In Search of Dog Friendly Wineries - the Columbia Gorge version

Ah, the day after Thanksgiving - otherwise known as Black Friday. Shopping mecca. Betty and I have been passing notes about sales for the past week, with glee. From Costco to Best Buy to Toys R'Us (which, let me make it clear - I would rather fall into a giant vat of toxic waste than to hit any of those stores -- especially the later). I've also been passing the notes to her knowing that, full well, I am not going to partake in anything shopping related. Turkey coma + black shopping Friday = bad news for fellow shoppers. Having said that....

Okay, so I did.

I went to Costco. Broke down. It was open early although they lied on their automated system. I showed up, the doors were open, slack-jawed people pushing carts everywhere, mental breakdown imminent .... it was looking a bit bleak.  Then I stumbled upon the reason why destiny had pulled me into that giant vortex of Black Friday doom --- I found the newest of the gadgets... the Flip video.. It's pinkish purple - it has 2 hours of build in video - it went into the cart with a few more unnecessary items. Hello lover. Was with a flip and bought a flip - it was meant to be.

Off to the Columbia Gorge wineries for a little R&D, with new flip in pocket, we went. Our quest, to find something other than Oregon Pinot and find dog friendly wineries that the pooch can enjoy as well.  It was a tough start for the poor little guy. He spent the first two wineries in the back of the car.....No love. And keep in mind, I had no idea my pants were not 'don't wear with boots' kind of pants. These are the things you have to consider when tagging a video camera along.

We then were fortunate enough to stumble upon winery #3 - who embraced the brown furry one - they had dogs of their own so it wasn't a stretch for them to let him in to take in the sights and smells. He did very well - all thing considered. Only minimal whining. Then we took to the outside where the wine was (slowly) starting to kick in a little bit and riding tractors sounded like a fabulous idea to both me and Koop. At the end of the day, unless it's a backhoe, it's not a good idea.



Onward and upward, as I always say. Well, I don't always say that - but it sounds good - no? We did do a bit of wine tasting R&D and stumbled upon (last but not least) one of the better red producing wineries called Viento.  They had a rather scrumptious Barbera and their Super Tuscan was the bomb. Koop was more than welcome there as well....



This was our last stop in the winery tour of the day. Koop did fabulous - layed down when instructed, ate salami off of the floor (workers thanked me for bringing the clean up crew), smooched a group of wine tasting ladies, and crotch sniffed anyone within Labrador nose distance (to mostly their surprise, mind you). Yes, he was well received.

Success. And a new gadget - boy, this could spell trouble.