Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, WA - #SaturdaySnapshots

Called "The Gateway to the San Juans," Friday Harbor is one of those places I've been wanting to visit ever since we moved to Washington State. This past week that finally happened. We traveled with a group from Auburn to Anacortes, Washington, via bus and then walked onto the ferry and sailed to Friday Harbor. Here are a few photos of this charming town.

The town of Friday Harbor, viewed from the ferry dock.
San Juan Island boasts a population of just over 2,000 people.

We had limited time on the island (day trip), so we had to set some priorities. First thing: visit San Juan Vineyards! We hired a taxi and headed for this charming winery out in the countryside, about 10 minutes from the ferry dock.

The tasting room used to be a schoolhouse, built in 1895
and beautifully remodeled. 

The vineyard's previous owners built this chapel,
but it looks like it's always been there.

This small winery offers only four selections (fruity white wines) and they can only be purchased on the island. We tasted them all and brought home four bottles. 

I'm enjoying a glass of Siegerrebe
and a little sunshine.

After our wine tasting, we taxied back to town, had lunch, and ate an ice cream cone before boarding the ferry for our return trip.

Views from the ferry ride. The day started out overcast but slowly cleared and turned into a beautiful afternoon.

I'd like to come back again and spend a few days at a B&B, take a whale watching excursion, explore the town's many museums, and sample its restaurants. One afternoon definitely wasn't enough.

More info:
San Juan Vineyards Website
San Juan Islands / Friday Harbor Info
Rhode Trips Taxi & Tours Website

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. 

To participate: 

Post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on West Metro Mommy Read's website (link: HERE) Photos can be old or new and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

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Poverty Bay #Wine Festival - #SaturdaySnapshots

My husband and I support Rotary Clubs and we like wine so, of course, we go to the DesMoines, Washington, Rotary Club's wine festival every year! Each attendee is given ten tokens to spend for tastes of a variety of wonderful Washington State wines. Here's the selection of wines available for tasting (and purchase) at their recent event. [Click on photos to enlarge.]

I especially liked Twisted Knickers (from Page Cellars) and Nauti Buoy and Land Ho! (from Hard Row to Hoe). I didn't taste Siegerrebe this year (from Whidbey Island Winery) because I've had it before and already know I like it. Don't you love the names of the wines?

The event had just started when we arrived so the tasting tables weren't crowded. By the time we left, the place was packed!

 

The caramel-flavored liqueurs from Zzaphoria Spirits were delicious! 

Snacks were offered, too. I had a small bowl of Ivar's clam chowder.

Between noon and 2:30 (when we left) quite a bit of money 
had already been raised for the Rotary Club's programs. 
The event lasted until 9:00 p.m.

FYI: Rotary is dedicated to six areas of focus to build international relationships, improve lives, and create a better world to support peace efforts and end polio forever. They are:

Promoting peace

Fighting disease

Providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene

Saving mothers and children

Supporting education

Growing local economics

More info on Rotary's website HERE.

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world, 

click HERE or on the box below.  

To participate in Saturday Snapshots: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) 

have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on the host blogsite. 

Book Signing & #Wine Walk - Enumclaw, WA

Mark your calendars! Three members of my Puyallup writing group are participating in Enumclaw, Washington's, Semi-Annual Wine Walk on November 12. We'll be signing our books at Arts Alive! 

Stop by and say "hi."

An Unholy Alliance - First Chapter/First Paragraph and Teaser Tuesday

  

      When I discovered that An Unholy Alliance takes place in Oregon's wine country - an area I've visited more than once - I wanted to read it. And when I learned that the main character is in her fifties, I was sold! So many of the book's settings were familiar to me, described beautifully by author Judy Nedry. The mystery kept me turning pages (well... clicking on my Kindle), and the well-developed characters (who have problems of their own) kept me interested in the plot's outcome. It was fun to learn more about vineyards and the wine-making industry too.
      An Unholy Alliance is the first book in the Emma Golden Mysteries series. The second book The Difficult Sister takes two fifty-something women on a road trip down the Oregon coast. I can't wait to read that one too!

