If you’re looking for a fun three or four day weekend trip and like wine here’s a suggestion, take the  drive to Lake Chelan WA . It’s about the same distance west of Spokane as it is from Missoula to Spokane. If you want the scenic route follow Hwy 2 west through a lot of wheat fields and small farm towns. Make a stop at Grand Coulee Dam to see the highest capacity generating facility in the U.S.

After that it’s follow the Columbia river down to Lake Chelan. The river gorge is rugged but beautiful.  Lots of orchards line it on both sides. Lake Chelan sits above the river in a glacial valley. The town is a resort type,sort of like Whitefish. People were friendly and helpful. Within a 10-12 mile radius  there are about 25-30 vineyards and wineries. Many have tasting rooms and tours which are a lot of fun. The best times to go are after Labor Day and on into October. The harvest is just getting started then and it wraps up with a Crush Weekend in October. You can go over in the summer but only if you like crowds. Lots of people from Seattle drive over for a weekend and rates are higher.

We toured several wineries and plan on going back. It was a lot of fun and we learned some new things about wine. We also had never been to that part of the country and enjoyed the scenery and seeing new places. If you’re interested let me know we took lots of notes.

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