Visiting Wine Country: Three Days in McMinnville

Our second resupply mission of 2023 to the Willamette Valley is now in the books; the first was just before Memorial Day as ODOT was removing the snow poles from the side of Highway 22. We traversed the Cascades to spend three days in McMinnville, our former home, to help guide our good friends Rob and Dyce on their first visit to wine country.

While accompanying them, Ann and I managed to resupply on wine, fruits and vegetables, seafood, and olive oil, items that are in short supply out in the high desert where we live. It was a great trip full of wonderful memories, but if truth be told, we're super happy to be back home in Bend. To quote Judy Garland, "There's no place like home." And while we're telling the truth, even though we lived there for just under five years, we really do prefer experiencing McMinnville as tourists rather than residents.

New Acquisitions from our Resupply Mission to McMinnville

Rob and Dyce left Bend a couple of days ahead of us and stayed after we left for another day. The week before they left, I sent them lists of my favorite wineries to visit in each of the sub-appellations. They own several restaurants in Florida and want to beef up their wine lists, so I tried to focus on wineries with sufficient production to distribute in Florida.

We accompanied them in Yamhill-Carlton and Eola-Amity Hills, while they visited other areas on their own before we arrived. We skipped Chehalem altogether as I have not found the wines their to really be to my palate, although they do produce some really great wine. I would have loved to have shown them around one of my favorites, the McMinnville AVA with its volcanic soil, but we left it to them to select the areas that they wanted to visit and Mac didn't make the list.

If I had to rank the sub-AVAs of the Willamette Valley (a futile exercise because there are outstanding wineries everywhere, including many that are not in any sub-AVA), it might go like this: Ribbon Ridge, Yamhill-Carlton, Eola-Amity Hills, McMinnville, Dundee Hills, Tualatin Hills, Laurelwood, and Chehalem. I've never had any wines labelled from the two newest: Mt. Pisgah and Lower Long Tom. Ask me to rank the AVAs tomorrow and you might get a different answer as the entire valley produces outstanding wine. The bias in my ranking: I am partial to volcanic soil over sedimentary, more on which later in this tale.

I was excited by this trip as it would be our first in-depth introduction to the amazing 2021 vintage, though many (most?) are still not yet released. I am blown away by the structure and the acidity of these wines. 2021 is another keeper and follows in the tradition of the odd years appealing to our palates in the past few vintages. Our palates prefer less fruit, less alcohol, more nuance, good tannic structure, and excellent acidity. This translates to us preferring cooler vintages over hotter. Heat boosts fruitiness and saps acidity.

Since 2010, we have loved 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021. For even years, 2010, 2014 and 2016 were quite good, though generally a bit fruit-forward for us. 2012 and 2018 were too hot and flabby across the board and we skipped them. 2020 is an oddball year in which rampant forest fires and the resultant smoke taint kept most producers out of the market. Those few wines that we have tasted from reputable producers, however, have been excellent and more than fairly priced.

Wednesday July 12: Two Dogs Taphouse, Humble Spirit

Our trip started in the early afternoon of Wednesday with an aim to arrive at our B&B late afternoon, just before the dinner hour. The trip over was uneventful but totally different than in late May. The transition from the high desert scrub growing under stately Ponderosa Pines on the dry east side of the Cascades always contrasts so vividly in my mind with the lusher Douglas Fir-dominated forest on the lush wet west side of the mountains.

As we coasted down the west slopes of the Cascades, the road sides were covered in blooming sweet peas, red elderberries, western spirea, and fireweed, vast swathes of fireweed especially in the burned over areas near Detroit Lake. I feel fortunate to have seen my first ever of the tall local lily known as the Washington or Cascades Lily.

Our first stop after the three-and-a-half hour trip was at our favorite tap house, Two Dogs, in downtown Mac, just a handful of blocks from our B&B. Two beers and a shared sandwich later, Ann and I decided to surprise our former neighbor Barb by dropping in unannounced. After spending a half an hour with Barb, we located our B&B and got ourselves ready for dinner.

Two Dogs: Our Favorite Tap House in Mac

Surprise Visit with Barb and Great Pyrenees Sierra

Our B&B Was Cute Enough

Rob and Dyce were staying at the new super-luxe Tributary Hotel, on 3rd Street at Ford above and abutting the space that housed Two Dogs Taphouse when we lived in McMinnville. Two Dogs has since relocated to 4th and Evans. The plan for the evening was to join the guys for a glass of wine in the cellar beneath ōkta Restaurant on the ground floor (the hotel rooms are on the second and higher floors) before heading out to dinner at Thistle.

