at Chateau Lorane.  It was situated on top of a little lake.

Todd and I each tasted three wines.  They pour very little tiny sips of pourings there.  We did not purchase any.

Our next stop was King Estate Winery, where we had a tasting and our dinner.  The views there were spectacular!

The wines we tasted were on a table in the courtyard.

That’s our group!

Some in our group were more gregarious than others.

After the tasting we went inside for dinner.  Todd and I sat with Aunt Diane and her daughter (Todd’s cousin) Kim.

Tuna tartare appetizer.

I got a beet salad to start, and I shared it with Todd.

Then I got the pork belly mac & cheese.  Oh my!

Todd got fish & chips.

Dinner & chatting was a lot of fun!  Todd’s parents Sylvia & Tim with Sylvia’s sister Charlsie and her husband Dick.

Luke & Amy with Luke’s brother Travis and his wife Daniela.

Todd got an apple bake for dessert.

While I got a scoop of lavender strawberry ice cream.

It was a fantastic day and evening with family!  One that we won’t soon forget.

 

The next day (Sunday 10/19) was our flight back home to San Diego.  But before driving back to Portland airport, we had lunch at Fisherman’s Market in Eugene.

It was a fish market with a restaurant.  I got a captain’s plate with various fried seafood.

Todd got a grilled fish sandwich.

It was pretty tasty as our last meal before leaving.  We drove two hours to PDX, returned our car, and got on our flight back to San Diego.  We didn’t arrive home until 9pm.  We missed our Noodle so much!  And he was so happy to see us, even though Uncle Fred (our next door neighbor) took very good care of him.