Whoa, it's 2011!

So apparently I'm not a very good blogger.  I guess that is either a tribute to my dedication to my career, my general laziness...or both. Not sure which.  Regardless, I'm back and I have some updates. First I will wrap up the winery details for you, and then I'll tell all the new and wonderful beer stories you have been dying to hear.

Harvest ran LATE. The weird summer weather in the Willamette Valley caused the fruit harvest to be delayed by about 3 weeks. We didn't wrap up harvest till a couple days before Thanksgiving, which is unheard of.  But in the end, the flavors that were coming out in the wine were awesome, and I think we narrowly missed a huge opportunity for disaster.  We brought in just over 300 tons of fruit, when normally the vineyard produces over 400 tons.  Considering that some other wineries in the valley produced NO fruit, this is AMAZING.  Chris Mazepink really knows how to work the land, and made some great decisions that will ultimately lead to a great wine (that I got to help make!).

I made some great friends this summer and as far as new beginnings in new places goes, I couldn't have predicted the amount of awesomeness I would experience before the new year. Not only that, but the hands on experience I gained is so incredibly valuable, and I am very confident that I will soon be working full time in a brewery.  There's no way to know how long it'll take, but I am taking every approach possible to apply my new found skills in Eugene's unique local brewing culture.

About 4 weeks ago, I called Oakshire Brewing to see about dropping off a resume.  Sheerly by accident, I spoke to the head brewer, Joe Jasper.  He told me that they were in fact not hiring, but did offer volunteer positions on the days they bottled beer. He invited me to come help and I have been down to lend a hand 4 times now.  They do this once a week, which is perfect, since I am also working at another local spot, Track Town Pizza.  They have been very supportive of my ambitions, and are very flexible with adjusting my schedule so I can help at the brewery.

Oakshire is neat because they are quite a bit smaller, and they produce some amazing Amber and and a fantastic NW Pale Ale.  Their philosophy is "Humble brewers of delicious beer."  I love it!  They compost their own spent grain, and have a large urban garden.  They keep chickens, and really grasp the sustainable approach to making beer. For now, I'm enjoying being a small part of their well thought out operation, and sure wouldn't mind working for them in the future.  Till then, I'll just keep helping out wherever I can be useful.

Going Home (kind of)

I'm currently sitting in the airport, and am waiting for my flight.  It's been a very eventful last month.  I think I've done a lot of growing, and am certainly ready to have Shelli here with me.  I'll be arriving in Mesa this afternoon, and will definitely be missing the 74 degree weather here in Eugene.  I have made quite a few great friends since I have arrived, and all of which seem to be the long term kind of friends.

I have definitely been allocating my time here in a way that I didn't really miss much.  From working in a winery, to dancing at a gay bar; biking around the city, and drinking around a bonfire as an extra in an indie film;  learning how disc golf works, and exploring the local eateries...I pretty much got it all in there!  I really have to thank my housemates that I roomed with, because Adriene and Will really showed me a good time- I really owe it to them!

I'm excited to get back and see all my friends again before we head off into the sunset (or sunrise-whatever), and am trying to brace myself for the emotional roller-coaster that I'm about to jump on.  It'll be good to see everyone, though.  I've got three and a half days to get as much arizona in as possible, and then we are heading out!  It's pretty crazy for me to think about that, because it's actually a reality-not just an idea any more- I've been waiting to do this for a very, very long time.

This isn't the end of my journey though...I still have another 1300 miles to drive, and 6 weeks of Wine Harvest to report on.  More to come!

Getting broken in...

*Note*  This was supposed to be posted a while ago, but was saved as a draft instead...Better late than never :)

I've been working at the winery for a week now, and it's finally Friday night!  It's so nice to think about NOT working for two days.  This last week has been a real learning experience.  I have been working with the crew on getting last year's vintage into bottles.  We bottle about 35 pallets of cases of wine each day.  To put it into perspective, that equates to 60 bottles of wine per minute...That's a LOT of wine coming out of the bottling line- just as fast as you can imagine.  My main job has been putting the cases of freshly bottled wine onto pallets and wrapping them with shrink wrap...not very exciting, but it's still experience in a winery.

