Saturday 1st July
Our journey continued along the I-84 into Oregon. The south-east region of the state is classed as High Desert and spreads like a wide finger west towards the Cascade Mountains. Driving through the region it looks like moorland with green rolling hills and irrigated valleys.
Walmart in Island City to stock up and stay over in the car park for the night.
Sunday 2nd July
The terrain changed to pine covered hills as we continued west before descending into vast grass covered plains.
Just outside Pendleton we saw warnings for low visibility due smoke. There was a grass fire raging at the side of the road.
Turning onto the I-82 we crossed the mighty Columbia River into Washington, past the McNary Dam.
Vineyards started to appear as we entered Washington’s wine region and the Yakima Valley where we tracked along at the side of the Yakima River until we reached the small wine producing town of Prosser.
Wine Country RV Park, our base for the next few days.
Peter and Suzan had passed by on the highway and arrived just before us. We were having a reunion, it was our first meeting since we parted in San Diego back in March. Since then they have been to Minnesota where they bought a shiny new Newmar Essex RV.
For dinner we went to the smart Wine O’clock Bar and Bistro, just a couple of miles away from the RV Park. We sat outside on the patio with a view over the garden and the golden coloured Horse Heaven Hills in the distance.
Tuesday 4th July
We got on our bikes and went into the nearby town of Prosser to see the 4th July celebrations.
The Yakima River.
The Kiddie Parade
Classic Car Show
Prosser City Park
The Little Miss Prosser Pageant
Wednesday 5th July
One of the neighbours, Ken from Kentucky with his peregrine falcon and Harris’s hawk.
Thursday 6th July
Wine Tasting.
We headed north west along the valley to the Rattlesnake Hills and the Zillah wine making area. As well as wine the valley is a big fruit and hop producing area, cherries are the latest harvest.
Our first stop was the Severino tasting room which is in a traditional wooden farm house. A family owned winery, the vineyard was planted in 2005. Our host, Nikki, told us all about the operation and wines we were tasting.
A nice array of red wines.
Two Mountain Winery.
Time for lunch.
Bonair Winery.
A European style winery with beautiful grounds, French type chateau producing good white wines.
A good day out at these family owned wineries. We met some nice people who enjoyed what they did and loved to talk about their passion for grape growing and wine production.
Saturday 8th July
Back to Wine O'clock for dinner.
Sunday 10th July
Back on the road today returning just across the state border into Oregon.
Crop spraying.
Boardman Marina Park.
Peter and Suzan are already here meeting up with friends, Dave, Barb, Cindy, and Brian.
Th RV Park is right on the banks of the Columbia River.
The Columbia River Heritage Trail runs through the RV Park.The path of an old road runs right into the Columbia River.
Our last night together. We have spent an enjoyable couple of days. Humans and animals alike had a good time.
Thursday 13th July
We said goodbye to everyone this morning. Peter and Suzan are heading west to Long Beach, where the temperatures are in the chilly zone of low 60’s F. We are moving north into Canada.
Back across the Columbia River into Washington.
As we progressed north along SR 17 we came to a series of lakes along the Grand Coulee.
Leaving the lakes behind we climbed up to grassland, scattered farms, moor like and then arid terrain.
Crossed the Columbia River again at Bridgport with views of the Chief Joseph Dame.
Very pretty valley with fruit trees and grape vines growing on the slopes. Here we turned onto highway 97 and followed the Okanogan River along another scenic valley to our destination at Omak.
Friday 14th July
After an overnight stop at Walmart in Omak, we got back on the US 97 north alongside the Okanogan River to the US/ Canadian border towns of Oroville and Osoyoos. It was a beautiful morning as we passed through fertile valleys, pine trees, ski towns, fruit tree orchards and vine groves.
The border crossing was quiet and after being asked a few questions by the border control officer we were on our way into British Columbia.
The first town over the border.
About 20 miles north of the border is the town of Oliver where we booked into The Orchard RV Park. The park is like a garden with lots grass and fruit trees, plus a swimming pool. Our hosts were LA and Eric who were very friendly and helpful.
Sandy seemed very pleased to be here. So pleased that it called for a good roll in the luscious grass.
There is quite a big Indian population in Oliver and opposite the RV Park was an impressive looking Sikh Temple.
Our site was shaded by a cherry tree that had lots of ripe fruit. Eric told us to help ourselves to the fruit and we gathered a fine crop of large red, sweet and juicy cherries
We are lucky enough to have three lots of friends living in the beautiful Okanogan Valley, that we originally met up with in Baja.
This evening we saw Jane and Peter. They have an interest in one of the local vineyards and arranged for us to have a wine tasting at the Black Hills Winery. We had a cabana at the side of the swimming pool with views of the surrounding vineyards. Our wine host was Gord who introduced us to the wines on offer for the tasting which we followed with something to eat. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening in lovely surroundings and it was great to catch again with Jane and Peter. They are off tomorrow with their RV to spend a couple of weeks on Vancouver Island.
Saturday 15th July
The weather is hot, up to 94F today, therefore, we made good use of the pool in the morning.
In the afternoon we went out for a drive into the hills behind the town.
Osoyoos Lake.
Back into Oliver and a visit to the Dubh Glas Distillery. A craft distillery making whisky and gin. We met artisan distiller Grant Stevely who explained the distilling process and plied us with several tastings. Our drink of choice was the Noteworthy Gin.
Here is Grant signing our bottle of Noteworthy.
A drink at the Firehall Brewery and Bistro.
Sunday 16th July
Today we moved on north along the valley for 18 miles to Kaleden. On the way we passed Vaseux Lake before travelling through the small town of Okanagan Falls. Just past the town we turned off west onto highway 3A to our campsite at Twin Lakes Golf Course. The golf club is set in a deep valley and surrounded by hills.
This evening we went to dinner at Laurie (alias Grumpy) and Monica’s lovely lake side house with spectacular views across Skaha Lake. We were treated to a wonderful meal and had a really enjoyable evening catching up and having a few laughs swapping travel and RV stories.
Monday 17th July
Woke up this morning to smoke haze in the valley and clinging to the hills. There have been a number of wildfires further north and the smoke is drifting.
Went into Penticton, quite a large town positioned between Skaha Lake and Okanaghan Lake. We found a dog friendly brewery at The Cannery for a drink and lunch and a then a dog friendly beach for Sandy to run along and have a dip in Okanagan Lake.
Tuesday 18th July
Before we left the campsite this morning we met Stan and Annette. They had arrived in a smaller version of our RV the FR3. 25.
