From Boise we headed on up into Oregon, again we were trying to avoid the snowstorms predicted to happen in Montana. Our last stop before checking into the campground for the summer was in Stanfield, OR at the Pilot RV Park!! How funny that I just mentioned our truck driving history last week and here we are staying at a truck stop RV Park. I didn’t even know there was such a thing!! I remember two things about this park. First, you had to drive through the truck stop parking

As you know, things do not always go according to plan, and sometimes you have to make changes along the way in order to adapt. Shawn saw a winter storm in the forecast along our initial route, so decided we should take a detour through Boise, Idaho. This was going to add another day of travel, but we had the time. A couple nights later we ended up at one of the last open spots at a campground in Boise. Wouldn’t you know that there was a winery only a couple miles down the ro

"If we were meant to stay in one place we'd have roots instead of feet!!" - Rachel Wolchin . The great thing about going to new summer locations is taking routes of travel that we haven’t driven before. [at least not since way back in our trucking over the road days] This means we are driving through new towns, with new sights to explore and new wineries to find and visit!! Haha!! Shawn usually plans out our stops before we head out so we can find and reserve our camping spot

So, when I first read out about Garage East Wine Bar I thought it was a little far to drive to taste wine. It was all the way down in Gilbert, a little over an hour away. However, I do so love going to new places and trying new wines that I somehow convinced Shawn to make the trip with me. I’m sure we also had plans to get lunch, and Shawn [usually] humors me and my adventurous wine seeking spirit!! I also thought, solely based on the name, that the theme would be about garag

Once upon a time I was really into trying to discover and then frequent interesting and fun looking speakeasy. [p.s. I still am… hahaha] When I found out about Kazimierz World Wine Bar in Scottsdale and that was also a speakeasy, well you know I just had to go!! I’ll say finding the entrance was quite fun in and of itself, but maybe that was by design?? LOL So when you stepped inside it almost felt like a different world, a dusky atmosphere immersed in a medieval times theme.

Let me start off by saying that until now I have mostly only written about wine bars, wineries, and vineyards. However, there are so many great places that could fall into one of these categories, but just do not. The Sicilian Butcher is one of these places, it is an awesome Italian restaurant [that has turned into a chain restaurant] founded in Arizona in 2017. It may not be a wine bar "per se" but you would never know it by the wine selection, or the way the charcuterie boa

I remember heading to a shopping center called The Scottsdale Quarter this day. The Quarter is an absolutely beautiful [as seen below] luxury, upscale, open-air shopping center in Scottsdale. We had a balloon friend in town visiting, Chad Cassell. He needed to stop by an Apple store and there just so happened to be one at The Quarter. I heard or read about another self-pour wine bar in this very shopping center, so I thought why not kill two birds with one stone!! While Chad

So I know that a wine friend initially told me about this wine bar, a place where you can pour your own wine tasting, but I am not 100% sure exactly who that was. I think it was another traveler I was working with at Banner Thunderbird, Jenny Moran, but both of our contracts were getting ready to end so we didn't have time to go. Plus, Shawn and I were getting ready to leave for the summer and there just wasn’t enough time to go check it out. When we got back into Phoenix, [J

Let me introduce you to my good friend Barbara Hampton. Barb was a Pre-Op/PACU nurse when I met her while on an assignment at Core Institute Specialty Hospital. [affectionately known to those of us who have worked there as CISH] I would always tell Barb that she “takes me places… I’ve never been.” [country song by Mark Wills] She would find the most beautiful brunch and lunch places for us to meet up, some of which have become my favorite spots!! I’m thankful for all of the m

Ok guys, dig deep now… do you remember when my sister, Lisa was visiting last year and we did that epic loop drive that included a wine...

Hey y’all!! Still here in Woodinville, at our third and final stop of the day… O Fidelitas. Isn’t it crazy how you can have almost...

Hey guys, welcome back to Woodinville, Washington!! Now that we have last week’s winery safely behind us, we’re not going to be traveling...

I had always heard that the quaint little town of Woodinville had many wineries in which to choose from. Come to find out, the wine...

As I’ve said many times in the past, I usually “just happen” to come across most of my wine tasting venues, but I honestly have no...

As with many of my winery adventures, I found The Wine Shack completely by accident. You see I heard about this amazing 9-mile beach in...

Hello from Kalispel, Montana!! As I mentioned in last week’s blog, we are visiting my #pilotwife friend Deb, and her family… also known...

Welcome back to Enumclaw, Washington for the summer!! This time I landed myself an assignment a little closer to “home” in Tacoma at St...

I really can't start talking about Jamie’s Wine Bar without first telling you a little bit about Wrigley Mansion. [the place where...

How totally awesome is it to find out that in a shopping center [Desert Ridge Marketplace] where we [Shawn and I] have been going for...

Welcome to Portland!! If my memory serves me correctly, we have a pretty busy day ahead of us!! Thanks to my extensive and genius...