Harvest Hosts Stays
After a lot of research Barry and I decided to join an RV membership program called Harvest Hosts. This membership allows us to stay at over 4,000 fun and unique locations across North America. These "hosts" consist various types of businesses including wineries, breweries and distilleries, farms, museums and various other attractions. Harvest Hosts is perfect for self contained RVs like us that just need a one-night stopover on the way to our next destination.
So click on the dates below to check out the Harvest Hosts experiences we've been enjoying so far along our travels!
October 1: Portteus Vineyard and Winery - Zillah, Washington
October 9: Climate City Brewing Co. - Grants Pass, Oregon
October 11: Van Foeken Family Farm - Hilmar, California
October 12: Minter Field Air Museum - Shafter, California
Portteus Vineyards and Winery
This was our first Harvest Host (HH), so we were a bit nervous. Although when we are looking for a HH along our route we can filter our requirements (eg. pet friendly, size of our rig, etc.) our rig is 38 feet with a 3 feet extension for our kayaks and bikes. It's not easy to get into some spaces not just to get in, but to turn around if need be. Portteus Winery was pretty easy! Just pulled up to the side of the vineyard and set up! When leaving we could easily drive around the perimeter of the vineyard to get back to the highway, so the location was great.
When we arrived Paul, the owner, met us and showed us where to park and let us know where the wine-tasting room was where another couple of waiting at the door. It was late afternoon and Paul advised that he may have to close up early due to a staff members wedding so we really only had an hour or so to sample the wines, and there was a lot of wines. I believe you could sample 8 wines out of the 12 or so displayed behind the bar; however, the samples were only about 1 ounce which kind of made it hard to really appreciate each one! I feel one sip is to cleanse your palette of the previous wine and then the next sip to actually taste it. Hard to do with 1 ounce. Having said that, it was fun! On to Bend, Oregon!!
Climate City Brewing Co.
We arrived in Grants Pass and headed for Climate City Brewing Co., which was "downtown"!! It wasn't a huge town, but it was pretty sketchy trying to get situated in the not so big parking lot at the Brewery. I have to say we weren't comfortable, but it's where we were for the night so we should check out the Brewery. Although the Host (possibly the owner) didn't seem very happy (bad day), Robert, our server was wonderful!
The Brewery itself was very cool and very eclectic, established in 2014 and situate in an old historic brewery building! We decided to start with a flight of beer. Turns out, I like stout, and of course Barry had his IPA! We both had burger and fries, and we agreed that my "diablo" burger was the best burger we have ever had! Roasted jalapenos, bacon, pico de gallo, goat cheese and chipotle sauce! Unbelievable!!
The parking lot where we stayed, although not that comfortable, Grants Pass is a really cool town with tons of historical buildings. Grants Pass has antique shops, eateries, the Rogue Theatre, with an art and historical district. And we just happened to be there for their outdoor Growers Market which included local artists and sidewalk painting! Really cool town with lots of history. Barry and I were very pleasantly surprised!! On to Rio Dell to visit Avenue of the Giants!!
Van Foeken Family Farm
We arrived at the farm on November 11. It was quite easy to find and really accessible, which is always our main concern. This property was huge, and we were the only ones there! Our host, Ken, arrived shortly after we did to greet us. Ken is a chatty-cathy so we had very interesting conversations! Ken took great pride in his property and it showed. We parked beside a building that the front face of it was a saloon, which was very cool. Lots of beautiful sitting areas on the property, barns, some antique farm equipment, and of course Ken's work area. Ken is, among many things, an extremely talented woodworker. It's really a hobby but he does sell some of his pieces. We did buy a really cool mallet for driving pegs into the ground for Merlot's leashes. It was the least we could do for the wonderful free accommodations!
Ken had a beautiful doberman, which was quite intimidating at first, but she was older and very gentle. Actually, Merlot was more of a jerk than she was. Having said that, Merlot had so much fun! If he could talk he would say this is his favorite place. Ken let us know right away that Merlot could be left off his leash to run throughout the property, and he did...for hours!!
Ken let us know about the incredible sunsets over the fields at the farm, and it was so true. Check out the picture!
Overall, this was a wonderful overnight stay and our host was extremely gracious, friendly and accommodating. 5 out of 5! Thanks Ken!
Minter Field Air Museum
Allen Anderson was our host for our stay at the Minter Field Air Museum. Very, very sweet man. He even sent us a message when we booked to ensure we arrived early on the 12th to take in the Museum's annual Wings N Wheels event being held at Minter Field. He and his wife drove over to the area where we were to park to welcome us. Allen invited us to tour the museum and offered to escort us to the Wings N Wheels event on Minter field behind the museum.
It was truly amazing for such a small area to possess the amount of war artifacts, memorabilia and collectibles that lives in this museum! They had a World War II memorial bullet (with certificate of Authenticity) from the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941. It was recovered from the ocean floor outside Pearl Harbour. They also had, which I found fascinating, the very first copy of the original Japanese World War II Surrender documents (the complete package)! We spoke with Allen for a few minutes during our tour of the museum before he offered to escort us on his golf cart to Minter field, for the annual Wings N Wheels event, where we checked out their vintage air collection, antique army trucks, a 1941 aircraft tug, again, a survivor of the attack at Pearl Harbor. It was really amazing!
We soon ran out of gas, and picked up a pizza from a food truck at the event and headed back to the RV for a restful night's sleep in preparation for our 3 harvest host before arriving in Palm Springs.
Thanks so much for your hospitality, Allen!
