Lunch on Dundee Hills

The picture in this link is what I want to show you...not the advertisement for a winery. Erath is one of our favorites, but their page has this wonderful picture of Oregon Wine Country.

We ate lunch up here today...not at Erath, but at a private home near here with a view. Back in May our church held an auction for various items. Some popular ones were quart jars of pickles (yep, going for $75 a piece) and various dinners...grass fed steak from Kansas, Mexican delights, to name a few. But also included was a buffet luncheon up in Dundee Hills...just a few miles from here.

We were not at the auction...we were camping at family camp that weekend, but I did have a personal representative bidding for me and we were successful with our purchases...including a quart of pickles and two places at the afore mentioned buffet. The luncheon was offered by Dixie and Charlie Hancock, some really great people from church, who live up the hill...not too far from Erath. Today was the day of the luncheon.

I was preaching this morning since our pastor was at the coast with the women's retreat from church (Aleene did not go since we are gone so much this fall.) So dickering on the timing was important. Dixie wanted to have the brunch slightly earlier, but I told her last week it would have to be at noon. So we were the last ones to get there. As it turned out the other purchasers were people who attend the first service.

It was brilliant weather so the view from their living room was spectacular. There were twelve of us, and Dixie did not spare any expense to give us a scrumptious buffet. But the real value came from sitting at the table with the other ten folk, plus Charlie and Dixie, and listening to how they got to Newberg/Dundee and what they did for a living...when they worked. There were native Oregonians, transplants like us and those that were transplants but from a much earlier time. Several of them/us had been to Scotland, either this time or two years ago. That was our contribution, but the local flavor and the stories were just priceless. Two families were strawberry farmers, turned nut farmers...now retired. Several were teachers (one PEO member that reminded me of my family.) A former Air Force pilot, a form er crop duster, and all good people who are concerned about the journey of others in their lives.

We feel so blessed to get to know so many wonderful people as we continue our lives in this pioneering country.