The day started off sunny. None of the tasting rooms opened any earlier than 10, so we had a leisurely morning before heading off to check out some of the local vintners.
First stop was 14 Hands, a favourite of some of my favourite people. Karen was our hostess and we had an enjoyable time chatting with her and sipping our samples. Actually, sipping MY samples, as Robin decided he would let me have all the samples since he was driving, at least to that point. Of course, I shared a wee bit.
First stop was 14 Hands, a favourite of some of my favourite people. Karen was our hostess and we had an enjoyable time chatting with her and sipping our samples. Actually, sipping MY samples, as Robin decided he would let me have all the samples since he was driving, at least to that point. Of course, I shared a wee bit.
Just down the road from 14 Hands were two more places - Desert Wind, and Walter Clore Wine & Culinary Centre. We were trying to decide which one to go to and Robin stated that he was getting hungry, so we opted for the latter. Unfortunately, it was more of an information and promotion centre, and not a specific winery. They feature a different wineries from Washington each month and do offer tastings, but their culinary offerings are more in the form of cooking classes. We decided to head back to the motorhome and make some lunch. From there we could walk to our next destination.
Feeling nourished and ready to go, we put on our walking shoes and warmer jackets (clouds had moved in and we could see hints of rain in the distance) and headed down the road about 1/3 mile to an area called Vintner Village. There are 9 different wineries represented (there were 10, but one closed permanently in the fall), situated on, or beside a cul de sac, and surrounded by beautifully landscaped properties. One building held 4 different tasting rooms for different wineries, and they also share storage areas and brewing vats. They are working on Phase II of the project, so it should be quite an interesting place to visit again when it gets done. Today, only five of the places were open, with the others only open Thursday or Friday thru Sunday. But five tasting rooms was enough - actually more than enough, as we didn't taste at all of them. As we started to walk back to the RV park, it started sprinkling on us and gradually got a bit heavier. Where are the glasses wipers when you need them? Fortunately, it didn't really let loose until shortly after we got back in the rig. Hot chocolate/mocca beverage and reading finished off the afternoon.
We hope to finish the drive home tomorrow. As I may have mentioned before, Robin finds the time of day has more impact on how he feels about driving, than the actual number of hours. By 3pm he's about done, and we'll need about 7-8 hours, so hopefully we can be up and on our way by 7am. Maybe I can convince him to just leave me in bed, pull in the slides and hit the road. Yea, right!
Feeling nourished and ready to go, we put on our walking shoes and warmer jackets (clouds had moved in and we could see hints of rain in the distance) and headed down the road about 1/3 mile to an area called Vintner Village. There are 9 different wineries represented (there were 10, but one closed permanently in the fall), situated on, or beside a cul de sac, and surrounded by beautifully landscaped properties. One building held 4 different tasting rooms for different wineries, and they also share storage areas and brewing vats. They are working on Phase II of the project, so it should be quite an interesting place to visit again when it gets done. Today, only five of the places were open, with the others only open Thursday or Friday thru Sunday. But five tasting rooms was enough - actually more than enough, as we didn't taste at all of them. As we started to walk back to the RV park, it started sprinkling on us and gradually got a bit heavier. Where are the glasses wipers when you need them? Fortunately, it didn't really let loose until shortly after we got back in the rig. Hot chocolate/mocca beverage and reading finished off the afternoon.
We hope to finish the drive home tomorrow. As I may have mentioned before, Robin finds the time of day has more impact on how he feels about driving, than the actual number of hours. By 3pm he's about done, and we'll need about 7-8 hours, so hopefully we can be up and on our way by 7am. Maybe I can convince him to just leave me in bed, pull in the slides and hit the road. Yea, right!