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chris_gerribSomething came up, so I was unable to meet my local acquaintance. I had dinner at a local Mexican restaurant that shares my hotel parking lot. It seemed authentic - half the customers were speaking Spanish. They had Negra Modelo on especial, so I imbibed. Herewith are various travel thoughts, related to Yakima and environs:
1) Mount Rainier - It's a big mountain! Really big, with lots of impressive scenery. On a weekday AM, several of the key parking lots were full, so avoid weekends and holidays, but do go if you get out to Washington. It's 2-3 hours from Seattle, so it's doable in a (long) day.
2) I'm staying at the Oxford Inn Yakima. It's at the high end for a $99-a-night hotel, which means clean room with comfortable bed and everything works. What's really nice is 20 feet from my room is the riverwalk and 20 feet past that is the Yakima River. Can't beat the location. The breakfast that's included, is, however, very beatable, so I'm going to find a more substantial offering tomorrow. Mapquest tells me I'm 4 hours from Spokane, so there's no rush to get out of Dodge tomorrow.
3) I had forgotten, but was rudely reminded, that Federal law prohibits people from shipping wine to themselves. Fortunately, the Yakima Visitor's Bureau came through, and found me a liquor licensee who could help. I really recommend stopping at the local visitor's bureau when you get into a tourist area - they are usually a font of information.
4) I've been in the habit of, when I fly in to these visits, of stopping at a local grocery store and getting some snacks and pop. I'll sometimes have a snack in lieu of lunch and/or a whiskey in the room in lieu of the bar. I've discovered that WalMart does not stock diet 7up or the equivalent. The only diet pop they have is cola. Bummer. Also bummer is that the Yakima WalMart does not have good Canadian whiskey - only some off-brand. That's not as problematic if I'm going to mix it.
Tomorrow, I'm heading to Spokane via I-82 South, which is a bit of the back way. (Mapquest wants me to backtrack on I-82 North.) But I'm not in a hurry, and the difference in distance is less than 20 miles, so I'm going to see some different country.
1) Mount Rainier - It's a big mountain! Really big, with lots of impressive scenery. On a weekday AM, several of the key parking lots were full, so avoid weekends and holidays, but do go if you get out to Washington. It's 2-3 hours from Seattle, so it's doable in a (long) day.
2) I'm staying at the Oxford Inn Yakima. It's at the high end for a $99-a-night hotel, which means clean room with comfortable bed and everything works. What's really nice is 20 feet from my room is the riverwalk and 20 feet past that is the Yakima River. Can't beat the location. The breakfast that's included, is, however, very beatable, so I'm going to find a more substantial offering tomorrow. Mapquest tells me I'm 4 hours from Spokane, so there's no rush to get out of Dodge tomorrow.
3) I had forgotten, but was rudely reminded, that Federal law prohibits people from shipping wine to themselves. Fortunately, the Yakima Visitor's Bureau came through, and found me a liquor licensee who could help. I really recommend stopping at the local visitor's bureau when you get into a tourist area - they are usually a font of information.
4) I've been in the habit of, when I fly in to these visits, of stopping at a local grocery store and getting some snacks and pop. I'll sometimes have a snack in lieu of lunch and/or a whiskey in the room in lieu of the bar. I've discovered that WalMart does not stock diet 7up or the equivalent. The only diet pop they have is cola. Bummer. Also bummer is that the Yakima WalMart does not have good Canadian whiskey - only some off-brand. That's not as problematic if I'm going to mix it.
Tomorrow, I'm heading to Spokane via I-82 South, which is a bit of the back way. (Mapquest wants me to backtrack on I-82 North.) But I'm not in a hurry, and the difference in distance is less than 20 miles, so I'm going to see some different country.
