Outside in Oregon!

Hiking this past weekend with friends near Corvallis. Next time...I'm bringing my lunch, a good book and more time to enjoy all the GREEN!

The Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway!...Albany over night!

Check out this link...Oregon Wine Country Travel. Albany is the half way point of your ride and if you think the ride is sweet, you will be pleasantly surprised at just how sweet Albany is!

We are so looking forward to this summer. Bicyclists from all over the country stay with us all summer long. Once they arrive, they secure their bikes in our locked basement storage, catch their breath and take a well deserved hot shower and then they are set to go...again. Always asking where the best places are to eat in Albany, we send them with a long list so they can find what sounds good to them.

A Pacific Northwest Bistro, a swanky cocktail lounge where it's ok to hang out in your summer attire, a few pretty amazing places to have a burger, some sweet Italian or our very own brew pub. Wherever they decide to fill up after the long haul, it's all good here.

So, a welcome to our bicyclists this summer. We look forward to your visit as much as you will look forward to hitting the hay in one of our guest rooms. Sister's for four, Mt. Bachelor for two or Mt. Hood for three...your choice. It all comes with a delicious breakfast to give you the energy for your next trek across the Willamette Valley.

Ride safe and see you soon!

Hiking in Oregon's Willamette Valley!

I love hiking! I never knew just how much till I moved to Oregon almost four years ago. For one thing, it's astonishing to me and I hope it always will be that when I am on a hike, I experience stunning foliage in so many shades of greens that I am almost certain that God didn't even know they existed. Beautiful ferns, trees with moss literally dripping and hanging off every branch like a word that hangs on the tip of ones tongue. With the unexpected stream or rushing sweet waterfall, I almost feel like I'm on a movie set until I remember that this is nature...the nature found only here where we get over 40 inches of rain every year. Where the greens are greener than anywhere else and the breathtaking winding trails that capture this hikers heart and keeps me wandering to see even more of what can only be discovered on foot on an Oregon trail.

What I love most about our hiking trails here in the Willamette Valley is that there is a trail for everyone. We have hosted many guests at our inn that want to know the best places to hike near Albany and Corvallis. Depending on their level of intensity, their desire to break a sweat or not and how prepared they really are, depends on what trail we send them on. Easy or difficult, steep or level...depending on how much time you have or in my case several times...how lost you wanna get, determines how your hike should begin. And yes...we have made several wrong turns, spent hours trying to get back to our car but it's been the most fun we've ever had. As long as we stayed on a trail and had our maps or GPS, water, excellent hiking boots and lots of daylight, we just figured we sweetened the trek by taking time to explore and discover some amazing sights.

I was excited this evening to finally get a chance to sit and read our paper. I loved the "Oregon Outdoor" edition and saw the article,

"Day Tripper: Experiencing the city and forests on Albany's river trails!"

Here is the link to that article... http://www.democratherald.com/sports/recreation/article_53b4f088-9b83-11e0-9683-001cc4c002e0.html

I have hiked a few of these trails here in Albany. The writer says there are 13 miles of them and so I am looking forward to trying them all out. The weather is beginning to warm up...finally. And, tomorrow is the first day of summer. My hiking shoes are just sitting on the shelf in the closet and my water bottle is tucked in to a drawer in my kitchen. My plans...to get this stuff out and make plans for our first summer hike.

Walking from our inn, it's easy to trek to most of the trails listed in the newspaper article. It's also an easy walk from our inn to our sweet downtown Albany. There's nothing better than a nice cold beer and some delicious food after a long hike or just a short walk from our inn once checked in and settled.

Whether you choose to take the long hike on a difficult trail or the flat path to thoroughly enjoy the scenery or just go a few blocks from the inn, it doesn't really matter as long as you end up downtown when it's all over with. Hiking boots in a posh downtown restaurant or in one of our local brew pubs is quite the rage ...in Oregon anyways!

Gold Canyon Arizona in February

Gold Canyon Arizona in February

Queen Bee, Betty Crocker's 90th Birthday and the Sweetest Antique Mall in Oregon

I just have to say...when I wander in to the front door of our antique mall here in town, I want to forget that I am going for that streamline, new "clean" look. You know the look...less clutter, less stuff sitting around and that, "no I'm not a collector of anything" feel. Well, quite frankly I have spent a few minutes looking around the inn today and I can honestly say that we have that "clean" kind of "streamline" look going on here in this Craftsman but we have that "look" with a very sweet twist.

It was so much fun finding things for the inn when we first opened. Decorating the guest rooms and giving them their own personalities and comfortable feel. I have never been a collector of any one thing but I have been a collector of a little bit of everything apparently.

We have spent the past few years paring down and in keeping with that "Craftsman" simple and organic look, we kept the things that say, "it's just perfectly decorated without too much but it still has that homey feel!" That's what we want our guests to see and remember when they leave us. Many times our guests have walked in or mentioned at breakfast that our home reminds them of their grandma's house or an aunt they had a long time ago. That's all fine with us as long as grandma's house was full of fun, laughter and several bottles of wine to share. Being able to be here and provide a little home like comfort to our guests is our pleasure as long as they leave satisfied and have fond memories of the time they spent in our home.

The photos I have shared in this blog were taken at or local antique mall. The place is huge, two stories and filled to the brim with amazing vintage items. Furniture, dishes, and so much more. My favorite is the big area upstairs filled with vintage clothing. I could get lost and man the memories come flooding back. I can see dresses in styles my mother wore when I was little. I saw a faux fur full length coat just like my grandma used to wear and the sweetest hats like the ones I used to see the ladies wear at church when I was a little girl. It's no surprise that when we came up with the idea to host a VINTAGE APRON EXHIBIT AND TEA, this location seemed just the perfect place!

