June 28, 2017. A trip to the Columbia River

LOCATION:  House-sitting in Walla Walla, Washington

WEATHER:  Very pleasant.  High around 80

 

For our outing today, we decided to drive to a city on the Columbia River.  It is an area called the Tri-Cities.  We've never heard of it before, but there are 3 bustling cities that are growing quite rapidly here.  We went to one of them, Kennewick.  I had found a brewpub there online on the Columbia River, and we went there for lunch.  

The pub is actually on an island in the middle of the Columbia, which is very wide here.  We crossed this beautiful suspension bridge to get there. 

 

I was intrigued by this housing.....boat garages underneath and apartments on top.  If we hadn't bought a tiny house, this might have been fun!

It was a 40-mile trip each way.   Again, we drove through lots of fields of corn, wheat, and peas, then orchards and vineyards.  I hadn't realized how agricultural Washington is.     Back home, we played with our dog Genji, then walked uptown.  We stopped at a wine-tasting shop/cafe to listen to some music and to sip a wine.  

Walla Walla must get a lot of tourists.  You see people walking along the streets, carrying a bottle or two of wine that they have bought in one of the many wine-tasting shops.  Then, the tourists go out to eat or do some shopping.  Seattle is about a 5-hour drive from here.  I heard some wine tourists from Seattle say that sometimes they fly and sometimes they drive for a long weekend here.  Alaska Airlines has a new offer for them.....they can check their first case of wine free on flights back to Seattle from Walla Walla.  Cool promotion!

DINNER:  Asian chicken salad.  I found this new recipe which I like a lot.  I used some of the leftover grilled chicken, cut in small pieces. Then, I stirred together a sauce made with soy sauce, sesame oil, minced ginger, minced garlic, lemon juice and chili flakes.  To that I added a bunch of diced vegetables - cucumber, green pepper, red pepper, green onion, and parlsey.  I let everything marinate for a half hour and served it cool.  Very refreshing.