This morning after breakfast we headed into town with a plan (and our bikes). We parked at the Market of Choice (where we planned to do grocery shopping post-ride) and hooked up with the Bear Creek Greenway Trail and rode from Ashland to the South end of Medford and back (about 29 miles).
We passed through Talent, Oregon and Phoenix, Oregon, and on the way back stopped in Talent at the Avalon Bar & Grill for some lunch. Food was great! We shared an Italian panini and a chopped salad with chicken, cheddar, and bacon, with a homemade basil honey viniagrette that was fantastic! (Basil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, honey, and extra virgin olive oil…I'm gonna try that at home!)
We rode the rest of the way back to the market, shopped, then headed up the hill to check out two wineries we'd read about: Dana Campbell Vineyards (a fairly new winery here in Ashland) and its neighbor Grizzly Peak Winery.
The view of Ashland from Dana Campbell:
The wine at both wineries was good and interesting, and the people were all fabulous. We bought a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from Dana Campbell to go with dinner tonight: grilled halibut and asparagus salad, and a Syrah from Grizzly Peak (maybe for tomorrow with the pulled pork). Should work out perfectly!
I took ridiculously few photos today, but the trail was great! Yeah, it runs along I-5 some of the way, past a run-down trailer park and another run-down mobile home park, but still…you can ride on a mostly tree-lined paved trail from Ashland all the way to Central Point. It's pretty great if you ask me.
Now we're just chillin' at camp, happily tired.