This idea is has turned in to a celebration of women. A tea, a party and a fashion show of vintage aprons and all for the love of women. One of the ladies involved in this creation came up with the idea that we should tie in Betty Crocker's 90th birthday party to the fashion show/exhibit and what a great idea. I'm always game for a birthday cake and I do have four of the cutest vintage aprons to show off and heck, it's all going to raise money for research and treatment of cancers that affect women.

Aprons cover the parts of the woman's body most female cancers affect therefore it's only fitting that we bring out our aprons, put them up for exhibit and fashion show, have some tea, cake and celebrate with other women rooting for the same cause. So, you are invited to this party which will be held at our Albany Antique Mall in October. Let us know if you have an apron you would like to exhibit, show off in our "apron fashion show" or donate to the cause for the sake of women in our community.

We'll keep you posted regarding all of the details and let you know when the party is. Happy birthday Betty...now let's have cake!

GYPSY ARTS & CRAFTS...July 9th and 10th

Gypsy Arts & Crafts

LAVENDER FAIRE July 9 & 10

10 am- 4 pm

34556 Mt. View Place NE

Albany/541-928-5122

• Fresh cut lavender/ & U-cut

• Lavender products & plants

• Oil distillation & craft demos

• Local artisans & crafters

• Lavender Refreshments

• LUNCH by Novak’s

• Live Music 1-3pm each day

Saturday: Ian Lindsay, guitar Blues/Jazz

Sunday: Sunnyside Turner, Folk

Enjoy the mountains & river view, perennial garden, established & newly planted lavender. See our new gift shop while you relax at a homespun country faire….. Admission free, everyone’s welcome!

Contact us: Ric & Gale Blasquez 541-928-5122

Or gale@moonshadowlavender.com

An OREGON WEDDING in vintage style!

Weddings are upon us! I just went out to the market to pick up some Champagne for our honeymooners coming next weekend and then I am planning to find out where to get some of the best and most mouth watering local chocolates to place sweetly on a bed of flowers next to the bed. I love looking for this stuff. I love that we have so many choices! I could head to Trader Joes or Market of Choice where they carry some local things but then my fun would be over too quickly. So, I plan my day, get my directions and head off in search of the good stuff.

We are lucky here in the Willamette Valley. Some even say the soil is "too" fertile. How is that possible?! Well, it is green here and anything grows and it does so very quickly. We are blessed with that delicious wine, those crunchy sometimes chocolate covered Hazelnuts, our schrooms that someday I will get to go foraging for and a valley full of folks that love making foods that we can consume with pride because it was made from ingredients grown here in Oregon.

Not only do we have the best food around, we have the sweetest spots for all those family get togethers, weddings, birthdays and even balloon festivals. But those weddings always get to me. The Flinn Block Hall in downtown Albany is absolutely darling. A huge room with original details, beautiful old wood floors and all lit just so perfectly that you could swear stars were brought in for the party. Among other wonderful OREGON WEDDING locations, we have had guests married in Hazelnut Orchards, on the beach near Newport, a gorgeous big red barn, a friends garden and we have even been asked to host several weddings here at the inn. It seems anything goes these days which is fun with a generation of very talented and resourceful people not afraid to be mindful all of the possibilities available to them.

So, if you are planning your OREGON WEDDING, check us out for the "after" party...we will supply the celebratory Champagne and chocolates while the entire Willamette Valley is waiting to see where you will choose to be married. Backdrops of that Hazelnut tree, a vintage hall waiting for a perfect photograph under the stars or just a sweet local inn for that wedding party of a dozen or so. The possibilities here in Oregon...are endless!

Stay sweet!

Isn't it amazing?...Albany, Oregon!

One of our guests this morning said to me, "I'll bet you don't have many guests that come here to sight see do you!" Hmmm...well let me tell you!!!

Quite honestly, when we opened our inn May 2008, I was under the same impression and here is where I take my short arms and try and pat myself on the back feeling that we played a small part in enticing people to come here. Since then, we have seen guests that come to Albany from all over the world. Just to name a few places...Japan, Singapore, Germany, Holland, England, France, Canada and a few others I cannot remember. Typically our guests reign from here...Oregon! Yes, they come from all over Oregon and then branching North and South, we have guests from BC and California as well. Albany being located right off the I5 really helps with travelers getting to and from their destination. And...this is where we snag them, help them fall in love and desire to return.

More times than I can count, guests getting ready to check out of the inn have said, "my gosh...I really didn't know." They didn't know that Albany boasts the most in number and variety of stunning, robust and gorgeous vintage homes in the entire state of Oregon. They didn't know that if you are looking to buy a home in this region and you stay at our inn, you are more than likely to find yourself purchasing your very own historic treasure. They didn't know that just a few blocks from the inn, you can fine a plethora of delicious Pacific Northwest cuisine of which some has won awards reigning from James Beard and beyond. They didn't know that we have our very own brew pub that make the best burgers and tots in at least 3 cities. They didn't know that they would literally fall in love with this 1908 Craftsman the bike trail from Champoeg drove them to. They didn't know that they would really want to take that old king sized bed in the Sisters Suite home if it would only fit in the backseat of their VW bus. They didn't know that the sweetness of this town would capture their hearts so deeply that they literally just have to sit with that perfect pinot and a slice of Kris's Marionberry pie and let their minds wander to...I only wish! And...little did they know that once here, their hearts would be captured forever and full of love for this town that rests on the banks of the beautiful Willamette so close yet far away from the "big city." The perfect spot, the perfectly sweetest place on earth and the perfect time to come see what the others did not know and have found out.

Inn to see...just photos!