I've been meeting some really great people, and have been brushing up on my spotty Spanish.  There are about 5 out of 20 people that speak fluent English, so I'll be working on my Spanish in my free time.  I have been casually been getting to know the owner of the winery, and I think he likes me all right.  My direct boss, Chris, has been great at teaching by directing.  He doesn't really answer questions when I have them, but I think that's for the better, as I learn best by actually doing.  I've had a chance to use a lot of my warehouse experience, and it's been for the best.  I'm also pretty sure that I might be getting trained on the coveted forklift.  At the the end of the day today, Chris told me to go watch one of the other guys fill up the propane tank that fuels the forklift.  This is exciting, because it means I will be able to do more things around the winery during harvest :)

The Winery

So much happened today!  I don't really know where to begin, so I'll try to keep it in chronological order.  So, I didn't really head out of the house till about noon-ish, and made my way out to Monroe, where I'll be spending most of my summer.  It only took about 30 min to get there, which is nice.  It's pretty much a straight shot, and is a very pretty drive.  Outside of Eugene, it's mostly farmland, where they were harvesting this year's wheat crop.  I saw plenty of horses and cows grazing on the picturesque pastures.

Upon arriving at the winery, I was welcomed by 145 acres of rolling hills covered in miles and miles of rows of vines.  It was absolutely stunning.  I made my way to the tasting room, where there was a very pleasant woman named Ginger there to greet me.  We briefly chatted about the ins and outs of shipping wine to other states.  After our brief conversation, I met the head of the winery, Chris Mazepink, who showed me around the estate, and helped me get more familiar with where everything was.  He was filtering there estate Pino Grigio, It smelled FANTASTIC as small amounts spilled out onto the winery floor while pumping it out of the fermentation tank...I wanted to just stick my head in and breath in the aroma.  From there, he took me to where they store all the barrels that they have shipped in from france.  The barrels cost about $1000 each, and after about 8 vintages, they sell them to various companies for about $25 each.

I had to fill out a bit of paperwork, and did so in the laboratory.  In the lab, I met Kim.  Kim is an intern lab technician, who has a degree in forensic science.  She told me a little bit about her story, and I really look forward to learning some of the science behind the wine making process from her.  between her and Chris, I believe I have a LOT I can learn, and I really look forward to working and having some good chats with them both.

After touring the winery, I took a drive up the narrow gravel road through the actual vineyard.  The vines were being pruned by the workers and everything looked very well kept.  Upon reaching the top of the hill, I could see for MILES and MILES.  Chris mentioned that on a clear day, you can actually see the snow capped Cascade mountain ranges.  I examined some of the vines, and found that the grapes were still quite small (see picture below).  I was tempted to pick one to give it a taste, but I knew I would just get a mouth full of sour grape flavor- so I just let them be...Their days are numbered anyway.

Overall, this was the best day here in Oregon so far.  The thought of helping make something, that from vine to bottle only travels less than a mile, is very exciting to me.  I can't wait to get busy in that winery!

Here are some pictures of the sights I saw today, including some blueberry bushes on an organic blueberry farm just outside of town:

Looking down the hill of vines to the winery.

Baby Grapes

I think the vines bring out the color in my skin...

Day 3 in Oregon

Sorry I haven't updated sooner...I've been busy getting to know Eugene! I'm all settled in my room, and have been getting to know my room mates. I got pretty lucky with this house- I am sharing it with 3 other people. It's a pretty awesome dynamic going on here. Everyone here is a student of some sort, and each has a really interesting story. One of the girls is studying Arabic, and is going to Tunisia, Africa next month to study abroad, and is also fluent in French. Will has a business degree (I think), and is working as a personal assistant for a "Serial Entrepreneur" who has a newfound love for booking flights on private jets. The other girl is working on her master's degree in special education.

We went grocery shopping yesterday, and got a bunch of fresh produce. They pretty much share all the food in the house, so we just split the grocery bill three ways. Adrienne likes to cook, just as I do, and with the asian market less than a mile away, I'm sure we will be making some great dinners. We have talked about making a Thai dish soon, and I look forward to learning some new cooking techniques.

It's way green here, and the colors are pretty overwhelming coming from the most brown and dead state in the US. I was actually riding my bike, and saw on the asphalt what looked to be cherries. I thought at first that someone might have dropped their groceries, but after looking above me, I realized that they were growing from the tree above me. After sampling a fresh picked cherry, I realized that there weren't cherries at all- They were baby plumbs of some sort. I've never tasted anything so sweet and juicy!

