Wine Country...woohoo

We left Mossyrock, Wa and Mt Rainier behind and headed down Route 12 across the Cascade Mountains. A beautiful winding road, a bit sporty in the RV but nothing compared to some in Canada and AK. We watched the topography drastically change across the state...

It started out pretty lush...

It was interesting to see rocks holding back rocks!

Then it became much rockier..

And finally almost dessert like...

While Mt Rainier averages 75 in of rain, Yakama Valley has annual sunshine of 300 days and a total rainfall of 8 in. The dry climate and volcanic soil is great for...

Our Rv Park was on Merlot Dr. in Prosser, WA, but every street in town was named for wine from Chardonnay St to Wine Country Rd. 

There are 40-50 wineries in the area, we made it to 13! Most of the wine tasting rooms are grouped together in town with the actual wineries some 6-10 mi away. They are mostly in unremarkable Morton buildings on the outside with beautiful insides. What they make up for in buildings are the gorgeous flowers and plants. By grouping them together it is much better for their business so customers can stay in one area and visit 5-6.

Some were more elaborate, still nothing like CA wineries...

I have never seen so many vines as we got out into the countryside...

 This year's crop almost ready...

As were the apples...

The other interesting thing about Prosser was that evidently Pot is legal. Right next to our RV Park was the Pot store "Altitude."  A windowless Morton building, just a small sign on the door. I couldn't get Wayne to even walk in...said we'd be gawkers, and I guess he's right, still I was curious what a Pot store looks like! We passed on the opportunity! Out driving around the vineyards we ran into this barbed wire wall...look closely...

Yep, it's marijuana plants!

This next picture was taken this morning and is very hazy but it's about 100 mi away as the crow flies...looks like Rainier was clear today!

This was a fun couple of days, visited 13 wineries, we purchased 25 bottles. Most were very good and since they charged a $5 tasting fee applicable toward a bottle, we almost always bought at least one!

From here we have a couple of overnight stays in Idaho and then Salt Lake City before reaching Moab where we will tour Arches and Canyonlands Nat'l Parks!