ZOMG 23 days and counting! Can you tell we're excited?

First things first, a little administrative update.  The last time I checked, a few days ago, there were still a few hotel rooms open at the Hampton Inn in Richland.  Our block of rooms is no longer reserved, however, so it's now first come first served.  The Shilo Inn right next door is booked solid, but I guess there's rooms available at the Day's Inn.  They are all within an easy couple of blocks of walking of each other, so wherever you stay you should be able to easily get to the wedding shuttle, but hurry up and book a room!

As our big day approaches, we'd like to make sure y'all know about some of the fun things to do around Benton City. The Tri-Cities (which is what the Richland, Pasco, and Kennewick area is called) is actually chock full of fun outdoorsy things to do. Of course there's wine tasting, which I'll get to in a moment, but not everyone coming to the wedding is going to be 21 and not everyone necessarily wants to go around tasting wine like some sort of Left Coast Latte Sipping Weenie. If either of those are the case for you and your family, may I suggest some of the following? (If you're really just coming to our wedding for the wine you can skip to the section at the end.)

Hiking
The Tri-Cities is surrounded by quite a few gentle but gorgeous hiking trails. There are rattlesnakes to be aware of, but they are both rare and extremely easy to avoid. There's a fairly difficult but short trail on Red Mountain that is quite scenic, but remember it's going to be June and pretty hot; you might have a cooler time walking along Horn Rapids Country Park where there's water and shade. Some of these trails also allow mountain bikes, if that's your thing.

Fishing
The Tri-Cities area has numerous rivers that are part of the steelhead salmon spawning migration from April to October. What better way to stay cool than standing in a mountain runoff river in hip waders, casting with a fly-rod? If you catch any steelhead, which are delicious, we'll let you off easy and only tax you the cheeks for giving you the idea.

Float the river
Ok, I said what better way than fishing? My opinion is that floating the river is a great way. An easy way to do it; go to Walmart and buy an inner tube for 10 bucks, get it inflated, and put into the Yakima with a cooler of beer. If you're doing it on the Benton City stretch of the Yakima, you'll float right past where we're having the reception. There's not any real white water, it's just a nice gentle glide.

Ride bikes
Sure, it's going to be hot out, but if you're not the type to let that stop you, then bring your bikes! If you bring your road bike, check out the Tri-City Bicycle Club for some maps to rides around the area. If you're into mountain biking, I suggest doing the State Patrol trails. Not sure why they're called that, but they're supposed to be some of the best single track in Eastern Washington. You can find that suggestion and more by going to the Tri-Cities Guide Outdoor Guide and searching for "Mountain Bike Trails".

Wine Tasting
Okay, there's a good reason that we're having our wedding in wine country...we're Left Coast Latte Sipping Weenies. If you also like wine tasting, here's our list of our favorite places to go. We're not saying that any of the wineries that aren't on this list aren't worth trying, especially considering that tastes differ and we're certainly not experts. These are just some of OUR favorites.  All them are easily found with a google search or on the maps that I've linked below.

Red Mountain
Red Mountain is one of the smallest AVA's (American Viticultural Areas) in the nation and has a flavor profile all their own. It sits in a little micro climate that makes the wines made on Red Mountain taste distinct, and it has fostered an environment of friendly and easy going tasting rooms that we have always felt at home in. Here's some of our favorite Red Mountain wineries.

• Fidelitas - all around awesome. Wines that age extremely well. Love all their reds and their Semillion is one of our favorites whites. 
• Taptiel - All around awesome. Specializes in big fruity reds and nice dry whites. 
• Kiona - lots of wines that are priced so you won't feel guilty drinking them on a Wednesday night. Our faves are the Chenin Blanc and the Lemberger. 
• Cooper - All around awesome. Try the Marsanne! 
• Hightower - good reasonably priced reds. 
• Col Solare - go for the tour of their amazing facility. Wine is awfully pricey...get it at Costco if you really want to get it. But the facility is awesome. 

Prosser
The nearest town of any size to the West of Benton City, most of you will be coming right past it. It is a nexus of the Yakima Valley wine production, where you can find tasting rooms of producers ranging in size from Hogue (one of the largest wine makers in Washington) down to tiny little boutique mom and pop wineries.  If you have a few hours to kill on your way into town, you could do worse than stopping at a few of the places on what they call "winery row".

• Barnard Griffin - Their higher end Cabs are great. They make a great Rose and we love their Orange Muscat wine in summer. 
• Kestrel - good Syrah 
• Gamache - good Syrah 
• Blue Flame - actually a liquor producer. Super nice in there. If they have it available, try an eau de vie.

We're really excited to be getting married out here, and we're excited to be having you all come share this weekend with us!  Whatever you decide to do during the day, I'm sure we're all going to have a good time.  It's getting so close!