Trading and Pedouins in Astoria!

Yesterday morning I drove out to Astoria to meet some friends that had come up the coast on a cruise. They had been planning the trip for a few months, and we had decided since they were going to be up here anyway, that it might be a great time for a beer trade!

I met them at their ship around 11:00am, where I received my precious cargo:

Struise Pannepot Wild 2008

Lost Abbey Angel's Share Grand Cru

Lost Abbey Angel's Share Brandy 2009

Lost Abbey Red Poppy

Valley Brewing Old Inventory

My friends were only in Astoria for a couple of hours, so from there we immediately made our way into town and checked out Astoria Brewing, where I had a Bitter Bitch, and the friends had a few sampler trays. Then we went over to Fort George, where I had a procrastinator dopplebock, a working girl porter, and a supplication, which was on one of the guest taps (the other guest tap was Life and Limb). As time dwindled for everyone to get back to the boat, we returned to the port and I saw everyone off.

As luck would have it, I had another friend that was in town on business, and just finishing up, so back to Fort George I went. The first thing I saw upon my return was a bicycle built for five out front; the Pedouins! I had read about these guys in the news, and even checked out their blog a few times to check on their status on the road. What a fantastic trip! The family of five set out from Kentucky and has been riding around the country on their way up to Alaska for the winter. I talked to Bill, the father, a bit about the trip, and learned that they had already gone over 5300 miles. We talked bikes a bit, and Bill shared some interesting observations from the road. He asked what I did for a living, and I told him; to which he replied: "oh thank god, you work for living. I have to be careful how I say this... but it seems the further west we've come, the less people actually... well there's a lot of people working for the government or non-profits...". My friend conducted an interview with the youngest daughter about her thoughts on the trip. She informed him that sometimes she gets tired of riding a bike, and her favorite part of the trip so far has been the chipmunks.

Before they headed off towards Washington, Bill said that out of all the states they had been, Oregon had the most interesting, diverse, and welcoming people that they had encountered. Sure Bill, you probably tell that to all the states!

After wishing everyone a great trip, we went back inside, where I had a Cavatica Stout, and a Sunrise Oatmeal Pale Ale, before heading back home.

Neat day!