Live Oregon, Mind + Body

Professional Freeride Biker Carson Storch bombs down mountains for a living

Carson Storch talks biking and brain trauma written by Mackenzie Wilson Two broken collarbones, one snapped wrist, a couple cracked ribs, bruised organs and one major concussion later, Carson Storch considers himself “lucky.” The professional freeride mountain biker has been going big, crashing hard and doing it all over again for nearly half his life. “Freeriding is pretty similar to any other high-impact sport, like football for instance, but the difference with us is we’re going fast and we’re hitting dirt,” Storch said. Freeriding by nature is unpredictable. Riders choose a route or a “line” down a steep mountain and hope to make it to the bottom unscathed. At 25, Storch is still in his prime, but he’s taking preventive measures to stay at his best both physically and mentally. “I think brain health is kind of a focus of our sport now—it’s pretty serious at competitions nowadays,” he said….

A Wine Country Modern Farmhouse
Home+Garden, Live Oregon

A Wine Country Modern Farmhouse

A design duo crafts a distinct farmhouse for wine lovers in the Willamette Valley written by Melissa Dalton DEEP IN THE DUNDEE HILLS, up a curving gravel drive past a grove of moss-covered oaks, sits a farmhouse with a tomato red door. The home’s silvered board-and-batten siding and standing seam metal roof evoke farmsteads of old, but that’s about where the resemblance ends. This one has a decidedly more contemporary shape. “We wanted to take the idea of the modern farmhouse and flip it on its head,” Matthew Daby said. The residential designer teamed up with interior designer Angela Mechaley, both of m.o.daby design, to tweak tradition in unexpected ways. Picture a classic American farmhouse, and the image that comes to mind most likely includes a pitched roof, front porch, and double-hung windows. Pretty? Yes. Practical? Not for this particular plot, which has a dramatic grade and straddles a driveway…

The Art of Goat Cheese
Farm to Table

The Art of Goat Cheese

A second-generation goat cheese maker dishes written by Sophia McDonald photography by Eugene Pavlov Does anything epitomize spring more than baby goats frolicking in a farmer’s emerald green field? This has been a familiar view for Patricia Morford with Rivers Edge Chèvre since 1958, when her father brought home the family’s first goats. Jack, Stripes and Pinky had a specific job—eating the blackberries that had overrun an apple orchard. They stayed with the family long after the vines were gone, however, and ended up being the inspiration for Morford’s career as a farmstead cheesemaker. Long before she wrapped her first log of chèvre, Morford was known for her outstanding goat breeding program. “I just kind of fell into making cheese because I had such good milk genetics and I was interested in producing food,” she said. She started making cheese for her family around 1970. By 1990, she had decided…

Best Places for Scrumptious Pizzas
Food+Drink

Best Places for Scrumptious Pizzas

written by Jen Stevenson HEY NEIGHBOR A popular newcomer on the Eugene pizza scene, chef-owner Calen Willis’s cute bungalow-bound pizza shop near the university turns out 12-inch, hand-tossed, wood-fired pies ranging from a classic margherita to the pancetta, pepperoni and housemade fennel sausage-topped Carnero. Start with wood-roasted asparagus or a crisp fennel, grapefruit, parsley and pickled onion salad, try something off the craft cocktail list, or take your pint of Oakshire stout outside to the heated and covered outdoor porch. 1621 E 19TH AVE. EUGENE www.facebook.com/heyneighborpizza   MONTESACRO PINSERIA Okay, so Roman-born pinsa isn’t technically pizza, but they’re very close cousins. Made with a blend of rice, soy and wheat flours imported from Rome, this lively Pearl District pinseria’s light, chewy flatbread is layered with everything from broccolini to burrata to bottarga before being blistered to perfection in the oven. Pair the smoked buffalo mozzarella and ’nduja-topped Infernetto with a…

Portland Dining Month – Cider-glazed salmon
Food+Drink, Live Oregon

Portland Dining Month – Cider-glazed salmon

written by Jen Stevenson THIS YEAR, PORTLAND DINING MONTH celebrates ten tasty years of uniting the city’s best restaurants with intrepid eaters who love a good meal and a deal. From March 1 through 31, diners can devour special $33 three-course menus at more than 100 participating restaurants, from tried-and-true favorites like Aviary and Little Bird Bistro to buzzed-about newbies like Delores and Bullard. Whether your culinary companion’s a staunch meat eater, one of those admirable souls still sticking to their kale-related New Year’s resolutions, or somewhere in between, there’s a menu to match. Pore over the entire list at www.travelportland.com. To sweeten the pot de crème, your prix fixe dining spree comes with a side of philanthropy—for every reservation made through the OpenTable link on Travel Portland’s website, a donation will be made to the Oregon Food Bank.   EN ROUTE When you reach Florence, a lovely little former…

