Archive | July, 2012

What matters most to you in a hotel room?

31 Jul

Clean, clean, clean.

More than anything else, that’s what you want in a hotel room. New research from Diversey shows that hotel guests rank clean linens, no visible signs of previous guests, and a pleasant smell (no nasty odors) ranked highest in sleeping quarters.

Bathrooms? Did you really need to ask? Clean toilets, clean area around the toilets, clean … clean … clean.

Read the survey results. Then tell us what you value most in a hotel room — cleanliness, low price, comfy beds, etc. — by using our comment utility.

 

 

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Hood River becomes gateway to images straight from Van Gogh

25 Jul

Get like Vincent (Van Gogh, that is) during Van Gogh Days Aug. 4-5 at Rasmussen Farms southeast of Hood River.

For the 10th year running, the farm invites fans of Van Gogh — or sunflowers — to enjoy the big bloomin’ things, take pictures, or paint their own version of work that has come to symbolize Van Gogh (whose work appeared earlier this spring at a one-of-a-kind show in Philadelphia).

Van Gogh made sunflowers famous in a series of works completed ion a burst of creativity from 1887-89.

Rasmussen Farms features 70 named varieties of sunflowers in the sunflower gardens, and among the vines of its 10-acre pumpkin field. Admission and parking are free.

The weekend of Aug. 4-5 also offers a quilt Show and Sale featuring lovely handmade quilts — including some with sunflower themes –live music, free tastes of award-winning wines from Hood River Vineyards, and barbecue favorites from Hood River’s Charburger restaurant.

The Rasmussen sales barn will feature sunflower desserts, sunflower recipes and other surprises throughout the weekend.

Rasmussen Farms is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Located at 3020 Thomsen Road, six miles south of Hood River, Oregon. Travel I-84 to Hood River exit 64, then south on Highway 35. Follow the blue state highway signs to the intersection of Highway 35 and Fir Mountain Road, then drive a scenic mile to the farm (follow the signs).

For information, call 541-386-4622 or 800-548-2243, or visit the website.

 

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For the best time ever, get your hiney over to the Hood River County Fair

25 Jul

What? The wind is poopy? Aw,  c’mon. Boo-de-boo-hoo.

Go to the Fair. Seriously, windsurfing and whitewater rafting and fishing and hiking and mountain biking and wine tasting and … well, that’s not all that makes Hood River County great.

There’s the County Fair. Seriously, those of us who live here and consider ourselves somewhat hip also consider the Fair to be the premier event of the summer. It’s ground zero for tapping reality. Not virtual reality. Not some CGI construct flashed on an iPod or Pad or Puddle.

Real reality. Stuff, and the people who make or grow it. Farm, food, family.

It’s kids, and animals, and a food court to die for. That’s because, IOHOP, we’ve got such a strong Hispanic influence in Hood River County. More than 25 percent of our residents claim Latino roots. And they love the fair.

So, savvy food booth types know that those visitors — along with we Anglo types who love Mexican-style munchies — will come hungry for tacos and burritos and churros and … oh, it goes on. Just belly up, peoples.

What else is on tap? Just pop on over to the Fair web site, for a full schedule and admission pricing. Gates open at noon today (Wednesday, July 25). See you there.

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Vacation, for some, is a perfect excuse to get a little movement in

24 Jul

Apparently, some Americans need to take a vacation so they can find some time to exercise.

According to a survey of 1,400 travelers by TripAdvisor, 69% say healthy eating is important on vacation, and 53% say they exercise during holiday.

So, what constitutes exercise? 87% say walking (like, oh, to the restaurant).

Another 46% say they like swimming (or bobbing, in the hot tub).

Hiking is popular with 35% of vacationers, which we suspect refers to the Death March between the parking lot and lobby.

Of people who say they work out while on vacation, 31% say their main reason is to maintain their fitness regimen (meaning, we guess, that 69% have no fitness regimen before they … take a break).

A further 28% exercise to avoid gaining weight, so by subtraction, 72% must take a vacation so that they can gain weight, right?

The third most popular reason for exercising on holiday is to capitalize on having more free time to work out (14%).

