Tour Description: This is a luxury foodie trip involving three lovely small towns – Walla Walla (Washington), Dayton (Washington), and Baker City (Oregon). Lodging is in luxury and/or historic hotels and several gourmet dinners/meals are included with the tour. The basic itinerary is as follows:

Walla Walla Hub and Spoke (September 25th through 30th) – 5-nights and 4 days of cycling out of Walla Walla – accommodation at the fabulous Marcus Whitman Hotel.

Dayton Mini-Tour (September 30th through October 2nd) – Cycle self-supported from Walla Walla to Dayton – 2 nights at historic Victorian-style Weinhard Hotel – one day in Dayton to cycle and/or sightsee.

Baker City Hub and Spoke (October 2nd through October 7th) – 5 nights and 2 days cycling plus 2 days hiking out of Baker City – accommodation at the luxurious historic Grand Geiser Hotel
A detailed itinerary and maps will be provided to tour participants on the first day of the tour at the meet and greet.

Walla Walla is a charming small city and college town. There are three colleges in Walla Walla, including the highly regarded private liberal arts Whitman College. Walla Walla also boasts a state prison, a historic mission – Whitman Mission, and many, many excellent wineries. The town is surrounded by huge wheat farms and these farms are a significant economic force for the area. The tour leaders led a hub and spoke in Walla Walla in 2004 and club members have been clamoring for a repeat ever since. (We hope some of our original tour members may consider signing up.)

Dayton is a very small historic farm town that is a thirty-minute drive from Walla Walla. It is nestled in the foothills of the Blue Mountains and began its town life as a farming village and then later the home of the Weinhard Brewery. Now, Dayton is a rural center for artisan food makers and restauranteurs and has many vintage buildings.

Baker City lies within eastern Oregon’s high ranch and sage brush country. Baker City’s history includes the railroad, gold mining, Lewis and Clark’s exploration, and the Oregon Trail for westward-bound pioneers. Baker City is the County seat but still a fairly small town surrounded by farms and ranches, with views of the nearby Elkhorn Mountains. Lucky for us, the Grand Geiser Hotel was built during the city’s prosperous gold-mining era.

We are expecting all or almost all roads to be paved. There will be lots of hills but we aren’t climbing any mountain passes.

Walla Walla Hub and Spoke (September 25th through 30th): Meet at the hotel at 5 p.m. on September 25th for introductions to your tour leaders and tour participants. The waiver forms will be signed and you will receive your maps and tour itinerary packets. Then, everyone is free to go out and enjoy the fine dining available in the charming town of Walla Walla.

Cycling – Enjoy 4 days of rural cycling through farmland and wheat fields, small picturesque towns, and wine country. We will stop at a few wineries when we pass by. Daily cycling mileage will vary from a high of 90 kilometers to a low of 50 kilometers, with one cycling option planned per day. There will be plenty of hills and there could be wind, but tour members will be able to cycle at their own pace. If people want more information on the routes, please contact the tour leaders.
Food – All breakfasts are included. The hotel provides sumptuous full breakfasts and we know you will enjoy them and they will keep you going for your active cycling days. Two seriously gourmet group dinners are included for this portion of the tour. Walla Walla is a foodie town with many excellent restaurants and we will select two of the very best in town for our group dinners. If we can arrange it, there will be one lunch included and a visit to the Walla Walla Community College Culinary Program Café and a tour of their esteemed Institute of Enology and Viticulture. One post-cycling group happy hour is also included with the tour.

Dayton Mini-Tour (September 30th through October 2nd): We will load up our bike pannier(s), park our cars and extra luggage in Walla Walla, and cycle 63 kilometers to the historic and beautiful town of Dayton, Washington. (If some tour members do not wish to ride self-supported to Dayton, and someone is willing to volunteer their vehicle and one or more people step forward to drive, then we can organize a support vehicle transport to Dayton for small luggage. But it will be up to the group to organize this effort.)

