Archive | Guests RSS feed for this section

Mountain biking trip to Hood River Hotel first leads couple through marriage proposal

19 Dec
Mike Sabo and Kim Stanek have a special place in their hearts for the Hood River Hotel (and each other).

Mike Sabo and Kim Stanek have a special place in their hearts for the Hood River Hotel.

 

Kim Stanek thought she was headed to Hood River last August with boyfriend Mike Sabo for a long-delayed weekend of mountain biking. Sabo had something else in mind.

In the spring, Sabo had graduated from Oregon State University with a master’s in mechanical engineering, and the couple decided to celebrate on the multiple ups and downs scattered in the woods around Hood River.

“It’s probably the best mountain biking I’ve done so far,” Stanek says. “The trails up there are so much different. You’ve got this steep climbing, and then awesome downhill.”

But before they could make it out to the Hood, Sabo secured a job with the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, and Stanek dove headlong into the final months of her own master’s degree studies in public health.

Sabo finally found time to fly back for an Aug. 2 biking getaway.

Before they hit the trails, though, they checked in to the Hood River Hotel, found their room, started talking about dinner –  and got engaged.

They were sharing a bottle of wine, as Stanek recalls, planning their evening.

“I could tell he was getting nervous,” she says. “His initial plan was to wait for the perfect time. But we got into the room, we’re having some wine, and he went and got the ring. He got down on his knee, and had his little spiel. He said he knew the day he met me that we were going to get married.”

Although she quickly said “Yes,” she recalls feeling no similar sense of certainty when they met two years earlier. It was another six months before they even started dating.

By proposing earlier than he had originally planned, Sabo cast a special glow over the rest of their weekend.

“I’m not a big production type of person,” Stanek says. “It was nice that it was private.”

Once they had that little matter of a lifetime together settled, they finished their wine, went to Double Mountain Brewing for a couple of beers, then grabbed dinner at the nearby Celilo Restaurant (“Our celebration dinner”).

She is planning a move south to Albuquerque before year’s end. They’ll be married there in October 2013. But before they tie the knot, they’re planning a return trip to Hood River.

“We have plans of revisiting each year and staying in the same room to celebrate,” Stanek says. “The Hood River Hotel is a very special place to us now, and always will be. It was the perfect amount of fun and romance all mixed in one.”

Tags: , , , , , ,

We’re getting lit … for the holidays, and you

27 Nov

Downtown Hood River is all dressed up … have you got somewhere to go? Of course you do — HERE, anytime during the coming holiday season, but most definitely on the evening of Friday, Nov. 30, when the city kicks off its Hood River Holidays celebration with the annual parade and tree lighting ceremony. Parade starts at 6 p.m. along Oak Avenue, and winds up at Overlook Park for tree lighting and caroling and full-on fun. Be here!

Tags: , , , ,

Room deals double up discount value for Mt. Hood ski getaways

14 Nov

It’s almost soon gonna be here pretty quickly maybe if it only would dump ski season.

And when the snow flies and piles up on Mt. Hood, you’ll want to hit the hill. Have we got a deal for you.

First, we’ve extended our winter room special through February. To refresh your memory, any available room — including suites — is yours for $100. That represents a savings of up to $69 off normal rates.

To sweeten the buffet, the Hood River Hotel is offering its River View Rooms for just $89 during the month of December.
That’s a savings of $25 to $35 (weekday vs. weekend).

Then, add discounted lift tickets at Mt. Hood Meadows. Through the end of the year (with one exception, noted below), adults ski for $50 instead of the normal $74, and juniors pay just $40 compared to the normal $46.

During the week of Dec. 26-31 — and on all weekends in January and February — adults will pay $70 (a savings of $19), and juniors will still pay $40.

Call 541-386-1900 to reserve your room and ski getaway now!

Tags: , , , , , ,

$100 room special for November puts you close to David Hockney show at Maryhill

31 Oct

You’ve been meaning to get out to the Maryhill Museum all summer, but life has been too busy?

Well, no excuses accepted. It’s fall. It’s wet. You don’t really have to mow the lawn, when you could trip out to the museum and take in its marvelous show of David Hockney etchings.

Why are we telling you this, now? Because it’s a great show, and because you’ve got just two weeks to engage. It ends Nov. 15.

Maryhill is just 40 minutes east of Hood River. Hood River is just 40 minutes west of Maryhill, so when you’re sated on art — and, perhaps, the wines of nearby tasting rooms such as Maryhill Winery, Cascade Cliffs, Jacob Williams, Syncline, Cor, Memaloose and Domaine Pouillon — you can retreat to your room at the Hood River Hotel.

And, have we got a deal for you during November. Any room or suite is just $100 for two people during the month. And that includes a voucher good for $10 off the cost of breakfast at our Cornerstone Cuisine restaurant. Reserve now.

