Our Far East Discoveries

As you know, Kathy and I love to discover new things when we go on trips. We share them with you because so many of you comment that you appreciate our exploration.

In Joseph and Enterprise we found a couple of unique things we thought we’d tell you about. One, I didn’t get a picture of but it’s a new brewery in Oregon called Mutiny. Right now they have two micro brews a light and a brown. Both are very good and you must come to Joseph to get them. They won’t be bottling for five or six years.

We also rediscovered a brewery we’ve liked for a long time called Terminal Gravity. It’s located in Enterprise Oregon but you can buy this beer all over the state. It just started showing up on tap in Eugene at places like Café 440. The IPA and ESG are very good. Be careful though, I understand there’s some rivalry between TG and Ninkasi. I wouldn’t brag about either beer to the other maker.

We rode our bikes along some backcountry roads between Joseph and Enterprise and discovered a great little coffee shop in Enterprise. The Gypsy Java is a funky, weird little place, a little hippy-like and odd but the people are nice and the coffee is great. Their website boasts casting a spell over customers so if you don’t want to be spell-bound, do a little anti-spellbinding before you step inside. We asked the barista where she gets the coffee? Her answer; Café’ Mam, in Eugene. Small world huh. You have to go to Enterprise, Oregon to find coffee in your own town.

We also stumbled upon, and I don’t mean that literally, a distillery in Joseph. I’m not a big hard liquor drinker but I’m curious and love to ask questions. The place is called Stein Distillery. Distilleries are the new Micro-Industry in Oregon. We see them sprouting up all over the state but this is the first one in Eastern Oregon. They make a whiskey that is still aging and won’t be ready for a year. The farmer turned distiller grows his own grain to produce Vodka out of Rye. Steins also creates infused Vodka using Oregon Huckleberries, Blackberries and Raspberries.

We’re also writing a blog on the place we stayed“The Cowboy Riverfront Retreat”. We’ll post it as soon as it’s ready to go. You really must come visit Oregon’s Far East….Wallowa County. Oh, fun fact, there is not one stop light in the whole county. I’m not kidding.

Oh, and best of all the “R&R” Restaurant in Joseph has soft serve Ice Cream that is so good and so inexpensive. Kathy had a baby cone I had a small cone and it cost us 75 cents. I’m not kidding and the small was the same size as a Dairy Queen Medium cone. They also have inexpensive hamburgers, fries, stuff like that. We didn’t eat there but people with families said it was a great deal.