Sunny Yakima Valley

This past weekend May and I switched plans and instead of visiting the northern Olympic Peninsula (due to some forecasted rain), we decided to explore the sunny Yakima Valley.

Yakima valley is about 2.5 hours away from Seattle, due east. It's known for a few things, namely: the Yakima river which runs through town, it's the start of the Washington wine region and it's the largest concentration of "Hop" vines in North America (approx 80% of hops in domestic beer comes from this little region).

We booked our hotel last minute, so there weren't many options, but I was able to get a decent deal on the local HoJo (Howard Johnson) hotel. All in all not bad - good location in town and a great shower. For those familiar with California, Yakima wasn't quite what we were expecting having grown up with Santa Ynez wineries nearby with all their charm and breath-taking views. Now, that said, there was a notable distinction we found: wine tasting on the winery properties were usually pretty modest (and free), but they winery staff were a bit more friendly than at California wineries.

On Friday night May and I came across Bert's pub and had a tasty dinner of Jalapeno Mac & Cheese, Burger Sliders and a few of the local brews (Yakima Craft Amber and the Iron Horse IPA). It was good, but I probably would not go again - had a little too much of a true bar feel to it.