Now you can actually get VEGAN wine produced right here in Washington State.  The Klickitat Canyon Winery produces vegan wines, no sulfites added, no yeasts, has no residual sugars and all the of the grapes come from the Columbia Gorge and varietals are 100% pure.  For those that have been trying to find the perfect wines to fit with their vegan diet this is the place for you to go!

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Come to one of the newer vineyards in the Columbia River Gorge area, the Gorge Crest Vineyards.  With the first harvested grapes coming out in the fall of 2007 and is already ranked as one of the Top Ten Wineries in the State of Washington!  Rick Ensminger, the manager of Celilo Vineyards, which borders Gorge Crest, designed the vineyard.  With is knowledge of higher altitude, late season, varietals he knows what it takes to produce great grapes in this area.

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Come and visit this family owned and operated winery in the Columbia River Gorge and you may never want to leave.  The Columbia River Gorge area has become a wine Mecca of sorts for those who enjoy quality wines produced by small wineries.  The attention to detail, the careful selection of the grapes and the processing of the wines are of utmost importance to these vintners.

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There is a winery that truly fits the name it has chosen with Illusion.  Located in the hills above the Columbia River this small winery and tasting room opens for your enjoyment most weekends during the summer and over the holiday periods.  The winery and Dante's Ranch Vineyard offers sweeping views of Dillacort Canyon, Swale Canyon, Stacker Butte ans well as Mount Adams, Mount Hood and a sliver of the Columbia River.  What a fabulous setting to sit back and enjoy a glass of quality wine.

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Come to visit this family-owned and operated winery and farm in the scenic Columbia River Gorge.  Meet the owners who have great stories to tell about how they got into the business.  Alexsis Pouillon got exposed to the winery business at Fetzer winery in Mendocino, California during the 1994 harvest.  He advanced from there to the world of winemaking in his won vineyard but you will need to hear more directly from him to get the full flavor of his journey.

His wife and partner, Juliet Pouillon, got her beginning on her second date with Alexis.  Prior to that she had lead a life as a farmer, dolphin trainer and theatrical director as well as a chef.  Time listening to her story will also be one that will have you sitting on the edge of your chair waiting for more of her adventures to unfold.

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You really need to visit this winery when you are traveling through Washington.  Instead of the large size facility that you are accustomed to you will see a petite winery packed with oak barrels, locally manufactured stainless steel tanks and cursing/pressing equipment and pumps from right here in the good old USA!!  Because of the petite size of the winery everything is custom fit to work here.

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This winery isn't one of the largest in the country, in fact, it does approximately 3,000 cases a year, but the wines are fabulous, just the way a small, family owned winery has the ability of providing.  The winery was started in 1999 by James and Poppie Mantone.  The innovative and careful crafting of the wines is due to the true concern to produce quality wines for the enjoyment of those that buy it.

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Unfortunately, that was not the experience I faced on Monday June 1st when I was stranded in Seattle by the Fox Car Rental company near the Seattle Washington Airport.

When you face a problem, it is best to politely and calmly explain what you can and can not do, and most travel service providers will do everything that they can to find a way to accomodate the problem and get you taken care of.  So the best solution is to openly and honestly explain the situation and work with the offending travel service provider for the best solution.

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The sea traffic into Seattle that travel on the Pacific must pass along the Strait of San Juan de Fuca, which separates the Olympic Peninsula and Canada's Vancouver Island, and then it requires a turn south to navigate through Admiralty Inlet before reaching Puget Sound.  There are two points that define the entrance to Admiralty Inlet from the Strait, Point Wilson on the west and Admiralty Head on the east.  There were Lighthouses placed on both of these points to guide shipping safely to their destination.  Today there is the Keystone-Port Townsed ferry that connects landings located near these two points which provide a quick link between the northwestern part of the state and the Olympic Peninsula.

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The Capitol of Washington was completed in 1928 and is both the Capitol and the Legislative Building. The main Legislative building has a dome that is 278 feet high with equally broad-shouldered edifices that surround the central structure.  

The state had been in existence as a state for 39 years and a territory for 26 years before that when the Capitol was actually built.  It took that long to finally decide that Olympia should actually be the capital city of the state.

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