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Archive for the ‘Selah’ Category

Celebrate at Sneak Peek to Spring Barrel

Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013

The Yakima Valley Visitor Information Center (VIC) celebrates 10 years of serving visitors to the Yakima Valley in 2013. Built in 2003, with the vision to promote the Yakima Valley’s growing wine country, the Visitor Center has become the first stop for information on lodging, restaurants, activities and events.

One of the events during this year long celebration, “Sneak Peek to Spring Barrel,” will be April 11, 2013, at Le Chateau. Wine Diva’s will be hosting this event. Come enjoy local wine tasting, live music, Hors D’Oeuvers, Spring fashions, shopping, raffle prizes and more. This is an all lady, 21 and over event. The Visitor Center will be offering a Gift Bag valued at $25 with every ticket. The gift bag will include 4 wine tasting coupons, to be used anytime during the evening, a glass of wine, a lite-up wine glass, Washington Wine Country Coasters; It’s All about the Pretzels, Spring Barrel Wine Tasting winery information, coupons and so much more. Tickets to the event are $30. Visit the Yakima Valley’s beautiful Tuscan style Visitor Center for your tickets.

The Yakima Valley Visitor Center provides information covering the Yakima Valley, most cities in Washington State, plus Oregon, Idaho, Montana. In 2006 the gift shop was added featuring local Yakima Valley made products and artwork, souvenirs plus specialty gift items. In 2011 the gift shop expanded its selection of local wines for purchase and began offering wine tasting 4 premiums Yakima Valley wines with the purchase of a $5.00 Govino wine glass.

The Yakima Valley Visitor Center is located across the street from Target Store at 101 North Fair Ave. Exit 33 off I-82. (map)

Come celebrate with us.

The Yakima Valley blog articles feature members of the Yakima Valley Visitors and Convention Bureau. If you would like to receive information regarding membership, Click here, or to request a membership application, please contact Michelle Hopkins at (509) 575-3010.

Tags: Spring Barrel, Wine Diva's, Yakima Valley Spring Barrel info, Yakima Valley Visitor Info
Posted in airplane, ART, Biking, Central Washington Agriculture Museum, Childrens events, Christmas events, Culinary, Cultural Celebrations, Farm Fresh, fishing, flying, Guesthouses, Hiking, Hotels, Marathon, Museums, Nature, Outdoors, Pet Friendly, Pet friendly wineries, Recreation, Restaurants, Scenic Drives, Selah, Shopping, Skiing, snowmobiling, travel yakima, Uncategorized, Union Gap, vacation rental homes, Washington Wine Country, whitewater rafting, Wi-Fi, Wineries, wines, Yakima Tourism, Yakima Valley Events, Yakima valley spas | No Comments »

Discover Selah, WA ~ Yakima River Canyon Marathon, Community Days…

Monday, March 18th, 2013

Selah, WA stretches out below, with the snow covered dome of Mt. Adams rising in the distance, as you crest the South Umtanum Ridge on I-82 East. You have just entered the Yakima Valley, Washington Wine Country, encompassing the cities of Selah, Yakima, Union Gap, Zillah, Toppenish, Grandview, Prosser, and Benton City. A rich agricultural area known for vast acres of vineyards and orchards watered by the Yakima River diverted through irrigation canals makes the Yakima Valley the 12th largest agricultural region in the country.

Enter the valley over the Fred G. Redmon Bridge, also known as the Selah Creek Bridge. The rest stop located south of the bridge offers a view of the imposing twin arches, once the longest concrete arch bridge in the United States.

Selah, with its friendly small town ambiance, can also be entered from the north, by the Yakima River Canyon, Washington State’s First Scenic Byway, State Route 821. The Yakima River Canyon is popular for its blue ribbon fly fishing, long lazy summer days floating down the river, wildlife viewing, camping and hiking in the Umtanum Recreation Area.

On April 6, 2013, runners will converge on Selah for the 12th Annual Yakima River Canyon Marathon, a standard 26.2 mile scenic point-to-point course, offering spectacular views of the Yakima River Canyon. The course follows the Yakima River downstream and finishes in rural Selah, attracting runners from all over the country to this scenic area. Special Speaker Friday April 5th Bart Yasso, chief running officer of Runner’s World magazine is the author of the book My Life on the Run….the wit, wisdom and insights of a road racing icon. He’ll be the guest speaker at the pasta feed on Friday. Included in his presentation is an interesting and humorous slide show, “Never Limit Where Running Can Take You”

Runner Testimonial…

“A marathon that you really should consider for the whole weekend’s experience is the Yakima River Canyon. It simply beats any other marathon experience PERIOD…not ready for a marathon, who cares? There are many, many slow runners and walkers and they are as well embraced, perhaps more so, than the front runners. You’ll rub elbows with many wide-eyed first timers and many knurly veterans that will astound middle of the packers, back of the packers, all equals at the end of the day.”

Your Canyon For A Day Bike Tour! Enjoy the canyon without worrying about traffic. They are closing down the Yakima River Canyon for you and your family to take a ride on your bikes and enjoy the scenery! May 19, 2013 9:00am to 3:00pm

A perfect ride for the whole family! This 35-mile round trip ride is a great family event, riding through the scenic Yakima River Canyon. The road follows the Yakima River up a gentle grade with few hills. The highway will be closed to thru- traffic.

Begin the ride from either the south end of the canyon from Selah or on from the north, Ellensburg end of the canyon. The staging area is at the Roza Recreation Site at milepost 7 on SR 821 for those coming from Selah at the south end. This is the perfect weekend to plan your trip to Selah. Enjoy the beauty of the canyon with your family and celebrate the small town community days with the local residents.

Officially incorporated on April 3, 1919, the city of Selah will be celebrating Community Days, May 16-19, 2012. Experience the sunshine and friendly small town atmosphere during the annual Selah Community Days Festival with live entertainment Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday, a carnival, food and craft vendors and Saturday night fireworks. On Saturday park in the Selah Jr. High parking lot and take the FREE Yakima Transit bus to the Selah Wixson Park festival grounds from 11am to 11pm.

Selah is known as the Apple Juice Capitol of the World and is home to Tree Top Natural Fruit Products made from farm fresh apples, grapes and pears grown in this abundant agricultural region. In response to the growing ag-tourism requests, on October 31, 2011, Tree Top opened its new Tree Top Store & Visitor Center. Here you can learn about farm-to-table production of apple juice and the history of Tree Top. The store is stocked with Tree Top products and gifts, and features a Café to enjoy sandwiches, baked goods, coffee, smoothies and juice. Tree Top hosts the Skewered Apple BBQ Championship sanctioned by the Pacific Northwest Barbecue Association. This year, the event will be held near the Tree Top Corporation campus in Selah. On September 7th and 8th this event will attract 50 to 70 barbeque teams vying for $35,000 in prize money. This national BBQ championship includes cooking demos, BBQ samples to taste, activities, live entertainment and much more.

Tags: Bart Yazzo, Bike the Yakima River Canyon, Canyon Marathon, Fred Redmon Bridge, Marathon, Marathon Washignton, Pacific Northwest Barbecue Association, PNWBA, Runners World Magazine, Running, Selah, Tree Top Inc, WA Marathon, Yakima River Canyon Marathon
Posted in Biking, Childrens events, Culinary, Cultural Celebrations, Farm Fresh, Hiking, Marathon, Nature, Outdoors, Recreation, Scenic Drives, Selah, travel yakima, Uncategorized, Washington Wine Country, Yakima Tourism, Yakima Valley Events | No Comments »

Jackson’s “Stanley adventure” with Heather in the Yakima Valley

Thursday, May 31st, 2012

Jackson’s Stanley from King Williams, Virginia, came to the Yakima Valley to visit his cousin, Heather. His first stop was the Yakima Valley Visitor Information Center & Gift Shop, Exit 33A off I-82 East. The visitor center staff helped him with a Yakima Valley Official Visitor Guide, map and information on the attractions and activities in the Yakima Valley. He learned that the Yakima Valley in Central Washington State is one of the world’s top agricultural growing regions. Abundant farm fresh fruit such as cherries, many kinds of apples, peaches, pears, grapes which are made into wine and a variety of fresh produce can be found in the Yakima Valley. He chose some fun places to visit and exciting activities in Yakima. Their first stop was the new Tree Top Visitor Center in Selah, WA, where they learned about the history of Tree Top apple juice and how it is made. They even sampled some.

Jackson’s Stanley wanted to go to a Yakima Bears Game but baseball season hadn’t started yet. He did go to see the Yakima County Stadium, and would like to come back and watch a ball game there, when they start in June.

The Yakima Valley SunDome and Central Washington State Fair Park are next to the Yakima County Stadium. Jackson is looking forward to going to the Central Washington State Fair in late September.

Stanley learned to roller skate with Heather at Skateland Fun Center Roller/Inline Skating Rink in Union Gap.This is a large indoor rink, open year round. After roller skating he ate a famously huge Miner burger at Miner’s Drive In. Miner’s has been in the Valley since 1948. He finished with Yo-Yakima frozen yogurt for dessert, combining his favorite flavor chocolate, with huckleberry.

He learned at the Yakima Valley Visitor Information Center that Toppenish is known for over 70 large Western-themed murals on the sides of the buildings. A new mural is painted every year – all in one day! June 2, is the date for this year’s Mural-in-a-Day, creating Toppenish’s 74th mural. Friday June 1 will include the preparation of the wall, mixing paint and cartooning. The artist, whose mural design is chosen, will have the help of other artists to paint the mural on Saturday. A dozen professional artists will begin painting at 9 am and finish the entire mural by nightfall. During these two days there will be a pancake breakfast, horse drawn mural tours, crafts vendors and other special events. This is Stanley’s favorite mural!

Stanley likes trains! In Toppenish at the Northern Pacific Rail & Steam Museum, he saw the 1902 steam engine that is being restored as well as the Train Depot built in 1930 and train related artifacts.

Stanley and Heather took time to play miniature golf at Meadowbrook Fun Center. They also splashed each other on the bumper boats, raced the go-karts around a track and ate pizza. Stanley liked racing the go-karts around a track so much, he went to Project R Race Center, a professional racing simulation center with the same technology used by professional race teams.. The high definition resolution cockpit view, shaking and rattling of the wheel and seat and headphones surrounded Stanley with high quality sounds, including the squeal of the tires and roar of the engine. This made Stanley feel that he was in a real race. He told everyone about his ride an wants to do this again!

Jackson’s (Flat) Stanley had fun in the Yakima Valley visiting with Heather! He hopes to come back again soon to visit the Yakima Valley Museum Children Underground and 1930′s style Soda Fountain for an ice cream soda and the McAllisters Museum of Aviation flight simulator. Heather says it is just like flying a real airplane!

(For Jackson and Heather!)

The Yakima Valley blog articles feature members of the Yakima Valley Visitors & Convention Bureau. If you would like to receive information regarding membership, Click here, or to request a membership application, please contact Michele Hopkins at (509) 575-3010.

Tags: #FlatStanley, bumper boats, Central Washington State Fair, Flat Stanley, McAllister Museum of Aviation, Miners Drive In, Miniature golf in Yakima, Mural, Mural-in-a-Day, Museum, Museum Soda Fountain, project R racing, Race Cars, Racing, Skateland, Toppenish, Toppenish Murals, Yakima Childrens activities, Yakima fruit, Yakima museum, Yakima racing, Yakima Valley Museum, Yo-Yakima Frozen yogurt
Posted in Childrens events, Farm Fresh, Museums, Outdoors, Recreation, Selah, Uncategorized, Union Gap | No Comments »

Thanksgiving in Wine Country – Make “The VIC” Your First Stop

Saturday, November 19th, 2011

Coming to Thanksgiving in Wine Country? Make the Yakima Valley Visitor Information Center,”The VIC,” your first stop (Exit 33A I-82E). You will need a glass to visit the over 50 wineries participating in this event on November 25 and 26, either bring one from home or purchase one at the visitor center or from the wineries offering glasses for sale.