Earlier in the afternoon, Dyce texted to tell us that because of staffing problems, Thistle had called to say that they were not opening for the evening. This really came as no surprise to me after witnessing the hot mess that Thistle had become while we lived in McMinnville. As it has gone steadily downhill since opening in 2011, I would have chosen another restaurant. Fate did that for us. Dining at Thistle aside, I would have loved to have sat in the side bar and had one of Patrick's great cocktails; he is the best bartender in Mac.

Dyce asked for additional recommendations and we suggested first Pura Vida, which now closes at 5pm, and then Red Hills Kitchen, which is now permanently closed. Man, COVID did a number on restaurants, making me truly happy that I am no longer in the business. We suggested other restaurants in Carlton, but the guys did not want to drive to dinner and I certainly get that. Ultimately, we chose to go to a brand new restaurant named Humble Spirit where they had dined the night before. We were able to get a table at 8:15.

Around 6:30, Ann and I set out on foot for the 8-block walk to the Tributary. Our path there led us by one of Ann's favorite trees in all of Mac, a Giant Sequoia at 5th and Galloway right next to the jail. For its unique shape, she calls it a Morel Tree. We never fail to be impressed by this relatively young, but already enormous tree. Ultimately, we found our way to the hotel's cellar wine bar, a fantastic space that we failed to photograph, for an exceptional glass of Crémant de Loire. It is a stunning place with prices to match.

Ann's Favorite "Morel Tree," a Giant Sequoia

Giant Sequoia, Very Tall Human for Scale

Just after 8:00, we set out for the three-minute walk down 3rd Street on a still very warm July evening, our destination the new Humble Spirit restaurant, a restaurant that Ann and I had not heard of. As we approached it, it started dawning on me that we had been to this location before. As soon as we opened the door, we recognized immediately that Humble Spirit occupies the space that housed the former 411, a restaurant that all of McMinnville loved.

The saga of 411 is sad indeed. In early 2021, much respected 411 owner Ricky Drakeley collapsed and died in his restaurant to the dismay of the McMinnville community. Ricky was a great bartender and Ann and I loved to have cocktails in the small L-shaped bar whose walls were lined with a vast collection of whiskies. There was no finer place in town to sample whiskey.

The new incarnation, Humble Spirit, has seen renovation into a much lighter, much more modern space that is truly comfortable and attractive. The focus is farm-to-table, the restaurant having its own farm near Carlton. As a high-end fine dining chef, I am almost never impressed by restaurants that play in the farm-to-table space. I've been jaded by way too many buzzword-laden menus and poor execution.

The menu is limited and just from reading it, I wasn't terribly excited. However, I was open to try anything because Rob and Dyce, who both know good food, were raving about their dinner from the night before. We let them guide our choice of dishes. Shortly into dinner, the skeptic in me was silenced: our meal was truly delicious and extremely well executed. I am so happy for McMinnville. Ricky would be pleased.

Excellent Brick House Ribbon Ridge Chardonnay

Oregon Bay Shrimp Rolls

Roasted Hazelnuts with Beef Bacon

Meatballs with Madeira Mushroom Ragù

Foreground: Braised Vegetable Ragout with Poached Egg
Background: Exceptional Farfalle Pasta with Green Garlic Cream

Not shown, the photographer being too busy eating to do his job, was a really excellent albacore confit, topped with a loose scattering of impeccably fresh celery, fennel, and cucumber. A drizzle of a mayo-based dressing finished what was the second best dish of the evening. For me, far and away the best dish of the night was a dish I would have never ordered, farfalle pasta with green garlic cream, oyster mushrooms, and ham. Farfalle is such an unexciting cut for me, but this dish was incredibly well cooked. I could have eaten two bowls myself. Kudos to the pasta cook!

Nightcap at Stunning Tributary Hotel
This is not Public Space; This is Rob and Dyce's Suite

After a highly unnecessary nightcap back at the guys' hotel, Ann and I weaved our way back to our B&B, fully sated and totally overserved. The next morning would be a rough start for all of us!

Thursday July 13: Flag & Wire, McMinnville Farmers Market, Hotel Oregon, WillaKenzie, Pizza Capo

Our well-intentioned plan from the day before was to meet at Crescent Café for breakfast. In the morning and by mutual consent of all four parties, we decided to scrap that and postpone our meet-up until 11, when the farmers market opened. Truth be told, I'm really good with this because I had the worst breakfast of my life at Crescent Café on our visit in May, a horrible hash of undercooked and limp potatoes with nearly raw pork belly.

After Ann and I were awake and running on perhaps 5 cylinders of 8, we decided to get a cup of coffee. Surprisingly for a fairly cultured PNW town, McMinnville does not have a lot of good coffee. Sure there are multiple corporate Dutch Bros and Starbuck's, but places that make a great cup are very scarce. However, McMinnville is blessed to have Flag & Wire in the Granary District in the same building as Grain Station Brew Works.

Rehydrating at Flag & Wire

Funky Décor at Flag & Wire

After coffee, we made the quick 4-block walk over to 3rd and Ford to meet the guys. From there, it was down to 2nd and Cowls for the McMinnville Downtown Farmers Market (not to be confused with the year-round Saturday Market at the Grange in SW Mac).

Living in McMinnville, we were spoiled to shop at the market each Thursday in season when local farmers from the breadbasket of Oregon display their excellent produce. Despite having two markets in Bend, neither compares to the downtown market in Mac. That is the key sacrifice that we made in moving to Bend: trading the bounty of one of the country's richest agricultural areas for the innumerable outdoor recreation opportunities of the high desert.

Wandering the Market

Produce on Display

After walking the length and breadth of the market, Rob and Dyce had stocked up on cheese and pickles and we had bought a big sack full of vegetables from Even Pull Farm (sugar snaps, snow peas, tiny squashes, cavolo nero, and two big heads of sprouting cauliflower). We left the market around noon for lunch (breakfast for Ann and me).

Because it was such a beautiful day and because it was Rob and Dyce's first visit to McMinnville, I thought that we should do something super touristy, something that everyone coming to Mac ought to try. We walked the scant few blocks to McMenamin's Hotel Oregon (3rd and Evans) and then made the long winding slog up the stairs to the roof-top bar.

The views on a gorgeous day are wonderful and more than offset the crappy food and beer, not to mention a kitchen that works at a snail's pace. Although the food has never been very good there, this time, 45 minutes after we ordered, they managed to stoop to new lows in serving me the worst burger I have had in years.

Lunch on the Roof of the Hotel Oregon
Northern End of Eola-Amity Hills (upper left)

After lunch, we had reservations at WillaKenzie estate for a tasting, so we set out the back way out of McMinnville (Westside Rd) through the really cute wine town of Carlton and thence to Yamhill, where Ann and I lived for two months when we first moved to Oregon. It brought back a slew of memories to see the little house that we rented, right on the side of highway 47 in downtown Yamhill.

I arrived at WillaKenzie knowing that I wanted to stock up on their Pinot Noir from the Triple Black Slopes parcel, the parcel that I think makes the very best wine there. I have been drinking Pinots from this winery for the better part of 30 years and year in and year out, the quality is there. I was fearful that the quality would take a dive once Jackson Family Wines acquired WillaKenzie some years back, but that fear was totally unfounded. 

Tasting on the Deck at WillaKenzie

A Great Experience with Great Friends

We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon on the deck just outside the tasting room, looking out on the vineyards to the east of the tasting room. We were serenaded all afternoon by a male Spotted Towhee who kept popping up on top of trees and even the hedge surrounding the deck to let us all know that it was his territory. Both a Red Tail Hawk and a Turkey Vulture did eye-level passes by us. WillaKenzie occupies such a delightful spot in Yamhill County.

Say what you will about Jackson Family Wines and the California invasion of the Willamette Valley (an incendiary topic in the winemaking community from which I am retired), I have not noticed any drop off in hospitality or quality at either of their flagship wineries, WillaKenzie or Gran Moraine. If anything, the situation may have improved under new ownership, thanks no doubt in large part to GM Eugenia Keegan who is a fixture in the Valley. I also note that nobody really seems to complain all that much about the French wineries operating in Oregon, notably Domaine Drouhin and Maison Jadot.

