first roadtrip in the new wheels!
Just got back from a 750 mile trip to Eastern Washington in the new car, and I have to say I continue to be impressed by that machine. I was hoping to get the K&N air filter installed before I left, but unfortunately the air filter is in a stupidly inaccessible spot that's going to require a trip to the shop to get it installed. Despite not getting the increased performance and mileage I would have had from that, I still got 29-33 mpg and excellent passing power, even uphill! Nothing like doing a steady 80-90 going up the Manastash and Umptanum Ridges on I-82, otherwise known as Washington's unofficial Autobahn (at least that part of it is.) More importantly, the seats are still comfortable after all those miles. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, and my camera phone was having issues, so only one picture really came out, and it's not the greatest quality, but here's the picture.
We started out at the Wapato Point winery in Manson, about 10 miles upriver from Chelan. They had some great reds, and when we got there we were the only people there so we got to try pretty much everything. Next an impromptu stop at the Lake Chelan winery, which at the time I thought was decent, except that the lady serving us had a few too many mannerisms in common with a particular coworker of mine that is repulsive in every way. Next it was on to the Ritzville area to check in on the family farm, the cemetery my grandpa was buried in, and my great aunt's house in town. One thing hasn't changed there - Perkins is still the only real place to eat on Sundays. On the upside, they now have a drive through Starbucks, although I don't know if it's 24 hours.
Monday brought one of the most unique experiences I've ever had, and needless to say the most interesting wine tasting of the trip hands down! After the obligatory morning Starbucks in the Tri Cities (another place that never seems to change much other than more boring tract housing), we stumbled upon the Blackwood Canyon winery. We wouldn't have even known about it except Hedges Estates across the street wasn't open yet and I figured it wouldn't hurt to check it out. We were greeted by what has to be the most friendly and well mannered Weimaraner I can recall. All the ones I seem to run into at the local dog parks are either barkers or have odor problems or something else along those lines. The proprietor ended up being the one who gave us our tasting. I'll spare all the details, but let's just say it went over 3 hours, and even though it was the only tasting where we were charged, that $5 allowed me to try over 15 different kinds of wine, most of which went from $40-$250 per bottle (edit - just checked the price list, the 88 Merlot we ended with is $295/bottle, good stuff!) I've always preferred reds, but the whites I had here were amazing, almost more like experiencing a good single malt Scotch than something that came from a grape. We were also given an in depth history lesson along with the explanation that went with each variety we tried. Not to mention the owner was drinking right along with us! Another interesting thing was the tasting was actually inside the barn where they aged the wines. Some of our samples were even tapped right out of the barrels, including one which contained enough wine to be valued at about 15 times more than my house! Tom Clancy liked this guy's wine so much that he got a brief mention in one of his books.. and it was definitely the only time I heard the person running the tasting drop the F bomb several times! Gotta love rebels!
All of this topped off by some good Mexican food in Yakima. Wish I had more pictures.. maybe next time I'll actually remember my real camera.
We started out at the Wapato Point winery in Manson, about 10 miles upriver from Chelan. They had some great reds, and when we got there we were the only people there so we got to try pretty much everything. Next an impromptu stop at the Lake Chelan winery, which at the time I thought was decent, except that the lady serving us had a few too many mannerisms in common with a particular coworker of mine that is repulsive in every way. Next it was on to the Ritzville area to check in on the family farm, the cemetery my grandpa was buried in, and my great aunt's house in town. One thing hasn't changed there - Perkins is still the only real place to eat on Sundays. On the upside, they now have a drive through Starbucks, although I don't know if it's 24 hours.
Monday brought one of the most unique experiences I've ever had, and needless to say the most interesting wine tasting of the trip hands down! After the obligatory morning Starbucks in the Tri Cities (another place that never seems to change much other than more boring tract housing), we stumbled upon the Blackwood Canyon winery. We wouldn't have even known about it except Hedges Estates across the street wasn't open yet and I figured it wouldn't hurt to check it out. We were greeted by what has to be the most friendly and well mannered Weimaraner I can recall. All the ones I seem to run into at the local dog parks are either barkers or have odor problems or something else along those lines. The proprietor ended up being the one who gave us our tasting. I'll spare all the details, but let's just say it went over 3 hours, and even though it was the only tasting where we were charged, that $5 allowed me to try over 15 different kinds of wine, most of which went from $40-$250 per bottle (edit - just checked the price list, the 88 Merlot we ended with is $295/bottle, good stuff!) I've always preferred reds, but the whites I had here were amazing, almost more like experiencing a good single malt Scotch than something that came from a grape. We were also given an in depth history lesson along with the explanation that went with each variety we tried. Not to mention the owner was drinking right along with us! Another interesting thing was the tasting was actually inside the barn where they aged the wines. Some of our samples were even tapped right out of the barrels, including one which contained enough wine to be valued at about 15 times more than my house! Tom Clancy liked this guy's wine so much that he got a brief mention in one of his books.. and it was definitely the only time I heard the person running the tasting drop the F bomb several times! Gotta love rebels!
All of this topped off by some good Mexican food in Yakima. Wish I had more pictures.. maybe next time I'll actually remember my real camera.