Walla Walla Wine

The skies cleared up overnight, the wind died down and the temperatures warmed up but not too hot.  Time for some wine tasting but since our first tasting was not until 2pm we decided to explore the town on our bikes.  It was a short exploration as the bike path was covered with Goats Head thorns and about 2 miles from the RV we both had flat tires!  Lucky for us we were only about a block away from a bike repair shop and they had all 4 tires fixed by lunch time.

John scheduled three days of wine tasting in Walla Walla, spreading them out so that our tongues don’t get overly tested.  Walla Walla is being very careful concerning Covid-19 as all the tastings were held outside and the wine was brought to our table in small carafes so that we poured it into our own glasses.

At Gramercy Cellars we got to taste while watching them sort grapes from their first pickings of the season.  We had been looking forward to this wine but were disappointed in their offerings.  The second tasting was at Amani Cellars where we had a verticals tasting of three syrahs.  Again we did not care for what they had.

Wednesday we tasted at The Walls tasting room in town and at Reininger at their tasting room surrounded by vineyards, none of which were their own grapes.  For dinner we tasted at Valdemar Estates.  This vineyard is owned by a European company so they offered some actual Spanish wines from north of Barcelona. After our tasting we stayed and enjoyed a nice Tapas dinner of Spanish dishes accompanied by Tempranillo and Carménére.

Thursday we enjoyed a nice Italian lunch before going to Seven Hills Winery for a tasting at their tasting room and then enjoyed a glass of wine at Charles Smith Wines after window shopping in the downtown.  Charles Smith did not offer any tastings, we had to buy a glass.  That was disappointing too because we wanted to try some of his other wines.

Smoke and Sand

The weather forecast was for high winds beginning at 11 am.  We left Prosser at 11am and drove to Walla Walla in 20 - 25 mph winds with smoke from fires west of us and dust blown from everywhere.  By the time we arrived in Walla Walla the winds were at 35 mph and visibility was less then a mile and at times 1/2 mile and it stayed that way all afternoon.  Nasty!

Red Mountain Vineyards

We have stayed in Prosser before on a previous trip but this time we visited the vineyards and tasting rooms in a region called Red Mountain, about 15 miles east of here near a town called Benton City.  This area or AVA is well known for producing Syrah wines although we were excited to find a couple of vineyards growing the Carménère grape. This wine is prevalent in Chile and Argentina.  One vineyard grew several grapes from Portugal and Spain as well.

John spent several hours researching the vineyards and then making reservations for tastings.  He left about an hour between each appointment so we didn’t have to rush from one place to the next. On Friday we tasted at two very small vineyards - Frichette and Fidelitas and then had a tasting and dinner at Terra Blanca Winery.  We bought a case at Terra Blanca and a couple of bottles at the other two.

We took the day off on Saturday and tasted wines on Sunday.  Hedges Family Estate was only Syrah’s and we didn’t find anything there that we liked but the building and grounds were beautiful.  We found a blend that we liked at Anelare and had a really good wood fired pizza for lunch.  Last stop was Col Solare.  Their buildings reminded us of a place in Chili. We think it may be owned by the same company but no one there could confirm our suspicions.  They had some very nice Cabernet.  

Riverfront Park

I talked John into going to Downtown Spokane since we have never been here before.  Of course all the museums and old buildings are closed due to COVID-19 but we did get to enjoy the Riverfront Park which was built for the Worlds Fair in 1974.  The Carousel was closed and not much going on in the Pavilion but we enjoyed walking in the  park, viewing the river and it’s waterfalls and riding in the worlds shortest (length) and longest (time wise) gondola ride. ( I made that up!). 

We stopped at a restaurant that overlooks the falls and enjoyed a cocktail before heading back to the RV.  

Spokane River

It was just a short drive over to Spokane but our GPS kept us entertained.  She pronounced the city “Spoken” and the Highway 97 was pronounced “en-tee-SAY-veene”.  It took me a while to figure out where we were going!!

The campground was located on the west side of the city and is next to a casino. It was all I could do to keep John away from the blackjack tables!  Ha ha!