After we loaded up our purchases, we drove back to McMinnville and unloaded them in preparation for a 6:30 table at Pizza Capo. Capo, which is now wildly popular, is near and dear to us. We have known Scott, Jeremy, and Kyle for years, ever since they started as a mobile pizza oven at the now defunct Allegory Brewing (now Foreland). Those days of eating pies and drinking beers in the fresh air were awesome and while the charm is not the same since they went brick and mortar, Capo is a must-visit on each trip back to our former home.

An Unusual Wine: 2021 Flâneur Pinot Meunier

Arancino Classico (left) and
Stracciatella with Tomatoes, Pickled Garlic Scapes, and Prosciutto

Dyce and Rob were excited to dine at Capo because they were doing research for their Italian restaurants in Florida and because who doesn't love awesome Neapolitan pizza? For research purposes, we ordered way too many pies, four to be exact, and had tons of leftovers. The Spicy Salame pizza has been on the menu since day one and still kills it in my book. The AC wasn't working on a hot night and that put a damper on both our evening and our appetites. We might have lingered to finish our last glasses of wine, but not in that heat.

Four Pies: Overkill in the Name of Research

Walking in Downtown McMinnville

Ann, as she is wont to do any time she is in the vicinity of an ice cream parlor, insisted on, stuffed as we were, going into Serendipity Ice Cream (3rd and Evans, directly opposite the Hotel Oregon) for dessert. Lactose does not sit well with me and so I don't eat ice cream, however after having been roasted in Capo, sitting in the cold AC of the ice cream parlor was a blessed relief. Ice cream finished and having partied until near midnight the night before, we all were hungry for an early night and some decent shut eye, so we parted company after dessert and returned to our respective temporary abodes.

Friday July 14: Cristom, Osteria Rosmarino, Evesham Wood, HiFi Wine Bar

Friday was our day to visit a couple of wineries in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA south of McMinnville. I recommended a larger winery with good distribution in Florida, Cristom, and a smaller winery for personal consumption, Evesham Wood, whose wines Ann and I have drunk for many years. First up was Cristom on the east side of the hills about 25 minutes south of town.

Having carried Cristom wines on the wine list at my restaurant, I felt like their distribution wines were priced well for the restaurant trade and might be good candidates for Rob and Dyce's wine lists. Cristom certainly welcomed them (and us) warmly with a tour of the vineyards and then a private tasting. In my experience, not all wineries are so hospitable to those in the restaurant trade. Clearly, Cristom wants to do business with Rob and Dyce.

Cristom Tasting Room

In Cristom's Eileen Vineyard
Looking at Dai Crisp's Renowned Temperance Hill Vineyard

So, we have a thing in wine country called Pinot Camp, a yearly multi-day gathering that is just concluded for 2023. Its mission is to educate those in the wine trade about what makes our wines so special. One of the more fascinating aspects is that at one or more vineyards each year, the vineyard owners will cut a trench with a backhoe, exposing the soil layers below, giving campers a much more detailed understanding of soil structure and its impact on flavors.

During our driving and walking tour of the various parcels, Mitch Conley, our guide for the morning, took us by the Pinot Camp pit at the top of the vineyard where we could see the soil that gives Cristom wines their structure and flavors. It was instructive to see not only the large basalt boulders, but also the compressed volcanic ash surrounding those boulders, that contribute to this highly porous and well-drained soil.

There are two broad classes of soil in the Willamette Valley, volcanic and sedimentary. The valley has been overrun by both lava and water for ages. The higher land tends to be made of basalt and other volcanic stone, while the lower slopes that were underwater periodically during the Missoula floods are largely compressed lake floor mud.

Some vineyards, especially in middle Eola-Amity Hills, will have stripes of both soil types. Mud would sediment on top of lava, then lava would flow over that, followed by more mud, and so on. Then as the Juan de Fuca plate pushed under the North American plate, these horizontal layers were tilted vertically on edge yielding alternating stripes of each soil type along the ground.

The wines from these two differing soils, to a trained palate, taste entirely different. In blind tastings, my palate resonates more with wines from volcanic soils such as what we see below at Cristom, although there are delightful wines made from all soil types. 