So, what happens when that 14% returns home? “Gimme the remote, and a bowl of marshmallows with nacho cheez sauce.”

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7 of our favorite Hood River joints for a lunch to love

17 Jul

You’re a visitor and hungry and wandering around Hood River and wondering, where can we get a memorable bite to eat?

Hood River has a load of dining establishments. Getting the straight skinny on which ones are going to deliver something both affordable and memorable, and which aren’t, can be a challenge. Locals know, but which locals should you ask?

Uh, hull-oh — US!

Here are seven that we like:

1. Cornerstone Cuisine (yes, it’s our restaurant, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth listing, and hey, it’s our list), for the stellar Grilled Lamb Burger with basil tomatoes, feta cheese, micro greens, and garlic mayo, or the … well check it out.

2. Nora’s Table (on 5th, between Oak and Cascade). Build your order online, pick it up and park your picnic wherever you like, or eat it on-site. Burmese pork curry, anyone?

3. El Rinconcito (aka “The Trailer”), on West Cascade, just past the Big Gym and Zeman’s Music. Good tacos, burritos and (on Friday mornings) tamales.

4. Mekong Thai (across from No. 3). Rich menu of authentic Thai dishes. Affordable, casual, cool (A/C). Limited parking, but …

5. Hood River Taqueria (on 13th, in the Heights: See Directions below). Indoor or, in summer, shaded outdoor tables for tasty Mexican staples, and cervezas. Lengua tacos, senor? Menudo? Mui autentico.

6. China Gorge (intersection of Hwy 35 and Hwy 30, east of town). Owned for more than 30 years by two Indonesian immigrants of Chinese ancestry, the China Gorge has a rockin’ good Chinese chef, serves large portions at affordable prices. Watch him kick it in this video.

7. Double Mountain Brewery (4th and Columbia), for great locally brewed beers and stellar pizzas and sandwiches.

Now, a word about directions and neighborhoods. Many visitors to Hood River share the mistaken impression that there is nothing more than downtown and the strip development out West Cascade (can you say “Rite Aid and Safeway and Taco Bell, oh, my”?).

There’s also the Heights. The what?

Heights, as in “uphill from downtown.” Lots of options there, to be sure.

To reach the Heights, take Oak from downtown west to the light at 13th, turn left and keep going. You can’t miss it. When you pass May Street, traffic goes from two-way to one-way on 13th and 12th until you pass south of Belmont. Along that brief stretch, you can find some good, casual eatin’ joints to supplement faves from the other business zones.

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The exploding world of voices talking travel

11 Jul

Where do you go to get the travel advice that fits your budgetary frequency? There’s a lot of chatter out there. Much of it just leaves us shaking our heads.

For example? Every time we dive into one of the major travel magazines, we come away wondering about the rarefied air they dish. Have you flipped through the pages of Travel + Leisure and Conde Naste Traveler? It’s a great fantasy experience, but we were challenged to recall a single vacation of ours that we could say was inspired by something we read there. We can’t afford it. Period.

It’s our sense that those glam travel mags are all about selling fantasies that support the pricing structures of glam advertisers. That’s cool — if you can afford the freight. As an aside, we do love National Geographic Traveler, and AFAR, which both have print and online versions, and the Matador Network (online only).

If you hadn’t realized it, though, the interweb (joke there) has opened up space for a wide range of travel voices. Bloggers, if you will. Travel writer Chris Elliott recently conducted a poll to identify which bloggers are most appreciated (at least by Elliott’s readers). Interesting rabbit hole, with a dozen side channels. Dive in.

A far more interesting list, by comparison, was dished up on the Huffington Post, by writer Michael Hodson. Many of his fave bloggers are traveling widely with backpacks, trying to stretch an Aussie dollar, or working their way along.

Travel, clearly, is a very individual experience. Just because someone chooses to share their experience, doesn’t mean anybody else will want to repeat it. Often the best value that some of this stuff provides is not to tell us where we should or might want to go, but instead to warn us away from going down that road.

BTW, sitting here in our historic corner of downtown Hood River, we cling to a different view of travel. We believe that a room doesn’t have to cost a fortune. We dish value. We like a deal. A real deal. Not a room that costs $260 a night — or more. Can’t recall mention in those big mags of a “great” room priced in the two figures.

