Note: you may visit today’s wineries in an alternate order. Winery selection is subject to change.

Home to the last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia River, the Hanford Reach National Monument is swept with towering bluffs and expansive vistas. Rare flowers and abundant wildlife stubbornly defy persistent drought, wind and heat. Elk, mule deer, coyotes, great blue herons and white pelicans are common sights. The Monument is also a reminder of our history. Plutonium reactors, now being dismantled, stand in the distance, remnants of WWII and the Cold War. Depart by jet boat for a 4-hour tour of the Monument’s rich history and enduring habitat.

Join a local farmer on a private motorcoach tour of the region. Learn about the abundance of crops and the agricultural heritage of the Columbia River Basin.

Today explore two of Washington's distinct American Viticultural Areas. The Red Mountain Viticultural Area is one of Washington's most well-defined and distinctive viticultural areas where good air, drainage and light soils encourage the vines to seek nutrients via deep roots.  As one of Washington's newest AVA's, Horse Heaven Hills was classified in 2005 and is distinct in its character due to its proximity to the Columbia River and a topography that benefits the area by moderating temperature extremes, providing steep, south-facing slopes for optimum vineyard locations and quick-draining silty loam soils.

The vineyards of Coyote Canyon Winery, located in a very remote reach of Horse Heaven Hills will afford a rare and exciting opportunity to get up-close and personal with the vines and explore the life and experiences in a vineyard from an insider's perspective.  Owner and grower Mathew Gray will greet us in the middle of his vineyards to share the flavors of his first release wines and the luscious grapes that produce them.  As an added treat, we will enjoy a delightful homemade dessert intended to compliment our tasting as we take in the sweeping views of the surrounding vineyards and fields.

Continue on to a catered lunch and wine tasting at Red Mountain’s Terra Blanca Winery and Estate Vineyard. As a geologist, owner and winemaker, Keith Pilgrim carefully selected this area on the edge of the Red Mountain AVA.  In 1993 the first estate vines were planted.  High levels of calcium carbonate dropped off thousands of years ago in the soils of Terra Blanca's Red Mountain Estate Vineyard have proven to be an invaluable asset to the quality of their wines.  Stroll along cobbled walkways past meticulously landscaped courtyards and savor the regional varietals from this increasingly notable viticultural land or take a tour of the winery's expanded cave system.

Your final stop is a tasting at Kiona Winery, located in one of the prime growing regions of Washington state.

Return to the ship to cruise the Columbia River.

The Hood River Valley’s nutrient-rich volcanic soils, pristine glacial waters and ideal microclimate create the perfect fruit-growing environment … which is exactly why the family run Fruit Company has been harvesting and hand-picking fruit from orchards in the Valley for 65 years. Their idea is to simply deliver the best-tasting pears in the world directly to the doorstep, ripe and ready to eat. Take a tractor tour of the Company’s orchards, plucking pears and apples along the way, soaking up a breathtaking view of the Hood River Valley. A wide variety of fruits are produced in Hood River, Oregon, and only Mother Nature will be able to predict what amazing flavors will be ready for harvest upon our arrival.  Tour the Fruit Company’s packing facility and explore an authentic picker’s cabin and historic artifacts at the Fruit Heritage Museum.

Follow the scenic Rowena Loop stretch of the Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway.  Completed in 1915, this highway was considered the premier highway in the U.S. for its time, with many scenic pullouts, masonry walls, bridges and tunnels with arched openings.  From the lofty ridge top perspetive of Rowena Crest you will be taking in the expansive view of the Columbia River and Gorge from 1,000 feet up.  Clouds permitting, capture a photo of Mt. Hood.  Some geologists say that in 30 years this volcano could blow its top similar to Mt. St. Helens, with lava flows directed towards Government Camp and Hood River.

Return to the cool coastal region to enjoy the regional flavors from the Pacific Ocean and delve into the seafood of the Oregon coast. Astoria is named for John Jacob Astor who built Fort Astoria to support his fur trading company.  With its position situated just within the Columbia River entrance, other industries here included a departure and supply port for gold-seeking 49ers, fishing and canneries.

Spend the morning at the Consumer Seafood Center where we will participate in a cooking demonstration using only the freshest local ingredients.  Chef Eric Jenkins will share his perspectives on seafood preparation and show us in a cooking demonstration some of his own techniques and methods to best highlight the bounty of the sea. Listen and learn as Chef Jenkins shares tips and techniques on fusing seafood with the unique local flavors of the Oregon coast: halibut, salmon, Dungeness crab, oysters, clams, locally-produced artisan cheeses, farmer’s fruits and vegetables.

