Libations: Better Weather, Wine, Family and Friends

How many times do we need to do something for it to become an annual tradition? It feels like just a few, really. We seem to visit Prosser, Washington in the spring every year now. I don't think it counts yet, because we've also been using the spring months to travel to New Mexico. Regardless of how I name it, we took a short week to find better weather, wine, and family time in Eastern Washington. Because we stayed only five nights, we only visited our favorite spots, and not even all of those. Our return home earlier than we originally planned was so we could spend time with a friend who stayed with us for a weekend.

Sunset over Prosser (with Mt. Adams)

Our spot at Wine Country RV Park

This qualifies as green hills for the area.

Daylight views of the Yakima Valley.

The valley looked beautiful; we had a wet winter and spring, so the hills were greener than we usually see. Wildflowers were going strong, and the air smelled fresh and clean. We ate at some of our must-go restaurants, and we bought a lot of wine.

Grilled asparagus. It's in season now.

Our favorite restaurant, Wine O'Clock.

Wood-fired pizza.

Wine O'Clock and the Bunnel Winery Tasting Room.

Walking around Prosser.

The selection at 14 Hands Winery.

You only need one hand to lift the glass.

Cheese plate.

My parents at Davy's Burger Ranch. Mmmm.

Deep fried everything.

The valley in evening light.

The sun sets behind Mt. Rainier.

Becky's Coffee has an impressive mug collection.

Nice morning.

Graffiti, Art or Mural? Downtown Prosser.

Sign left over from the pandemic.

Atomic Brewing in Richland, WA.

Pasta with nuclear butter. Spicy!

Snipes Mountain Brewery.

Bookwalters Winery tasting room. Map of wine growing region.

Our drive home was fantastic. We come through the Yakima River Gorge, stopping to have lunch at one of the many parks along the river (the one we chose was a federal park). You can camp there for small fee, but it is usually full during fishing season, and we haven't stopped there before. We got home just in time to meet our friend, H. He hung out with Russ while I unloaded the trailer. We were able to share the small growler of Atomic Brewing beer that we brought home, too.