Sunset in a roadside orchard.

[Banana Republic jacket + Daughters of the Revolution dress + Kors fringed boots]

Just as our fantastic, 3-hour long tour/tasting at Willamette Valley Vineyards was wrapping up, the wounded soldier pictured above was starting to pull herself back together. No, really—I felt like I’d been hit by a truck. But the sun was setting and the air was cool and damp and we decided to pull over next to this orchard and take some deep breaths.

[There is an abundance of moss in this state. So beautiful.]

This may sound totally bogus, but after being as sick as I was Thursday night, I’ve got a new appreciation for just about everything. You take for granted feeling normal, and I can’t think of a better time to see things through new eyes than on a special trip like this. I loved walking into the tapas restaurant last night and inhaling the aromas without turning green, enjoying a sip of Rob’s beer, settling into a booth next to Rob to ease my aching back (sore from heaving), and by the end of dinner I even wanted to hug our waitress. [Who chased us down the street after I left my purse under the chair. Clearly I am not all there yet.]

But I have to leave my mark on even the most picturesque moments. After we’d finished snapping these, we got back in the rental car, which Rob dramatically peeled out in the roadside gravel. Just as the laughter in the car died down, I cleared my throat. “Uhm, Rob, I left my sunglasses on the roof of the car.” A quick glance in the rearview revealed a small black speck in the road behind us, directly in the path of oncoming traffic.

But, like Barfathon 2010, this story ended happily, too.

Here’s to hoping the rest of the trip will stay on the rails.

-Carey

[Ray LaMontagne, “Empty”]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIUSikXex5w]

“She lifts her skirt up to her knees, walks through the garden rows with her bare feet, laughing,”

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