See the spectacular view from the Astoria Column on Astoria's highest hill.   Visit the nationally acclaimed Columbia River Maritime Museum, considered to be one of the best of its kind on the West Coast, hosts unique artifacts and amazing displays featuring the various aspects of the maritime industries of the area. 

This evening, enjoy a farewell gourmet dinner onboard, hosted by the Captain.

Visit the City of Roses, Portland, Oregon.

 Portland, Oregon is located on the Willamette River in northwestern Oregon, southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers, and has a population of a half-million. This site was at one time a First Peoples campground and traditional hunting and fishing site. Portland was first settled by non-natives in 1829 and incorporated in 1851. As an early terminus for the early pioneer Oregon Trail and with the flow of gold rush immigrants, it has become the State of Oregon’s largest city and an important west coast port. Portland is the second largest exporter of grain in North America (Vancouver, B.C. is first) shipping one-third of all U.S. wheat. Other exports include lumber and aluminum, and Portland has become one of the largest auto ports on the west coast due to being one and one-half days closer to Japan than San Francisco.

Portland is a city of many nicknames such as “Little Stumptown,” referring to the days when early builders left many tree stumps in the middle of the city. It was also named “Puddletown” during the same era. In 1852, an Oregonian editorial stated that it was not appropriate for women to raise their skirts to avoid all the puddles in the Portland area, and it was best if women stayed home when it rained!  Those days have certainly changed, and now the city is better known as the “City of Roses.”  Portland hosts a popular month-long Rose Festival every June with rose shows, parades, fireworks, concerts and more. It is also known as the “City of Bridges” because of its unique variety of 14 auto bridges, some built by world-famous engineers, and eight of which are listed on the National Historic Register.

This clean and friendly riverside city was ranked as one of the U.S. cities with the "Most Pleasant Climate" by a 1991 Rand McNally survey, ranking six places ahead of Honolulu, Hawaii!  There is much to enjoy on a visit to Portland, with its wonderful blend of historic sites and modern skyscrapers. The Tom McCall Waterfront Park follows the Willamette River for 22 blocks. It's popular with locals and visitors for scenic riverside strolls or jogs, and is the site of the Rose Festival in June, as well as the popular arts and crafts “Saturday Market.” The city offers myriad shopping choices, visits to museums, or a leisurely afternoon perusing the largest independent bookstore in the U.S.  Powell’s Bookstore is one city block long and three stories high, requiring a map to guide you when you enter!

Learn about the rich past of the Columbia River.

This great river of the West was not discovered until the 1700's. Many explorers sought to discover the mouth of this great river. James Cook, John Meares, and George Vancouver all searched for and missed it. In 1792, a U.S. fur trader by the name of Robert Gray became the first white seaman to sail a vessel into the river. He named it for his ship – the Columbia Rediviva. Ongoing exploration was accelerated as a result of Gray’s discovery, aided by the 1803 Louisianna Purchase.

Lewis & Clark, Wilson Price Hunt and the Astorians, the Hudson’s Bay Company, missionaries like the Whitmans and the Spaldings, Benjamin Bonneville, and Peter Skeen Odgen all helped discover and open up the Pacific Northwest. What first started out as a small smattering of explorers and traders would eventually become a flood, as thousands of Oregon Trail settlers came west seeking a new start.

Watch the patchwork farmland pass by in the Walla Walla Valley.

Sunny and fertile, this area is often called Washington’s breadbasket. Soils deposited by ice-age floods, combined with irrigation from the Columbia, Snake, and Walla Walla Rivers, contribute to the area's high production of wheat, alfalfa, corn, asparagus, potatoes, the famous Walla Walla sweet onion, and wine grapes. History in the area pre-dates the Oregon Trail migration.

The first white settlers were religious missionaries sent to bring Christianity to the Cayuse and Walla Walla natives indigenous to the valley. Marcus and Narcissa Whitman established their Presbyterian mission at Waiilatpu amongst the Cayuse living in the area. This mission became an early stopping place for trail pioneers, and that became a point of contention for the Cayuse. Travelers brought diseases with them and passed them on to the local natives.

The resulting deaths coupled with misunderstanding lead to a tragic uprising, attack, and massacre. This resulted in the Cayuse wars, and at the conclusion of hostilities, treaty negotiations ended with the establishment of the reservation system and the natives lost their land. This opened the area for homesteading, and the final result is the extremely important agricultural richness enjoyed in this beautiful valley today.