Tags: , , , , ,

If you love film, like we love film, you’ll love first Mt. Hood Independent Film Festival

24 Oct

Years from now, you could say you were among the first — the first people to attend the first showing of each film at the first Mt. Hood Independent Film Festival.

But only if you attend. You know how many people say they were at Woodstock? Right. Everybody wishes they had gone, but only the chosen few were actually in the mud.

The cool thing about the Mt. Hood Independent Film Festival is that it’s all indoors, out of the weather and the mud. No Wavy Gravy appearance scheduled, perhaps, but a chance to see some truly creative expressions of short- and long-form video art.

It all starts with a kickoff event at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, followed by viewings of five of the 77 films selected for the festival. Opening night showings will all be in the two theaters at the sponsoring Columbia Center for the Arts.

On Saturday, Oct. 27, and Sunday, Oct. 28, films will be shown there, as well as at Andrew’s Skylight Theater and Springhouse Cellar. Here’s the full schedule (you can also print out your own version, to guide you between showings and venues.)

Tickets are a bargain. Beyond the 10 VIP passes available for $100 each, you can get a festival pass — admitting you before one-day and rush ticket holders — for just $25. That gets you first in line for any screening, on any day of the festival. Now, obviously, because there are multiple screenings at multiple venues, it’s going to pretty near impossible to see everything — but you could see a lot of video for $25. One-day passes are $10, and rush tix at $8. Get pricing details here.

Now, saying all that, we at the Hood River Hotel wish we could offer you a room for the entire weekend. Sorry. We’ve got a few available on Friday night, and plenty of space for film buffs who want to stay over Sunday, after the Festival’s final screenings and awards show. Interested? Check our reservations page.

Tags: , , , ,

Harvest Fest features world-class pumpkin carver, pie eaters and other goodies

17 Oct

Scott Cully knows a thing or two about turning an 1,800-pound pumpkin into a work of art. The one-time world record holder (according to the kids at Guinness), Cully will return to the Hood River Valley Harvest Fest on Saturday, Oct. 20, to demonstrate his talents all day long.

Cully manages a nursery in Lowell, Ore., southeast of Eugene. They prepare blueberry plants for farmers. In his spare time, Cully loves nothing so much as paring pumpkin. He uses a 3-inch paring knife to whittle his squash into fantastic visages.

It all started back in 1987, when Cully lived in the Northeast. He and a friend, armed with a couple of bottles of hard cider, tackled a 400-pound pumpkin. He kept at it, working his way to a world record in 2010, since eclipsed.

“To carve a world-record pumpkin,” he says, “the pumpkin has to exist.”

He had his eyes covetously focused on a 2,009-pound beast back in Massachusetts. Then it rotted and collapsed and headed to the compost heap. C’est la vie.

Emily Curtis, coordinator for the sponsoring Hood River County Chamber of Commerce, says Harvest Fest will have a couple of other interesting twists.

Look for more pie-eating contests than last year. People love to stuff their faces into a mess of crust and cooked fruit. All contests will be open to people over 13 years old.

Curtis also says the fruit and vegetable sellers will now be situated inside the gates, accessible only to people who pay admission to the festival grounds. Previously, fruit and veggie vendors were stationed outside the grounds, so festival-goers could buy and haul off fresh fruit without paying to enter the grounds housing craft, food, beer and other vendors.

Harvest Fest is a fund-raiser for the Chamber, so it makes sense to have one of its chief attractions covered by the price of admission.

Parking south of the festival grounds off the I-84 Exit 63 will again be managed by the Hood River Lions Club. The club encourages motorists to slow down and follow directions to avoid endangering people walking to and from the festival grounds.

Harvest Fest begins on Oct. 19, and concludes on Sunday, Oct. 21. Hours are:

•Friday 1-7 p.m.

• Saturday 10 a.m.- 7 p.m.

• Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Book exchange racks lead us on marvelous mental travels

19 Sep

Just some of the books on the exchange rack at the end of the hallway on the second floor of the Hood River Hotel. See something you’d like to read? Reserve a room at 541-386-1900.

We love to read, and we love to travel so we can read even more. Nothing like blasting through a novel in an afternoon by the pool.

But when we’re done with the book, what next? Haul it with us all the way to Rangoon? Or toss it? Such a waste.

Book exchange is the answer. Some of our best reads have come quite by accident, when we run out of our own literary stock and find ourselves perusing a very motley and eclectic mix of stuff that other readers have donated, or simply left behind when they moved down the road.

Many hotels and B&Bs curate these orphan reads on “exchange racks.” Leave a book. Take a book. Simple rules.

The Travelodge hotel group in the United Kingdom recently compiled a Top 10 list of books “left behind.” Can you say “Shades of Gray.” Other familiar titles dot the list.

