Oregon: Day 2

We started out our second full day in Oregon by joining one of my dad's tennis classes. Little did we know that we were actually participating in a lesson with a real tennis pro and a couple other members of the club. Keith is just naturally athletic at anything (kinda drives me crazy!) so he did awesome. My dad has a killer serve and forehand that he'll tell you about each chance he gets. I'm happy that he's found something that he loves to do and isn't too hard on his knees. Bad knees run in the Burrow family...

Dad dropped us off next at the Saturday Farmer's Market in downtown Eugene and I had to take Keith there just for the shock-and-awe factor. It is the best people watching place around with tons of eccentric people, dozens of tie-dye booths, fresh produce, hippie music and yummy homemade pastries. And just a reminder to myself: really hoppy beer at 10am is not a good idea!

We only stayed for an hour or so and off to our next adventure of rafting down the Willamette River. I had envisioned taking Keith on a guided half or full day adventure in southern Oregon on the Rogue River but my dad had other plans...we ended up borrowing one of his friends rafts instead. Not really my idea of a white water rafting adventure for Keith but we went with it. As soon as we saw the raft (probably 4 feet long and 3 feet wide with only half the air needed in it) we both had to laugh. Were we really going to go down the river in this thing? I wish I had a picture because it was hilarious. My dad hopped on the back of the raft which thankfully pushed up some of the air towards the front. Keith and I sat side by side but were almost touching since the raft was so small. I have NEVER been more uncomfortable for two hours in my entire life. Honestly my knee is still hurting days and days later. While we didn't see anything over a Class 1 or 2 rapid, the scenery was beautiful and it's always an adventure with my dad yelling orders like "Elysse - two strokes to the left; Elysse - backstroke, Elysse - dig, go faster". Somehow it was always my name getting called and not Keith's.

After a long day, we picked up Sue and headed to the King Estate Winery located just outside of Eugene. This is one of my favorite wines to drink (great Pinot Noir) and you can find it in every grocery store in the US. Keith isn't a wine fan at all but he was a good sport and even had some Vin Glace' dessert wine with us at the end of the night. The view was breathtaking as we sat on the terrace to enjoy the sunset with our wine and fabulous food. Thank you for a wonderful evening, dad!