The Centennial Trail runs through Spokane and along the Spokane River.  We got on the trail west of town and rode for about 11 miles.  It was a really pretty ride.  There were several places we could get off the paved road and follow paths to overlooks.  At one we found the ‘Bowl and Pitcher’ feature in the river.  The bowl was an spot in the water and the pitcher is a rock formation next to the bowl.  While looking at the river a couple walked by and asked if we had seen the moose!  Darn, missed him!  We had a picnic lunch near a small dam and then rode back.

Eastward Bound

We left Walla Walla early on Monday morning and began the marathon drive to Durango CO going through Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Colorado. We spent Monday night in a Walmart parking lot in Provo, UT so we could get to our campground near Durango in time to take a short walk, shower and then meet our friend Dave for supper. We had a very delightful evening with him and his family. He fixed pizza on his BBQ grill that was outstanding!

Repeat - Walla Walla Wines

One would think that the winery tasting rooms would be busy on the weekend but I guess that the Wine and Food Fair in Prosser is taking all the business from Walla Walla as the tasting rooms were mostly empty of patrons. That is a good thing for us since we get more attention and more tastings.

We rode our bikes around the town on Saturday morning. In 1904 a fort was built here to protect the farmers from the Indians and today it is the VA Hospital Center. Walla Walla has several nice green parks and a good bike trail system.

We tasted at Gramercy Cellars and Canoe Ridge Vineyard in town before heading out to Waterbrook Winery and 3 Rivers Winery. More wine will be showing up in MO this fall!

Today we tasted at Spring Valley Vineyards, who has named all their wines after the founding family, and Morrison Lane. We met the owner the other night at Charles Smith Winery and had a very nice visit with his wife today. We also tasted at Mark Ryan Winery.

As we were looking for another place to taste wine, we came across a free concert on the Plaza in the middle of town. It was a blues band called The Kingbees and it appeared that the musicians were older than us as was most of the audience. But they were very good. We stood by our bikes for almost an hour listening to them.

Whitehouse-Crawford restaurant came highly recommended by a couple we met while tasting at Gramercy Cellars. It was a old lumber mill resurrected as a winery and restaurant. The couple who recommended it actually work there and Mckenzie was our waitress. We discovered late in the evening that she was an aspiring opera singer when she belted out an opera passage for her boss. She will be working on her Masters this fall. Sounded to me like she will do well as an opera diva.

Walla Walla Wines

We took care of some chores this morning and then headed downtown for lunch before driving to some vineyards. We ate at a French place so, of course, the portions were small and expensive but tasty. When we got back in the Jeep it would not start. John found a multi tool and banged on the battery terminals and it started right up. Its a mystery as to why this is happening. Its not the first time but we would like to get it fixed so its the last time.

Our drive today took us to Northstar Winery who had a very nice cabernet, Abeja was closed, and Dunham Cellars. They had mostly red wines at Dunham, cabernets and syrah, with about 7 vintages to taste but they kept opening wines from their library for another patron so we got to taste them too. We thought the Syrah wines from 2006 and 2007 were good but we expected better from these older wines. So we bought a white wine.

After driving around the country side and residential areas of Walla Walla we ended up back downtown. John found a tasting room to stop in while I shopped at a couple of toy stores for the grandsons. When I finally got back to John, he had tasted a couple of rye whiskeys (not wine?) and was enjoying the music of an 80-something lady pianist. We spent another hour at the bar before going next door for a pizza dinner.

After the heat of the day it was nice to lay back and enjoy our A/C and TV.

Walla Walla, Washington

I love saying that name! Plus it is a very nice city of about 38,000 people and tons of wineries and tasting rooms and good restaurants.

We arrived on Thursday after a lovely drive through the Walla Walla Hills. The miles and miles of golden wheat fields over rolling hills contrasted with the green corn, orchards and vineyards in the valleys made for idyllic scenery. We were told that this region produces 1% of the world's wheat!

Once we got settled into the campground we rode our bikes to their downtown which is located only 1/2 mile from our RV. There are lots of tasting rooms as well as a Macy's, shops and restaurants. Our first stop was a bike shop to fix my flat tire. We walked 1/2 block and stopped into Charles Smith Winery tasting room. We then found another tasting room for Sinclair Estates Vineyards. We also checked the menus at several restaurants and got recommendations of places to eat. By the time we did all of that, my bike was fixed and we headed back to the RV for naps and showers before dinner.

We ate at T. Maccarone's and had a shared four course dinner that was very good. We had a bottle of Abeja red wine blend that was very good. We plan to find that winery for a tasting. As we strolled the streets after dinner, we ended up back at Charles Smith who had a blues band playing and BBQ on the side. We ended the evening visiting with a nice vintner who invited us to his place before we leave the area.

Columbia Point Golf

I talked John into playing golf today even though it was very hot and we didn't get the earliest of tee times. A gentleman from the area played with us. He is newly retired so his golf game was not much better than ours, that's a good thing! It was a nice course with some challenging holes, lots of hills and well protected greens (sand traps). John and I tied scores so I can't brag!

Tri-Cities

We left Prosser Monday morning and drove about an hour down the road to the Tri-Cities area along the Yakima River. Richland, Pasco and Kennewick make up the three cites that have grown together here where Lewis and Clark camped on two different occasions. Other than wineries and nuclear reactors, aquatic recreation and wildlife watching, there is not much else to do around here.

We are camped on Lake Sacajawea where the Snake River spreads out above the Ice Harbor Lock and Dam. Thankfully we have a shaded site because the weather has turned hot. It got up to 100° today but will cool off to about 60° tonight and then back up into the 90's again tomorrow. We drove into Kennewick this morning to hike on an island on the Columbia River. After a lunch of gourmet hot dogs we drove along the Heritage River Trail to Canoe Island where we rested with a glass or two of beer at a marina. Its just too hot to do much else.

I mentioned nuclear reactors because this is where the world's first production-scale nuclear reactor was created as part of the Manhattan Project. We had hoped to take a tour but they only give two a month and we'll miss both of them.

Horse Heaven Hills

Horse Heaven Hills is an AVA in the Columbia Valley wine region that has a history of producing some really good wines. Two of the largest wineries in the US are located here. Columbia Crest Winery is well known but the second largest winery in the US, Chateau Ste. Michelle, has a tasting room here as part of its red wine production facility on Canoe Ridge Estate.

The vintner at Columbia Crest told us they can put out 100 cases an hour at this facility and they have three lines running five days a week. If they get behind they add another day and they are considering adding a fourth line. We tasted some nice cabernet sauvignon and will have a case delivered when it gets cooler. They also produce some nice merlot and syrah.

We drove past Chateau Ste. Michelle twice before figuring out how to get up the steep hill to the tasting room. It was a small room and not very busy on this Sunday morning. One other couple were tasting at the same time we were. They were celebrating their 40th anniversary and trying to find a wine they could lay down for the next 10 years to open on their 50th. Not a bad idea. After picking our favorites, a syrah and a cab, we ate lunch on their patio overlooking the Columbia River.

This whole area is considered high desert and only receives 8 inches of rain a year. One wouldn't think that would be good for growing grapes, apples, peaches, cherries, corn, and other grains but the Columbia, Yakima and Snake Rivers all converge here and provide enough water to irrigate thousands of acres of land. The contrast between the desert hills and the lush green valleys is striking.

Cabernet Court and Port Avenue

The Farmer's Market served us a great pancake breakfast and I filled by bag with lots of local produce! John talked with a guy from a local winery - imagine that! I got my hair cut and then we rode our bikes on a bike trail to Grandview and back which was about a 20 mile round trip ride.

This afternoon was spent tasting wine. Just a block away from the RV park is a group of tasting rooms and restaurants on Cabernet Court and Port Avenue. We strolled from one to another and enjoyed a nice afternoon and came back this evening for dinner. We tasted at: Apex Cellars, Coyote Canyon Winery (really liked their Sangiovese and Primotivo, an Italian red wine), Hogue Cellars, Martinez & Martinez Winery, Mercer Estates, and Thurston Wolfe Winery (a great Zin). We had supper at Wine O'Clock again and did a flight of three Syrahs with dinner. We also made a trip to a vineyard outside of town owned by the guy John visited with at the Farmer's Market. Daven Lore Winery sits at the top of a hill overlooking the valley and it was beautiful. There is a huge contrast between the green growing areas along the Yakima River and the dry, brown, desert hills surrounding us. We would have taken a picture but there was such a haze from the fires around here that it would not have turned out well.

More Wine Country

Thursday morning we awoke to the alarm only to find that the atomic alarm clock had malfunctioned overnight and we had overslept by an hour and a half! Good thing we only had a a 5 hour drive ahead of us.

We gladly left the fog of Whidbey Island and headed inland and south toward Yakima Valley. We are staying in the Wine Country RV Park in Prosser, WA where there are over 40 wine tasting rooms from vineyards surrounding the town. And Prosser is in the middle of Horse Heaven Hills AVA so its only a short ride north or south to find more wine. John thinks the "H3" area grows some of the best wine grapes in the world. Just a short walk from the RV we can find about 10 tasting rooms and two miles by bike takes to another area where there are another 10 tasting rooms.

Friday morning we rode our bikes into this small but friendly town. While at the visitor center, I found out that there was a fun play at their local theater. I also found a place to get my hair cut and the Farmer's Market is on Sat. morning where we can also get a hot breakfast. Then we rode the two miles out to the wine tasting rooms. We tasted at Mercer Winery and Alexandria Nicole Cellars where we bought only two bottles since they don't ship to Missouri. We stopped at Wine O'Clock for lunch of wonderful pear & bacon flat bread pizza cooked in a stone oven while tasting two flight of Bunnell Family Cellars wines, one white and one of red blends.

Friday evening I 'abandoned' John and attended the local theatre production of "Dixie Swim Club", a comedy that follows five college swim team women over their life time of gatherings at the beach. During intermission, I tasted wine made by the Community College vintners class. The lady from the visitor's center sat with me and as we were walking out after the play I mentioned to her that I was from Sedalia and a lady in front of me asked "Sedalia MO? My daughter lives in Sedalia MO!" Small world.

Sammamish Maiden

Just a side note if you are interested. This local Indian tale is about a maiden with a name that is un-spellable and unpronounceable.

One day she was gathering food from the sea when a particular shell she wanted kept slipping away from her and deeper into the water. When she reached for the shell the fourth time a hand grabbed her and held her. Then a man spoke to her. He told her how beautiful she was and then told her about his world under the water. The maiden returned several times to talk with this man until one day she asked to see him. He stood up and was a very handsome man. She took him to visit her family and everyone was fascinated with him. After several visits the man asked for the maiden's hand in marriage but the father refused. The sea man was hurt and told them they would have a very hard time earning living and for the next year there were no fish or kelp for the family to eat, gather or trade. The next spring the maiden again went out to the sea and called for her sea man. He came to her and again he asked for her to come live with him under the sea. This time the father agreed with one condition that his daughter come home to see the family so they would not worry about her and they could see she was happy. The maiden returned each year but each time she was more and more like the sea with hair like kelp, her skin more like scales and shells and fish a part of her clothing. After four years the father let his daughter go back to the sea never to see her again. But the sea came alive with all the fish and creatures the family needed for a rich life. Now, when you see kelp floating in the water, you will know that this maiden is nearby.

CCC and Fort C

Seems our journey's today centered on the letter 'C'. We started off by trying to take a picture of the Deception Pass Bridge but it was fog bound to a point where we couldn't even see the far side of the span. So we traveled on to the Bowman Bay area of the the State Park where we had no vista other than a fog bound island in the bay surrounded by sailboats and trawlers waiting for the fog to lift, and those we sometimes lost in the fog. While in the park we visited the CCC Interpretive Center.

The Civilian Conservation Corps was established in 1933 by Pres. Roosevelt to put the unemployed young men of the depression era to work earning money and gaining an education but also saving the nation's natural resources. These men built roads, cleared land and built state and national parks, erected bridges, put up protective railings on roads, built kitchen shelters, bathrooms, picnic areas and caretakers homes. The bridges over Deception Pass was engineered and built by the CCC. In return for their hard labor, the men received free clothing, bedding, a place to sleep and three square meals a day. Oh, yes, they were paid a whopping $30 a month. But during the depression, this was enough to send home $25 and keep $5 for yourself.

After lunch in Anacosta we grocery shopped then drove south on Whidbey Island to Fort Casey. This fort was built to protect the western US from enemy attack. It was known for its disappearing guns. These huge cannons, I think about 12 of them, were mounted on a berm where they could be raised to fire over the top of the hill and then lowered below the rim so they could not be seen. They were never fired. The fort was used during WWI and WWII mostly for training of troops. It was decommissioned in the 60's and is now a tourist destination.

Next to the fort is Admiralty Head lighthouse. Built in 1903 it was an important landmark for ships traveling in Puget Sound until about the 1920's when steamships replaced sailing vessels. Today it is an interpretive center and wedding spot.

Anacortes, WA

There are lots of nice paths through the forest and along the inland lake of Deception State Park. We enjoyed a four mile hike along the perimeter of the park on this island. We walked along the Puget Sound shoreline, under the bridges and then we skirted the inland, freshwater Cranberry Lake before going back to the shore of the sound where we spotted a baby seal! It was sleeping on the beach while the campground hosts were keeping an eye on it while its mother fed in the kelp beds off shore. At high tide she brought the baby in to rest and sleep while she fed. At the following high tide, the hosts expected her to come back and retrieve her baby. In the meantime, they were babysitting it, keeping people away at a safe distance.

We chose not to wait for the next high tide in about two hours and continued our hike back to the RV. After lunch and naps, we drove to Anacortes on the north end of Fidalgo Island. As we were examining a map outside of the visitors center, a very nice lady visited with us about the sites, shops and restaurants in Anacortes. She was a veritable font of information!

We took two drives to island viewpoints that she had recommended and enjoyed the scenery, especially because the fog finally lifted (it was after 3 PM) and the sun was shining. Anacortes is gearing up for a huge Arts and Crafts Fair this weekend. There were signs to clear the 8 blocks of the down town plus all the side streets starting on Thursday night thru Sunday. I think it is a good thing we will be moving on before this event.

Whidbey Island and Deception State Park

We broke camp late enough that we didn't have to drive in rush hour traffic north to Burlington and then west over the bridge to Fidalgo Island which connects to Whidbey Island. Deception State Park is located on both sides of Deception Pass, a waterway between the two islands in Puget Sound connected by two bridges.

We had no problems getting a campsite which has not always been the case on this trip. Once we got settled in we took a short drive south to Coupeville as a way to explore where we are located. We drove past the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station where they fly four different types of jets. We have yet to see any of them fly overhead because of fog and clouds but they certainly are loud! The next town is Oak Harbor where we will find most of the necessities of life and then Coupeville which is a small village on the east side of the island on the far side of Penn Cove. It is a quaint little seaside village with neat shops and restaurants.

A nice dinner, campfire and a good book rounds out the evening.

Down Day

John has not been feeling well today so we have pretty much stayed in camp. John slept and I enjoyed the peace and quiet. We did get out late this afternoon to do some shopping.

After fighting traffic, again, we have determined that there really is not much difference from one large city to the next except for maybe one or two unique places of interest in each. Seattle has the Space Needle, Portland has beer (it took me awhile to think of that one), St. Louis has the Arch, Kansas City has the Chiefs (HA). They all have traffic problems, tall buildings, park settings, shopping centers, convention facilities, sports teams, museums, and lots of people.

An Off Day

We couldn't decide what we wanted to do today. We discussed going back downtown but there is a huge Seafair Festival going on with a parade tonight. We figured the crowds would be horrendous and we didn't feel up to fighting them. I got some laundry done and John completed some computer work. After lunch we tried to get the oil changed in the Jeep but there was a line so then we tried to find a Best Buy to get a new coffee maker but the address we input in Google Maps took us to their corporate offices. Next on the agenda was to do a wine tasting at tasting rooms in Woodinville but we got turned around trying to get there and then there was a huge line for a concert at one of the wineries so we turned around and went another direction but there was a wedding at the winery we wanted to go to so we couldn't find a place to park without pulling a u-turn to get into someone else's parking lot. By the time we got to the tasting room, John was so ready for a drink!

We tried Amavi and Pepper Bridge wines, Patterson Cellars and Goose Ridge wines. All came from the Columbia Valley. Goose Ridge was an impromptu stop but we enjoyed their wines the most.