Prosser Day 2 & 3

Not much doing in the way of club activities so Pete and I went geocaching yesterday and explored Prosser. What a neat little community. We managed to find 9 in a short while. For our evening dinner, we carpooled to Grandview for a 5 Star dinner at Dykstra's House. Wonderful food to say the least. Today, we took the ladies to Chukar Cherries for a bit of shopping and then showed them around the town. After lunch, we went to Winery Row and did some tastings and of course a couple of purchases as well. Full bellies + warm weather = a sleepy afternoon.

Winery Tour

Yesterday, our group toured the Columbia Crest Winery (about 25 miles from Prosser). 9 acres of underground wine cellars and over 50,000 barrels of both white and red wines are stored there. Quite an experience to see the barrels stacked rows, upon rows. They are gearing up for this year's grape harvest that will be later this year, due to the cooler weather. The time limit for picking the grapes on 12,000 acres is usually only about 30 days. The winery employs a staff of 165 year round, but during the harvest, the employee count triples. This winery is only one of around 85 that are in the area.
I'm not a wine drinker, but did manage to taste several and actually bought some to take with us on our adventure to the midwest.
Updates to follow:

Prosser Washington

We finally made it to Wine Country RV Park in Prosser, Washington. Talk about a tough drive. 101 miles and most of it on the freeway. As we pulled in to register, we noticed that the 2 coaches ahead of us were part of our group and as we were waiting in line, the next 2 that arrived were also part of our group. We have 16 coaches at this rally. Tomorrow, we will get a guided tour at one of the many wineries complete with a lunch and of course a little tasting. More to follow tomorrow.

I Won!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday we went to the Wild Horse Casino in Pendleton and I actually came out with winnings. YES!!!!!!!!!!!
On the way, we stopped in Hermiston to get fuel and visited a geocache travel bug hotel. I dropped off 4 travellers and picked up 4 more to move along. The casino/hotel is undergoing a major expansion. I guess the gambling must be good. We did spend entirely too long there and it was dark when we left for the 65 mile drive back to Ione. No deer along the roads, but the owls were flying everywhere.
Today, I'll head out and pick up the 5 geocaches that are in the Ione area. After that ------------

Ione Oregon

As you drive into this little burg - the welcome sign says "Growing With Pride". Since we were last here 2 years ago, there hasn't been much growth. The only thing new is their "RV" park. It has 8 spaces and I don't see how you could comfortably park more than 4 in it. $40 per night to sit on a gravel corner lot. No office - you have to call the phone number listed and if someone answers and feels like coming into town, you can stay there. There is water and sewer along with 30 and 20 amp electric. No - we are not staying there. We're across the street at Chery's brother's place and are running our electric into his shop.
We're leaving this morning to take her brother to Pendleton to the casino. It's his 1st trip out since hip replacement surgery 2 months ago.
I always say the name of this town as I-One - and hope to be able to say later today I-Won.
I know, that's kinda sick. Later

Parked At Heceta Beach In Florence, Oregon

This is our last day here. For the most part, the weather has been pretty good. We had the usual mix of Fog - Wind - Rain and Sunshine. Other than taking a little sidetrip down to Coos Bay, we've stayed around the park. Cheryl took her sewing maching to the activity room and worked on another quilt. I managed to pick up most of the geocaches around this area without venturing out into the forest or off the beaten path. Tonight, we will meet friends from Veneta (Anne and Maury) who we met in Arizona and head to the casino for Double Turf and Surf at the buffet. I don't do steak, but will manage to eat my share of shrimp, scallops and of course the normal roast turkey.
Tomorrow, we will leave early and head to Ione, Oregon and spend several days with Cheryl's brother and his wife before heading to our last FMCA Rally of the year with the Rim Rock Roamers and then we will head east.

Still At Coachmasters

The coach was finished on Friday afternoon. After looking at the crazies out on the road, we opted to spend the weekend in the lot. (Unpaid Security). But, I got the coach washed this morning and will finish the exterior cleaning tomorrow. To top it off, we have a perfect view of the fireworks display that Bend puts on the 4th. Tuesday, we'll head back to Redmond and visit Les Schwab tires and bite the bullet and put on 6 new tires. There is plenty of tread wear left, but looking at the date code on the tires, it's time to replace them. Then it's off to the Oregon coast for a couple of weeks before we head to Prosser, Wa and visit Washington's wine country. Free samples and wine tasting tours.