planetdanika

Considering the fact that Ive been a Washington resident for 6 years now, Ive seen surprisingly little of the state. In particular, Ive rarely ventured east and crossed a lot of new territory this weekend. It was a beautiful drive from Seattle. I love the scenery as you drive up over the pass and move into a new climate zone. The Eastern part of the state is higher in elevation and much drier. The road along the Columbia Gorge was especially dramatic and shortly thereafter we arrived in the abundant agricultural valleys of Yakima and Walla Walla.

Walla Walla is a pretty standard, quaint American town. Its got a great Main Street, cool Art Deco buildings (1, 2), and a budding food scene. I cant say Id want to live there, but I thoroughly enjoyed my visit. The wine valley is growing exponentially with several new vineyards opening each year. We tasted at a number of them and my favorites were, in no particular order:

Basel Cellars
Va Piano
LEcole No 41

Walla Walla is about 275 miles from Seattle. In other words, it was quite a trek for a weekend. On our return journey, we breathed a sigh of relief at the first glimpse of snow-covered mountains and evergreens that make the landscape we call home. Washington is an incredibly diverse state and it is a joy to explore its many treasures. Stay tuned for further dispatches from our adventures.

Whats that, you say? I know my Washington State geography is a bit muddled, but is Walla Walla an island? That doesnt seem possible.isnt it several hundred miles inland?

OK, youre right. Walla Walla is not an island. It does, however, observe island time aka everything happens v e r y s l o w l y. Boy, did this weekend ever test my patience. I was rather astounded by the pace of the service in most restaurants. G and I joked about ordering our next meal several hours in advance to avoid turning into the starved, crazy demons. One local commented that, Like all things in Walla Walla, good things come in time.

It wasnt all that bad. It was slightly better than Spain. But any time I have to wait 15 minutes for the check after I request it, or find out the restaurant is out of something well after Ive ordered it its not such a pretty sight. I tried to be understanding- I really did. But Ill take my city ways and snappy service any day of the week.

G and I have been planning to go to Walla Walla, WA for the annual balloon stampede for months. A week or so ago, he announced his intention to drive the Miata there, assuming we could fit our camping stuff in the trunk. In the ensuing conversations, we discussed space constraints, what essentials to bring, and the viability of taking the spare wheel out to provide more room.

At the end of the day, we didnt have that much trouble with space. We safely managed our tent, Thermarests, sleeping bags, pillows and a couple changes of clothes each. A bit spare, but perfectly doable for 2 days. We didnt even take the spare wheel out!

So we left Friday afternoon just after lunchtime. Taking the scenic route, we drove along the Columbia River Gorge on a 2-lane highway in the middle of nowhere. At a certain point, G noticed the car was acting squirrely and within minutes we had a complete blowout with one of our tires. Without boring you to tears, it led to a roadside tire change with our gear strewn across the side of the highway and a very slow ride into the nearest town on a soft tire that looked like it belonged on a wheelbarrow. We had to buy 2 new tires and arrived a good two hours behind schedule.

Update from g: Exhibit 1, Exhibit 2

When we finally rolled into Walla Walla after 8 pm, we were starving and a bit harried. We quickly decided on Grapefields, a wine bar cum restaurant, for dinner. We had extremely bad service and a very, um, strange meal. I ended up with a rockfish en papillote with black-eyed peas, fresh herbs and coconut milk. It was one of the weirdest flavor combos ever and I have to say- it really didnt work. It was a long, strange end to a long, strange day.

The moral of the story: do not ever remove the spare wheel from your car.