Lodging – Stay 2-nights at historic Victorian hotel, the Weinhard Hotel. See information on this hidden treasure of a hotel at their website. Enjoy the antique-filled rooms and lobby, roof- top garden, and espresso bar. Rooms will be for two persons. There are one bed rooms for couples, a few two-bed rooms for singles, and the option of adding a rollaway bed for additional singles, as needed. If the hotel doesn’t have enough rollaway beds, or tour members are not comfortable with that option, we can opt to house you at the nearby Best Western hotel, which is very nice.
Cycling/Sightseeing/and/or Hiking – We will have one full day to enjoy Dayton and we will plan either a cycling outing, or cycling/hiking day. There is a museum in Dayton we will visit – the Dayton Depot is the oldest surviving train depot in the state. It was originally built in 1881 and designed in the Stick/Eastlake style. It has been beautifully restored and is now a museum. There is also the Boldman House Museum in town and if we can work in a group visit there, we will. Other entertainment options in/near town are a visit to the artisan cheesemaker, local winery tour, or cycling to the nearby Blue Wood Mountains ski resort for a little hike.

Food – Continental breakfasts are included with our hotel. One gourmet group dinner is included. We will dine at the fabulous Patit Creek Restaurant if they will be able to accommodate our group size (and if not, we will try to split the group over two nights). If you want to see more information on this culinary find, you can look at their reviews on Trip Advisor. Dayton is a foodie town with a few great restaurants of a quality you would not expect to find in such a small town. You will be able to find somewhere you like on your free night.

On October 2nd, we will cycle the 63 kilometers back to Walla Walla to retrieve our vehicles and luggage.

Baker City Hike and Bike Hub and Spoke (October 2nd through 7th) After we cycle back to Walla Walla from Dayton, we will re-connect with our vehicles and luggage and drive to Baker City, Oregon (204 kilometers or about 2 ½ hours).

Lodging – Stay 5-nights at historic, luxury hotel, the Grand Geiser hotel built during the gold-mining era in Baker City. See information about this fabulous hotel at their website. Sunset Magazine says the Geiser Grand is “the finest hotel between Salt Lake and Seattle.” Come explore this architectural jewel, and find out why the Geiser’s spectacular restoration received The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s coveted Honor Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation. One of your leaders thought this hotel was so special that she dreamed up the idea for this bike tour. Rooms will be for two persons, either one-bed rooms or two-bed rooms, depending on couples or singles.
Cycling and Hiking – Enjoy 2 days of cycling through rural eastern Oregon and 2 days of hiking in the nearby Elkhorn Mountains. (Please note that the leaders will research the hikes and cycle outings but will probably not be able to actually pre-scout them.) The daily mileage for our two cycling outings will vary between 80 kilometers to 63 kilometers. Our two hikes will be of moderate length (i.e., no more than 13 kilometers) and we will look for the most scenic options nearby that we can find. If people want more information on the cycling routes and hiking days, please contact the tour leaders. If tour members do not want to go hiking, that is ok and we will look for alternative cycling routes or you can go sightseeing or just take a day off. In addition, we will work in a visit to the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, which is only 5 miles away from Baker City. The interpretive center takes visitors through the experiences of preparing for the journey, life on the trail, interaction between emigrants and natives, dangers and challenges, settlement and homesteading in Oregon.

Food – Breakfasts are not included with our hotel though the tour will host one lovely full breakfast at the hotel’s excellent restaurant. Two group dinners are covered by the tour, including one gourmet dinner at the hotel and we will look for a good local restaurant for our other night. We will also have a special treat – a cocktail mixology class offered at our hotel, along with a selection of “happy hour” appetizers.

Intermediate with lots of hills

Lodging (12 nights), no additional charge for singles;
Meals included are 8 breakfasts, one lunch, 5 dinners, 2 tour-hosted happy hours, and one cocktail mixology class and happy hour appetizers;
Fees for two or more museums;
Maps and itinerary packet;
Karelo processing fees.

Meals other than the many meals included in the tour, as stated above;
Transportation costs to Walla Walla, Washington and Baker City, Oregon (If you are flying in from somewhere other than B.C. or the northwest, the leaders will try to arrange vehicle sharing for you with other tour members, provided you are able to transport yourself to Walla Walla or some other mutually agreeable meeting spot.)
Tour cost for one leader, as is allowed per CCCTS policy. (The leaders have opted not to have the tour cover this cost.)

Participants

Anne Campbell, Bill Campbell, Dan Carey, Elaine Carpenter, Richard Carpenter, Bonita Douglas, Bill Eberlaine, Dawn Ens, Ross Ens, Carol Evens, Glen Evens, June Gallagher,  Robin Howe, Denise Howes, Whitney Laughlin, Jenni  Lynnea, Dan Mcguire, Dorothy Schedvin, Allan Smyth, Leith Smyth, Paul Westmattelman, George Zorn, Jeanetta Zorn

Waiting.

Annie Miller