Use our comment link to tell us about marvelous books that you never knew you wanted or would even like, but found yourself reading with gusto after you picked them up from exchange shelves in your travels.

Tags: , , ,

You want your “heirloom”? We’ve got your heirloom … in multiples

12 Sep

Heads up, foodies. You want “heirloom,” right? Heirloom this, heirloom that.

Well, we’ve got heirloom — apples, that is. Comin’ atcha, Oct. 27-28, during the Hood River County Fruit Loop’s Heirloom Apple Celebration.

The Hood River Heirloom Apple Celebration celebrates classic varieties of apples — those also referred to of late as “heirloom.”

Although they make for delicious eating and baking, some “heirloom” apples may not store as well or as long as more familiar varieties, or they may be more difficult to grow, or they may bruise more easily.

Whatever other liabilities they may have from a commercial standpoint, taste is definitely not one. They are … um … YUM!

Varieties include Spitzenburg, Rome Beauty, Newtown Pippin, Winter Banana and Ortley.

In addition to fresh classic apples, many Fruit Loop farms are offering special activities throughout the weekend.

Kiyokawa Orchards will serve up more than 75 kinds of apples and 24 kinds of Asian and European pears during its 10th annual Heirloom Apple Tasting.

The weekend brings the Cider Days Celebration at Draper Girls Country Farm. Sip into a collection of cider blends, including cherry, pear, and grape.

Apple Valley Country Store, down next to the Hood River, will host its Heirloom Apple Butter Festival. Watch preparation of apple butter, or munch into some fried biscuits — with apple butter — or cherry-wood smoked barbecue ribs, pulled pork or chicken sandwiches.

There’s loads more goodies to peruse along the Loop. Admission and parking is free. Farms and attractions along the Fruit Loop are open from at least 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (wineries open at 11 a.m.).

For complete information, visit the Fruit Loop website. Printed copies are available at the Hood River County Visitors Center (Hood River exit 64 off Interstate 84), at various Hood River Valley area businesses, and at Fruit Loop locations.

For more info, call the Fruit Loop at 541-386-7697.

 

Tags: , , , ,

Hood River Hotel’s savvy spotter helps reunite reader with lost library book

5 Sep

Pamela Nagashima sent a “thank you” card to Hood River Hotel desk clerk Dawn Sisson after Sisson helped reconnect her with a lost library book.

Dawn Sisson, one of the fine front desk clerks at the Hood River Hotel, was driving to work the other morning when she saw a library book lying in the road.

It had settled into a striped-off triangle where two lanes merge into a freeway on-ramp. She was moving too fast to stop and pick the book up.

Later, she happened to overhear one of our guests asking if anyone at the hotel had found a library book.

Pamela Nagashima and her husband, Hajime, had been down at Marina Park in Hood River, helping their visiting nephew with windsurfing lessons.

Loading up to return to the hotel, Nagashima set the book on top of her car, and forgot about it. Heading onto the freeway, the book — “The Reluctant Communist: My Desertion, Court-Martial and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea” by Charles Robert Jenkins — slid off the roof of their car.

“Dawn was checking me out that morning, and heard me asking about the book, and she froze,” Nagashima says. “She said, ‘I swear I saw a book back by the freeway.’”

Nagashima went back, and found it where Sisson had seen it. It was pretty dinged up. Bent cover. Holes where gravel had punctured pages. Tire tracks.

“It looked like IT had been in North Korea for 40 years,” Nagashima says.

When she got back to Portland, she took it to the Multnomah County Library, and told the same story, somewhat chagrined. They charged her $10, roughly half its original value.

Nagashima was grateful, for several reasons. She doesn’t like to lose books. And she was able to finish this one: She had 15 pages left to read when she lost it.

So she sent Sisson a “thank you” card.

“That was indeed my lost library book lying in the highway,” Nagashima wrote. “I am so grateful to you for spotting it and mentioning it to me Tuesday morning. A little the worse for wear, but I brushed out the gravel and ironed the pages with a clothes iron, and it looks OK.”

Nagashima has no clue if the library will return the damaged volume to circulation. But if you happen to check the title out from the Multnomah County Library and wonder what the heck happened to it, now you know.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Anyone can take part in Gorge Bike Commute Month

22 Aug

 

Gorge Bike Commute Month is coming up.

If you live in Hood River, this message is for you. If you’re a visitor, don’t worry — we won’t take your car keys at the entrance to town.

The Gorge Owned Business Network is preparing to launch its second annual Gorge Bike Commute Month during September. You register online, log your miles, try to stick to it through the generally balmy (but occasionally damp) weather of September, and feel good about all the gas you didn’t burn (and buy), and all the greenhouse gases you didn’t contribute, and all the exercise you got, and all fresh air you consumed, and …

 

Tags: , , , ,

← Older Entries

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 791 other followers

%d bloggers like this: