Today was a sunny, but windy day. We decided to do some exploring and visit some wineries along the way. Our first stop was at a shop Dave saw advertised called Country Mercantile. We figured it would be a small cute little gift shop, but when we drove up it was a huge building out on the edge of a proposed housing development. There was nothing else around it but orchards and vineyards. What a total surprise. This huge store had a unique collection of the Northwest's best gourmet foods, gifts and collectables. There were jars and jars of sauces, jellies, spreads, dips and marinades. They offered a huge selection of soup mixes and spices. The back of the store housed a Deli featuring gourmet sandwiches, wraps and homemade soups. They made their own salsa, chips, tamales and enchiladas (had we been going straight home, I would have bought some). They had their own bakery with all kinds of wonderful pastries and breads. Oh yeah, and then there was the homemade gelato and ice cream counter. Across from that were counters and more counters with homemade chocolates, fudge and candies of any kind you could imagine. Needless to say, we stayed there awhile. We each had a sampling from the ice cream counter, purchased muesli cookies, chocolate bars and some soup mixes. What a fun store. They have 2 stores in the Tri-Cities area and have graduated from a small produce stand offering seasonal fruits and vegetables to these 2 wonderful stores. Sorry we were there at the wrong time of year for their fresh local produce. It's definitely worth a drive to one of these 2 stores.
Just down the road was Goose Ridge Winery. It had clouded over and was starting to spit, so we decided this was a good spot to stop. We were the only people in the tasting room, so we got personalized service. The tasting room had a fireplace lined with leather overstuffed chairs, so we decided to sit by the fireplace. The wine bar attendant said they prefer to serve the wines at the fireplace, so our tasting wines were delivered to us there. She sat with us and chatted about the winery, wines and the area around the winery. They also had some nice firepits outside (for another warmer, drier day). They also have a tasting room in Woodinville near Hollywood Schoolhouse.
We took a drive out to Prosser to see what was happening at Vintner's Village, a 32-acre site with 10 unique wineries, shops and restaurants. The place was a ghost town, so we just drove through. We wandered our way back toward Tri-Cities via Red Mountain wine area. We'd been up this road before, and stopped at a number of the wineries. We noticed some new tasting rooms since we were there last. We stopped at Hamilton Cellars. Again, we were the only ones in the tasting room. The wine bar attendant was so glad to see us, he gave us tastings for free. Again, we were able to spend time visiting, as well as tasting some very nice wines.
Our last winery stop was Badger Mountain/Powers Winery. The location was rather odd, because we wound around through a residential neighborhood and the winery was at the end of a road above this neighborhood. We had lunch at 13th Street Grill in Boise and Dave ordered a Cabernet Sauvignon. We were told it was made by Powers Winery, so we went in search of that wine. We tried all of their Cabernets, but couldn't tell which one we had before. We gambled and bought the one we thought closest. 
Powers Winery is the first Certified Organic wine grape vineyard in Washington State and has become one of the most environmentally conscious producers in the Northwest. Seven years ago, the winery installed a solar array on its administrative building, which provides about a quarter of its energy needs. Two years ago it added a larger array on its production building, supplying 17 percent of its electricity. Powers also picks up used cooking oil from restaurants throughout the Tri-Cities and converts it to 1,000 gallons of biodiesel, which he uses to run farm equipment and trucks that haul grapes. Six years ago, the winery began using bag-in-a-box packaging, which is more environmentally friendly than bottles - and lowers the price of wine. It's now experimenting with foil pouches, which are even greener because they use less cardboard and are recyclable. Three years ago, the winery switched to eco-bottles, which use less glass and greatly reduces shipping costs. A very interesting winery. Last stop of the day. Day 84, Tuesday March 29
Today was supposed to be the last golf day of the trip. We were both supposed to golf today at Walla Walla Golf club with friend, John Jensen. A few days ago I tweaked my back somehow and it has been bothering me on and off, but when I woke up today, it really hurt to stand and it hurt to sit. I couldn't even imagine how I was going to be able to get in the car and drive 1.5 hours, much less play golf. I sent Dave off on his own and spent the day resting. I did manage to go for a short walk around the RV park, because I'd read that walking is good for back injuries. As the day progressed, I got more and more motion. The worst of it was first thing in the morning (as it is most mornings).
Dave had a great time golfing. It was a private club and they finished 18 holes in about 3 hours. The wind picked up the last couple hours as it did at the RV park. Dave stayed for dinner with John and his wife Jeannette and got home about 9:00pm. Long day.
Day 85, Wednesday March 30
Happy Birthday to me. Yup. Another year older. My back was pretty sore when I first got up, but as the morning progressed, I felt better. Dave went for a bike ride in the morning. When we got back we had lunch and headed out. We decided we'd like to explore some of the other potential RV parks in the area in case we decided to stay in another part of town next time.
First we went out to Horn Rapids RV Resort in north Richland. We'd always heard it was really a nice park, right across from Horn Rapids Golf Course. We drove through, but weren't impressed. Most of the RVs in the park looked like they'd been there a while and weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Many had permanent stairs, skirts around their coaches, stacks of firewood (??? no firepits) and the spaces were really small. We really can't get excited about staying in a park where the majority of the guests are permanent residents. The accumulated "stuff" tends to spill out onto the driveways and gets stuffed in every available nook. Kinda messy looking.
Next stop was Franklin County RV Park at the TRAC in Pasco. The TRAC complex is a 38,184 sq ft Exposition Hall and 39,200 indoor dirt floor arena. It is one of the largest event venues in Washington making it popular for Trade Shows and especially equine events. The park was small with 46 spaces. Again, many of the guests were permanent residents, but it was a much tidier park than Horn Rapids. Not overly impressed, but it was OK. So far, our park is the best, even though we're sandwiched between the RR track and highway (that's pretty typical of most RV parks).
One of the favorite places we've stayed in Tri-Cities is Courtyard Marriott at Columbia Point in Richland (pre-motorcoach). There's a wonderful park and walking trail all along the river and an Anthony's restaurant (we've eaten there often) right above the marina. The sun was shining and it was warm, so we decided as long as we had some time to kill we'd go down to the trail for a walk. We noticed there'd been a lot of new building since we'd been there a couple years ago. Anthony's built another restaurant on the other side of the Marriott and they were just finishing a 3rd on the other side of their existing restaurant. There is another hotel going in called The Lodge. Sounds like it's going to be a really nice place. Columbia Point is also home to Columbia Point Golf Course, so this area is really becoming quite a nice destination in itself. We walked for about 30 minutes, found a double swing facing along the river and sat and watched the birds and enjoyed the sunshine and the river for some time. Our agenda for the evening was to go to J. Bookwalter Winery for dinner.
J. Bookwalter's tasting room and restaurant are located in Richland (they also have a tasting room in Woodinville at Hollywood Schoolhouse) in a building complex adjacent to Tagaris Winery and Barmard Griffin Winery. It's a little difficult to find as it's not exactly in wine country. We'd read about their great 4-6pm happy hour and planned our arrival for a little after 4pm.  |
| J. Bookwalter |
The day was still warm, so we decided to eat outside. It was a wonderful experience. The wines during happy hour were 50% and they had a 25% discount on some of their small plates and pizzas. We had a great waitress and we leisurely drank our wine and enjoyed the environment. Good thing we got there early as it's quite a popular place for happy hour and outside seating filled up quickly. Our dinner was very good, as was the service. Great place for drinks and dinner.
After we finished, we went next door to Tagaris Winery for dessert. It was a very nice birthday.
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| Tagaris for dessert |
Day 86, Thursday March 31
Home today. We're sad. We're not ready to come home yet. It's been such a fabulous trip and we really don't want it to end. At least it's a nice sunny warm day to get back into Redmond. We took the scenic route through the Yakima River Canyon between Yakima and Ellensburg. Fortunately, there wasn't much traffic on this road. There were a few spots of rough and narrow road, especially when there was a truck coming from the other direction. It was very scenic and enjoyable. Not the fastest route, but much better than taking the highway above. We got home, grabbed the cat and a few basic necessities and parked the motorhome in her storage spot. Tomorrow we'll bring her over to the house, unpack and clean.
Geez...this house is soooo big.
Thanks for listening to my ramblings. Hope there were some educational and entertaining stories for you. Travel is such a fun adventure!