First Paragraph:
Prologue
Friday Night
He waited in the half light a little drunk, a little floaty, but with that constant edge of irritation that had grown so much worse in the past couple years that he couldn't remember when he'd last been rid of it. Surely only during sleep, which was troubled now on the best of nights.

Teaser (from 59% on my Kindle):
For alcohol, we are told, is a subtle foe - all good times and laughter until the day it quits working and fun is no longer part of the equation. It is replaced by terror and self-loathing so great that only a drink or a drug will quiet the screaming in your brain. On that day you learn that one drink is too many and a thousand are not enough.

Genre: Mystery
Length: 336 Pages
Amazon Link: An Unholy Alliance
Author Website: Judy Nedry

Synopsis from Goodreads:
     Like many women in their fifties, Emma Golden feels invisible. She lives quietly in her Portland, Oregon bungalow and minds her own business. But her tranquil life is about to change. She is asked to return to the rolling hills of her former wine country home south of the city to supervise a friend's bed and breakfast inn near Dundee. Emma arrives at the Westerly Inn during grape harvest. She is under contract to write a book about Oregon wineries, and it's business as usual until she discovers one of her subjects dead in a wine vat-murdered at his own dinner party.
     Cougar Crossing Winery owner Ted Maxell was a ruthless and dishonest newcomer to the northern Willamette Valley wine scene. Many people wanted him gone-including his son, many local winegrowers, and even Emma's ex-husband, Dwight. Then Maxell's daughter, Tiffany, calls Emma and begs for assistance. "I know who killed my father," she wails. When Emma answers Tiffany's cry for help, she finds herself drawn into the search for a murderer or murderers with secrets worth killing for.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please!
Link at ADailyRhythm.com

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.

Link at BibliophileByTheSea

Columbia Winery - Saturday Snapshots

On a cool, drizzly March day my husband and I drove to Woodinville, WA, to visit the Columbia Winery. We've been there many times - we have a wine club membership and receive "releases" every three months - but on this Wednesday afternoon the place was almost deserted. Although we enjoyed our visit, the grounds are much prettier in summertime when everything's in bloom and the sun is shining. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

A grapevine as art. The sign is enlarged below.

The tasting room was empty!

No one stood on the porches or lounged at the tables, 
sipping wine.

I'm looking forward to returning to the Columbia Winery in three months to pick up the next batch of wine releases. We'll try to choose a sunny day when flowers fill the beds. Until then, I guess we'll have to make our own sunshine and drink the wine we just picked up!

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world, 

click HERE or on the box below. 

To participate in Saturday Snapshots: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) 

have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on the host blogsite. 

Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate 

for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. 

Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

Walla Walla - Saturday Snapshots

When my husband retired earlier this year, his co-workers and employees gave him a trip to Walla Walla, Washington, as a goodbye gift. Why a trip to the southeastern corner of Washington state? They knew he was a wine lover, and the grape-growing area around Walla Walla is a great place for oenophiliacs. So several weeks ago we took our gift package (certificate for a two-night stay at the historic Marcus Whitman Hotel, plus a Visa gift card) and drove four hours southeast. Here are a few photos from our excursion. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

We took the scenic cut-off from Ellensburg to Yakima and had a
picnic alongside the Yakima River. Although the detour added a little time
to our drive, the views in the canyon were well worth it.

Here's downtown Walla Walla, a charming little town.

Former schoolhouse, now a  winery. According to the website:
"The original Frenchtown School was a log cabin built in 1870 along the shore
of the Walla Walla River. It was rebuilt in 1915 at our present location." 

I couldn't resist taking a photo of this mural
in the ladies restroom at L'Ecole

Basel Cellars is a resort as well as a winery.

The terrain in eastern Washington is strikingly different from the area
west of the Cascade Mountains. The hills are brown, except where
they've been irrigated. It's a different kind of beauty.

What else is Walla Walla famous for? Sweet onions!

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world, 

click HERE or on the box below.