We offer any available room in the Hood River Hotel, on Sunday nights during 2012, at a flat $100. When you figure that the room comes with a voucher good for $10 off breakfast at our restaurant, the room is really just $90. Nice. On top of which, we’re offering riverview rooms mid-week for $99 during July. Yikes.

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Exploring the little pond, before tackling the Columbia River

11 Jul

No, this young father isn’t tossing his baby into the trash. He’s helping him explore the contents of a trash can used as an anchor for a tent during Windfest at the Hood River Event Site the weekend of July 7-8. The trash can was full of water, and the baby was definitely interested, so he apparently got the windsurfing genes from his father. Windfest is an annual event organized by the Columbia Gorge Windsurfing Association, to provide a chance for windsurfers to try new gear, learn technique, and mingle with the tribe.

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Summer strolling in Hood River

11 Jul
Pedestrians near Hood River Hotel.

Summer has arrived in Hood River, if the numbers of people strolling down Oak Avenue are any indication. Local shops and restaurants are reporting a rise in traffic, as well. Good times for everyone.

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Hood River Hotel visitor learns of need to … hold onto her panties

10 Jul
Rachel Zimmerman at Hood River Hotel

Rachel Zimmerman was happy to be reunited with her missing panties.

On our way to work this morning, we noticed something on the sidewalk next to a car parked in front of the Hood River Hotel. On closer inspection, we discovered … OMG, it’s a pair of PANTIES!

Please tell us if your first thought wouldn’t have been, “How in the world did they get there?”

Being the civic-minded sorts that we are, we thought it might be nice to try finding their rightful owner. You know, a sort of latter-day Cinderella tale. The Prince takes the glass slipper (OK, panties) and tries to find the perfect fit. When he does, romance blossoms. Yada yada — not a likely scenario, right, given that we are talking about panties here.

A modern-day Cinderella, Rachel Zimmerman tries on the lost panties — and voila! They fit.

So we leave the panties where they lay. And a short time later, we’re sitting at our desk when, through the window, we notice two young women approach the car, notice the panties, and begin howling with laughter.We thought we’d share our own amusement with them. First thing one of them does is turn to us and say, “They’re MINE!”

More laughter ensues. Rachel Zimmerman lives in Kansas City, Mo. She and her sister, Erica Ashe of Brooklyn, N.Y., were on the third day of a 10-day trip through Oregon.

They had been hiking on the Eagle Creek Trail the day before and had a jumble of loose clothing in the car when they unloaded for the night at the Hood River Hotel.

When they began planning their trip, they knew only that they wanted mountains and hiking and gorgeous outdoor scenery. They looked at Switzerland. They selected Oregon.

“We love Hood River,” they said. “This is a great little town.”

It hadn’t been on their itinerary, until they crossed paths with a hiker on the Eagle Creek Trail, who suggested they try us out.

Rachel tried the panties on for fun — Yep, they fit — and off they went, in search of more paradise.

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Annual Windfest lures wind sports addicts of all stripes

5 Jul

Every summer, the Columbia Gorge Windsurfing Association hosts an event it calls Windfest.

It’s baaaaaack.

On Saturday and Sunday, July 7-8, all the resident and visiting wind-chasers — windsurfers and kiteboarders alike – will converge at the Hood River Event Site at the north end of Second Street for a smorgasbord of activities and gear demonstrations.

All the major manufacturers and gear shops will be on hand, with the latest in boards and sails, for eager speed demons to try out. A small fee gets access to unlimited gear demos. In addition, expert sailors will provide clinics. Beginners can sign up for free instruction, courtesy of local shop, Big Winds.

Visitors can buy food and beverage, enjoy live music on Saturday night, and on Sunday morning at the nearby Expo Center west parking lot, they can peruse used gear to build a first setup — or supplement an existing kit.

The event can always use a few more volunteers. Volunteers get free food. Interested? Sign up here. Whatever you do, don’t miss it — it’s a slice of nouveau Hood River, and a glimpse down the rabbit hole to a sport to which its fans are totally addicted.

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