I'm headed down to the winery today, and will be filling out some preliminary paperwork and getting a quick tour.  I'm pretty dang excited to check it out and meet the crew.  Maybe I can sneak in some fishing while I'm in Monroe... I hear that the river there has some decent trout fishing- We'll see.  I'll definitely be taking some pictures and possibly videos of the area up there, and I'll post them tonight or tomorrow for you guys to see :)

Well enough writing for now...I'll let some of the pictures I took do the talking.

Me under a tree (Literally)

The California Coast

Driving through the Redwood Forest

Yep...Those are Elk!

The City of Eugene

The garden in our back yard

I'll post more pictures as I take them, and I'm sure I'll have more stories to come!

Day 2 - San Francisco

It's 7:30am in San Francisco, and I just woke up.  I'm sipping my coffee in my hotel room and recollecting my thoughts from the day before.  The hostel I was planning on staying in was completely booked- which is okay because I got a better deal on a clean queen bed in a Marirott thanks to our friend who is an employee.  The hotel was a little farther than I wanted to drive, but I'm here, and I'm well.  I still feel a little tired from yesterday's drive, but i think this bold black potion might do the trick.

I left Phoenix yesterday morning at 6:00am.  With only one stop in Monterey Bay for dinner with my old friends Nick and Kat, I made it to SF by about 11:00pm.  Needless to say, I was tired from the long day of driving.  To make things more interesting, the night before I left I had the most restless sleep I think I have ever experienced.  I guess the excitement and anxiety really got the best of me.  On the bright side, the same excitement and anxiety kept me awake while I was driving...I felt like a zombie, but it worked to my advantage!

I saw lots of great scenery yesterday.  Quite an array of landscapes indeed!  From the deserts of Arizona, to the windmills in Indio, on to the vineyards of Paso Robles, and finally the Pacific coast (Monterey and San Francisco).  I have a few pictures for your viewing pleasure

I still have about 10 hours of driving, and I'm enjoying relaxing in the hotel room a little longer than I probably should.  I'll be driving up the Oregon coast today, and eventually landing in Eugene.  It's quite a ways away, but I'll be there soon enough.  On the way, I'll be passing through the Redwood Forest, and should have LOTS of pictures and videos to share soon enough.  

Oyster Point, San Francisco 

2 Days Left!!

It's Friday, and there are 2 days left before I depart.  I'm trying to keep on top of everything that needs to be done before I go, and today happens to be car day.  I replaced a tire on the Jeep, and am working on getting the Civic road ready.  The little red wagon is getting 2 new tires and an alignment...possibly more- we'll see what it needs.

We are all finished moving out of the house, and have all our stuff stored in Shelli's mom and dad's garage- Thanks Guy and Mary!  We had a huge crew of friends helping us get everything packed and moved last Sunday, and we actually got it all in one day.  I spent about 7 hours on Monday cleaning and getting the place ready for inspection by Freddie Mac.  Thanks to our diligent efforts, I was able to score a check for relocation assistance from the law firm- Also known as "Cash for Keys"---BONUS!!!

Now that it's coming down to the wire, best way I can describe how I feel is excitement mixed with a touch of nervousness.  I'm excited because its a huge change that we are both totally ready for.  I'm nervous because I really don't know what to expect when I get there.  I'm confident that everything will work out just fine, but the uncertainty is a bit of a killer.  I just hope I'm prepared for it.  I know I'm not the first one go through a cross country move without ever having been to the final destination, but it's still an interesting mix of emotions that I have never experienced.  Surreal.

I've been trying to spend what little time I have available with friends and family in these days before the journey.  It's been great hearing words of encouragement from our closest friends, and frankly it's the main thing that's been keeping me sane as I mentally prepare for this.

Thanks to everyone who has been there for us in this crazy time of our life.  Your support and encouragement are what reassure us that we can do this.  We really do have some fantastic friends, and I'm really going to be missing some people.  I just wish I had enough time to spend with everybody.  Sadness.

I'll be updating my blog frequently along my trip up north, and will be posting some pictures and messages "Social Network" style.  You can also keep track on my personal Facebook page.

Here's our dog Micah, all packed up and ready to move: