Sheps Adventures

It's that time of year again, yep you guessed it Fall and Fall marks the beginning of Salmon Season. Chinook Salmon sometimes called King Salmon by the PNW Locals. The much sought after king of the oceans and rivers. This time of year 3 to 5 year old salmon begin looking for their home waters, that specific stream or river where they were hatched. After spending a few years out at sea, nature calls and they begin that long journey home, home to spawn and start that circle of life all over again. That's where I come in, me and thousands of other anglers just like me. We man the boats and chest waders, fishing rods in hand and set out to hook and land one of these beauties as they travel from the sea up river. If you're lucky, you feel that big strike and the fight begins.....Fish On ! I recently went out to a river not far from my home, felt that now familiar strike and the battle began...about what seemed like 30 minutes, in reality it was probably closer to 10, success! A ...

Ok, so my last post covered my love for fishing and my first big Oregon fish. Today's post leads us to one of the many other things in my life that I really enjoy, wine and wine tours. Oregon is home to some of the best soil in the world, soil for growing grapes , yep wine grapes. The Willamette Valley is just a short drive for me and is a favorite place to escape to after a long week. The Willamette Valley is a couple of hundred miles of beautiful river valley nestled between the Cascade and Oregon Coast range, the Willamette river runs the entire length of the valley. This valley is home to many wonderful places but is famous for it's ability to produce some of the best wine grapes in the world. One of the most popular grapes grown in the valley is the Pino Noir. It's a beautiful grape who's name is derived from the French language and translates to pine black. Anyone that knows me well knows that I love wine, especially red wine, the darker, heavier, the better. I ha...

So, after making the first big move of my life outside of New Mexico I settled in the Pacific Northwest. What beautiful country there is here to discover and explore, it's pretty amazing. I must admit that the drastic climate change was a bit tough to adjust to but adjust I did. I went from 6000 feet in elevation and 8 inches of annual rain to sea level (Elevation about 13 feet) and nearly 80 inches of annual rainfall. I was reminded that it is a rain forest that I moved to when it rained for 5 days straight, day and night.....about 6 inches of rain over those 5 days and it was normal. Yep, normal, my neighbors were out walking their dogs and mowing their lawns, yes, all in the rain. Adjust? yes I did although I was cold my first 6 months here, I just couldn't get warm. Now, if it gets over 75-80 degrees I'm dying, just simply too hot. A recent visit back to NM was painful, it was nearly 100 degrees and I couldn't stand being away from air conditioning for very long...f...