The Pinot Camp Pit: Basalt Boulders and Compressed Volcanic Ash

Looking East to Mount Hood

From Cristom, we drove about a half an hour into Newberg to continue with Rob and Dyce's research into what other Italian restaurants are doing. They booked a table at Osteria Rosmarino, even though chef Dario Pisoni was on holiday in Italy. I've met Dario a few times and had a few samples of his food, but we had never eaten at his relatively new restaurant in Newberg. Ann and I did not eat breakfast in anticipation of a large midday meal.

This would be the second time on this trip that I would be impressed by a restaurant and I cannot stress how infrequently this happens. I could pick nits (wild boar ragù too winy and needed a sturdier pasta, prosciutto sliced too thick, burrata added nothing to the salad), but the overall execution and flavor were excellent. This is some of the best pasta I have had in ages, including pasta that I have made myself. They even made a lasagne that I like and I usually find lasagne uniformly awful.

Porchetta with Salad

Prosciutto and Burrata on Salad

Outstanding Pasta: Two Wild Boar Ragùs, Super Light Lasagne,
and my Favorite, Bucatini all'Amatriciana

Wonderfully Light Lasagne
Thin Sheets of Pasta, Ragù alla Bolognese, and Besciamella

After lunch, we had a few spare minutes before departing for our 3pm reservation (post-COVID, almost all wineries have gone to reservation-only tastings) at one of our favorite wineries, Evesham Wood just north of West Salem on Wallace Road. We took advantage of this slight gap in our schedule to introduce Rob and Dyce to Andrew Turner at Valley Wine Merchants in Newburg just around the corner from the osteria. Ann and I do a lot of business with Andrew, who has connections with a lot of tiny but excellent producers.

Leaving Newberg, we headed south back down Wallace Road towards Evesham. Although Ann and I have been by it on scores of trips to and through Salem, we have never stopped. Our mission on this trip was to perhaps purchase a case of 2021 "Le Puits Sec" Pinot Noir from their estate vineyard named in French after a dry well. Alas, Evesham will not release this wine until September, but the Eola-Amity Hills Cuvée of purchased fruit and a little estate fruit is already out and quite delicious. We should know: there's already a case in our cooler back in Bend.

Tasting at Evesham; Mt. Hood and Oregon White Oaks

Although it was Pinot Noir that we went to taste, the very first wine that we tasted, a white, elicited "Wow!" exclamations around the table. We and Rob and Dyce walked away with a case each of 2022 Haden Fig Pinot Blanc, the star of our tasting. Haden Fig is the label of Evesham Wood winemaker Erin Nuccio. Both labels are part of the tasting at Evesham.

This delightfully crisp summer wine, carrying the greater Willamette Valley AVA because it comes from the South Salem Hills which are not a part of any sub-appellation, may be the best young Pinot Blanc I have ever tasted. The best Pinot Blanc I ever tasted was from Ribbon Ridge, an Ayres 2005 that winemaker Brad McLeroy gifted to us in 2013. That was one of the best wines I have ever tasted in my life. This Haden Fig could rival it in a few years; ours will not make it that long however!

After our necessarily short outdoor tasting on account of the uncomfortable heat of the afternoon, we headed back to McMinnville for a brief rest before heading to HiFi Wine Bar for noshes and wine. Our respite included pregaming it in Rob and Dyce's delightful suite at the Tributary with some Résonance rosé that they bought before we arrived in McMinnville. Résonance is a beautiful vineyard just outside Carlton and an Oregon project of Jacques Lardière and Maison Jadot.

Bright Cherry Résonance Rosé: A Little Aperitif

Rob Relaxing Before Dinner

We planned to end our day at our favorite wine bar, HiFi, for some light noshes (after a big lunch) and wine. Earlier in the afternoon, Ann reached out to Ben at HiFi and asked if he would reserve the front sofa and table for us, which he did. HiFi is notable for their collection of vinyl that they spin all night long as well as a wine list of esoteric wines aimed at the wine trade centered on McMinnville. It is not unusual at all for the place to be full of winemakers looking to taste something other than local wines.

Selfie by the Selfie Queen

Selfie Queen Taking the Previous Photo

Chips, Crème Fraîche, and Caviar with our Champagne

Côte-Rôtie, the Best Wine of the Night

After dinner, we said our goodbyes to Rob and Dyce. We would be leaving in the morning after making stops for olive oil, breakfast, wine, seafood, and produce to take back to Bend with us.

Saturday July 15: Red Hills Kitchen, Provisioning in Dundee/Newberg

Saturday was an emotionally difficult day for me.

Ann and I almost cancelled our trip to McMinnville because my long-ill father died the previous week, on the 6th. With my blessing, my younger brother scheduled Dad's funeral for the 15th, even though this date was already on the calendar for Ann and me as our travel day back to Bend. My brother and sister have immovable events starting the 22nd, weddings and schlepping kids to colleges, not to mention that Juco soccer season starts for my coach-brother on August 1st.

After much struggle, Ann and I decided to carry on with our travel plans because we had just seen Dad and said our goodbyes in June and because we really could not cancel our lodging in McMinnville. It wasn't the easiest decision I would ever make, but when I asked myself what my father would have wanted us to do in this situation, it was clear to me that he would have wanted us to carry on with our lives.

With my Dad's funeral service weighing heavily on my mind, we started our trip back from McMinnville to Bend via Dundee and Newberg. Our first stop was a quick jaunt up the hill near Dayton in the direction of Domaine Serene to buy some olive oil from Durant/Red Ridge Farm. In a stroke of unfortunate luck, the farm was closed for the day for a super-luxe wedding. Coincidentally enough, Dyce and Rob went there later in the day to purchase oil. But they saw someone they knew from Bend catering the affair and were gifted some olive oil to take home. Good for them! We bought some at Northwest Fresh Seafood later in the morning, after striking out during breakfast at Red Hills Market.

Outstanding Oregon Olive Oil

After coming down the steep hill from Durant, we made the super sketchy left turn onto 99-W which was packed in both directions with 55mph Saturday morning traffic. Our destination was one of our favorite stops in Dundee, Red Hills Market. We aimed to get both breakfast and some Durant Olive oil. Alas for us, the place was packed wall-to-wall with young women (clearly tourists) causing me to stand on line for 20 minutes to order our breakfast, which came out of the kitchen with almost no delay. Moreover, all the Durant olive oil they had was flavored (lemon, rosemary, jalapeño), not what we were looking for. If I want to flavor olive oil, I can do that myself.

Coffee at Red Hills Market

Ann's Good Looking Breakfast Sandwich

After breakfast, we made the 3- or 4-minute drive to Newberg where we stopped back in again at Valley Wine Merchants to catch up with Andrew, who was on vacation on our last trip in May, and to pick up a case of random bottles. 

We've found some phenomenal winners in this fashion. Andrew knows our palate and suggests wines for us. We take them back and make purchase decisions after having tasted them in the comfort of our own home. Andrew ships our purchases to us, one-day via UPS in the spring and fall. Summers are too hot to ship and the passes are often impassable in the snows of our long winters. 

After buying a case of wine, we moved on to the perishable purchases for the day, stopping first at Northwest Fresh Seafood and then at Ray's Produce. At Northwest, we were able to buy a couple bottles of Durant olive oil plus sablefish, halibut cheeks, and pink shrimp (often called Oregon Bay Shrimp when in fact, they come from offshore in the Pacific). There is just no place to get high quality seafood in Bend.

Also, while produce from the Willamette Valley is available in Bend, we do pay a premium for its transport across the Cascades. At Ray's, we picked up a flat of local blueberries for about a third less than we would have paid in Central Oregon. Blueberries, so commonly planted all around McMinnville, are one of my favorite fruits. I love to snack on them or have them with my morning oats.

Perhaps my most favorite fruit are blackberries, but not the commercially raised ones or the hybrids such as marionberries, boysenberries, olallieberries, or tayberries. My real favorites are the wild ones, the Himalayan blackberries that have taken over the Pacific Northwest. A highlight of our summer morning walks used to be stopping briefly at our local roadside berry patches and stuffing face. We miss that in Central Oregon. Alas, while there is a ton of green fruit hanging everywhere, the berries are still a long way from being ripe.

Our purchases in Newberg complete, we headed south across the Willamette River, down I-5 to Salem, and from there east across the Cascades back home. Arriving in Bend without too much incident (other than a miles-long backup crossing the Cascades behind a slow-climbing class-A motorcoach), we were tired and extremely happy to be back home. Vacations are fun, but stressful, and it is always great to be back home.

We'd be terribly remiss if we did not thank Rob and Dyce for their friendship, companionship, hospitality, and generosity.