Live Oregon

The Beauty of Beer Cocktails

written by Jeremy Storton | photos by David L. Reamer I found a path less traveled in Beerlandia recently. It began with a muddled slice of orange, Angostura bitters, a Bordeaux cherry and a tablespoon of cherry juice instead of sugar. The aromas began wafting their magic as I stirred in 1 ounce of rye whiskey. In order to make a whiskey old fashioned, ice cubes and soda water ought to have come next, but that wasn’t the plan. Instead, I poured half a can of cold pale ale into the glass. With one swift stir of the bar spoon, I entered the esoteric world of beer cocktails.    With one swift stir of the bar spoon, I entered the esoteric world of beer cocktails.    The idea of mixing beer with spirits was anathema to me until I realized I was just being a stodgy beer snob. Then I…

Angel Face in Portland
Live Oregon, Trip Planners

Libation Vacation – Plan your next trip around your favorite spirit, wine or beer

Drinks are a natural part of life on vacation. But what if the vacation was … all about the drinks? We cooked up three perfect libation vacations—wine in the Willamette Valley, beer in and around Bend, and booze in the big city. written by Amira Makansi and Sheila G. Miller What are you looking for in a wine tasting experience? Clearly, great wine tops the list. But there are other factors, too. What about quality of service? Sweeping vistas? Ambience? And that ever-elusive je ne sais quoi?   Wine in the Willamette Valley In Oregon’s Willamette Valley, unique wineries and diverse identities abound—to such an extent it can be difficult to narrow down your tasting list. But on a weekend getaway when time is limited, choosing your top destinations is paramount. Here are five diverse establishments worth a visit on your next escape to the Willamette Valley. If you’re coming…

Oregon Resorts
Explore Oregon

Escape To An Oregon Resort

written by Sheila G. Miller In the beginning, there was Sunriver. And it was good. It was very good. Sunriver Resort, which was built as a World War II training post called Camp Abbot, became Oregon’s first big resort back in the 1960’s. It wasn’t alone, though it was certainly the best known of the group. Early resorts in Oregon include Black Butte Ranch outside of Sisters, Salishan Resort on the Oregon Coast, Tu Tu’ Tun tucked away on the Rogue River in Southern Oregon, and Resort at the Mountain in Welches (now known as Mt. Hood Oregon Resort). #1 OLD FAVORITES Sometimes glory fades. Sometimes it’s reborn again and again. At Salishan, one of Oregon’s first and most reliable resorts, that rebirth is taking place as we speak. It’s hard work keeping a coastal resort looking good—the wind and the rain of the Oregon Coast can weather even the…

Business

GoCamp Is a Dream Deliverer

GoCamp gets camper vans in on the sharing economy and delivers adventure written by Sheila G. Miller Instagram posts with the hashtag #vanlife have become all the rage in recent years. I can’t possibly be the only Oregonian who looks wistfully at the wild vistas and the perfectly kitted vans and thinks, “Why not me?” Here’s why not: a new or gently used camper van can set you back between $20,000 and $100,000 and aren’t necessarily realistic for daily driving. Most of us will never own one. But that doesn’t mean the dream is dead—that’s where GoCamp comes in. Deborah Kane started GoCamp partly out of a desire to get others out into the wilderness and partly to prevent her camper van from sitting in her driveway all the time. Kane, who rents out her basement apartment in Southeast Portland using Airbnb, had her a-ha moment in 2017. “Through my…

Business

Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue: Rhonda and Jim Urquhart’s devotion to donkeys

written and photographed by Joni Kabana Rhonda and Jim Urquhart of the Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue, had no idea what they were getting into when they decided to uproot from their arid Arizona homes and “move to green” after visiting an Oregon farm with its caving red barn. “I think we’re home!” exclaimed Rhonda during their first viewing, while driving past the front gate. They returned to Arizona and rounded up their dogs, loaded up a van and followed a leap of faith into lush Oregon territory. Fast forward more than a decade to present day—it is apparent they found their calling: fostering neglected and misunderstood donkeys via the Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue organization and working with the Wild Burro Project. After adopting their first two donkeys soon after moving to the 40-acre Oregon City farm, they immediately “fell in love with this invisible equine.” “They aren’t stupid or stubborn…