Spudnuts & Wine

Toppenish, Washington: We did not do much yesterday - just drove a few hours south to the Washington wine area and are camped on the Yakama Nation RV Resort in Toppenish. The drive was very pretty down Highway 97 and we took the little side road that follows the Yakima River (River and Nation have different spellings), stopped at a turn-out for lunch, watched fishermen and spotted two male Bighorn sheep!

Our lunch spot along the Yakima River yesterday

As soon as we arrived to our campsite, it started raining and it rained on and off all night. It was a good night to stay home, relax and watch a movie. The rain slowed to a drizzle overnight, so we had to exercise in the rain this morning. Oh well. If you don't exercise in the rain in the Pacific Northwest, you don't exercise (or you belong to a gym).

We had a big day planned, so headed east in our tow car. DT had a list of three vineyards to visit and I wanted a spudnut. Our first stop was 62 miles later in Richland, Washington (Home of The Bombers) for a donut. Not just any donut, mind you, but a Spudnut - made with potato flour. Years ago, Spudnut Donut Shops covered the US, now only 35 remain. The shop we visited in Richland was opened in 1948 and is still operated by the original family - from a $50 franchise purchase! I think 1948 was the last time someone took a mop to the place, but the donuts were divine - light and with a very tender crumb due to the potato flour. This Spudnut Shop is in a non-descript strip mall. Come early - they open at 4 o'clock in the morning and fry a set amount of Spudnuts. When the Spudnuts are gone, they are sold-out and that is it for the day! The restaurant also makes sandwiches and burgers, etc.

Spudnut Shop in Richland, Washington


Maple-nut Spudnut and a plain Spudnut (60 cents each!)


Very casual, everyone knew everyone. Coffee is $1.47 - endless cup.

Okay, first task accomplished - let's taste some wine. Which wine, exactly, goes with a Spudnut?

We headed west (back towards our RV) on I-82 and stopped at Desert Wind Winery in Prosser to taste their famous French-inspired Ruah (Hebrew for wind, breath and, possibly, spirit) wine. Desert Wind also produces a very nice Barbera. Several bottles of each are now in the basement of our bus. Desert Wind has a fabulous gift shop as well.

Desert Wind Tasting Room


DT tastes the Ruah, as the lovely assistant looks at him adoringly

Our next stop was very difficult to find (and we had two GPS devices in our car!). Pontin del Roza makes many Italian-style wines (and I don't think they have a website!). DT really liked their Sangiovese and purchased several bottles. There was only one other couple in the tasting room - fellow RVers  from Vancouver, Washington, who had just stayed in Steamboat Rock State Park and Leavenworth. We were on the same trip!

Man cannot live on wine alone (wait, are you sure???), so next on the itinerary was a stop to Chukar Cherries. Several years ago, a friend brought us gifts from this fabulous store and we were anxious to visit. Chukar Cherries has several varieties of dried cherries for snacking and baking, trail mixes, jellies, jams, sauces and a wide selection of cherries covered in various chocolates and candies. Chukar also sells dried organic cherries.

Chukar Cherries in Prosser, Washington


The Prosser flagship store. Chukar Cherries also has a booth at Pike Place Market in Seattle.

Our last vineyard tasting room was Thurston-Wolfe. Dr. Wade Wolfe gave us samples of his Primitivo, made from a clone of Italian Zinfandel grapes via Yugoslavia. Obviously this grape likes to travel - it was quite nice and several bottles were purchased. Thurston-Wolfe also makes a very dry rosé, which I recently fell in love with in Napa - and it was on sale for $7.50 per bottle... and we then qualified for a case discount of ten percent... and then we didn't have to pay sales tax if we showed an Oregon drivers license... and I think we left there with a case of wine and they gave us $14.53.

Continuing west towards our motorhome, we stopped in Sunnydale to tour through the Darigold Dairy Fair. Much like a tour of the Tillamook Creamery in Tillamook, Oregon, the Darigold Dairy Fair offers self-guided tours of their cheese-making facility and they also sell ice cream cones. DT says "Tillamook kicks their butt." Seriously folks, the Darigold tour kinda sucked. The Darigold self-guided tour does not include the cheese packaging portion of the assembly line - and let's face it, that is the best part. Not to mention they have an actual dairy or stockyard behind the main building and the joint absolutely reeks. Next time, we will skip this portion of the tour.

Darigold Dairy Fair in Sunnyside, Washington

Next we stopped at Bella Terra Gardens in Zillah - farmers with a large selection of organic produce. Here we bought beautiful fingerling potatoes, Yukon Gold potatoes and huge squash.

Bella Terra Gardens in Zillah, Washington

Zillah, Washington is also home to the interestingly-named Church of God - Zillah and the Teapot Dome Gas Station. I don't see how anyone could think we just waste our days?

Teapot Dome Gas Station


We don't waste our time - we are searching for interesting things for you to read about!

By now, our return route had brought us close to our campsite in Toppenish, "Where the West Still Lives", Washington. Toppenish buildings are covered with over 70 murals - the entire city is an art gallery! A quick drive through town shows many of the famous Toppenish murals. Most murals depict a historical event or person in the town's rich past - and many are themed around the local hop-growing industry. Hops have been grown in the area since 1868 and 75% of the nation's hops are grown in Yakima County.

Hop farmers depicted on a mural on the American Hop Museum in Toppenish, Washington.
(Note: all architectural "features" on this building are created with paint.)


Mural in the town square


Detail of another hop-themed mural in Toppenish, Washington

Time to get back to the bus to watch the USC Trojans have a workout against the Ducks. One week the Ducks slaughter; the next week they are slaughtered. So goes the Pac-10. It was ugly. At least we had a nice bottle of wine!

Obviously we had a long day, but we learned so much and saw quite a bit of Washington Wine Country. Except for the Ducks loss (and our stop to the Darigold place), it was a great day. Tomorrow we may leave, or we may not. The weather isn't cooperating, so...

Until my next update, I remain, your well-stocked correspondent.

RV Park: Yakama Nation RV Resort (this is address listed on their brochure... but I could not find the site.)