WINE TASTING PLUS GLASS! The VIC features a 12.75 ounce branded Tanjuli wineglass and tasting of four Tanujuli wines for $6.00. The Tanjuli Wines offered for tasting are ’09 Viognier, ’06 Petit Verdot, ’07 Malbec, and the Late Harvest Orange Muscat. There is a limited supply of glasses. This past year Tanjuli Winery opened their new Tasting Room in the Zillah, WA in the Rattlesnake Hills AVA. At the Tanjuli Winery , for Thanksgiving in Wine Country, they will release from the wine library, the 2001 Pinot Noir. The Pinot Noir grapes come from Tom Campbell’s thirty year old vineyards high in the Rocky Mountains of Montana. The concentration of flavor created by this extreme climate has to be experienced. Tom Campbell, the Tanjuli winemaker/owner, has over 30 years of wine making experience. Trained at the U.C. Davis School of viticulture, he worked in the California wine industry in the Sonoma Valley, Edna Valley and Temucula. He worked as the enologist at Chateau Ste. Michelle’s Grandview Winery for many years and built and operated Horizons Edge Winery from 1983-1985.
Currently he is the founder and winemaker of Mission Mountain Winery located on the shore of Flathead Lake in Dayton, Montana. In Washington State, he is the Director Of Wine Production for Woodhouse Family Cellars in Woodinville WA. Tom crafted their flagship wine, Darighe ( “red” in Gaelic), a Boudeaux style red in 1998, which lead to the creation of Woodhouse Family Cellars in 2004. Tanjuli Wines are sold only at the winery, the Yakima Valley Visitor Information Center, and special events.

WINE DEAL! For the Thanksgiving in Wine Country Event, the Yakima Valley Visitor Center will offer 20% off Cowan Vineyard Wines: ‘05 Cabernet Franc, ‘05 Cabernet Sauvignon, ‘05 Tartan Red (A blend of 46% Cab Franc 30% Cab Sauvignon & 24% Merlot), and the ‘08 Muscat Canelli. Cowan Vineyards tasting room is located in the Prosser Food and Wine Park. They recently opened a new tasting room in Snohomish, WA, as part of the Washington Public Market and Wine Cellars of Washington. Cowan Vineyards is an Estate Winery growing these grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Gewürztraminer, Merlot, White Reisling, Muscat Canelli and Pinot Gris for their handcrafted wines. You can also book a stay on the Cowan Estate in the middle of Yakima Valley Wine Country. This four bedroom home on a hilltop near Grandview, offers a great view of Mount Adams and Mount Rainier, surrounded by on 65 acres of wine grapes, cherry trees, and hops.

SALE! All gift items at the Yakima Valley Visitor Information Center (pictured) will be 20% off the regular price. There are great stocking stuffers for $10.00 and under, Chukar Cherries, handbags, jewelry, scarves, bling aprons, cookbooks, t-shirts, garden ornaments and flags and much more. This is a great time to pick up your holiday gift basket items.

Tags: Yakima Information, Yakima Valley Information, Yakima Valley Visitor Center
Posted in Accommodations, Biking, Culinary, Cultural Celebrations, Farm Fresh, fishing, Guesthouses, Hiking, Hotels, Outdoors, Recreation, Restaurants, Scenic Drives, Selah, Uncategorized, vacation rental homes, Washington Wine Country, whitewater rafting, Wineries, Yakima Valley Events | 1 Comment »

Tree Top Store & Visitor Center Opens

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

In 2010 Tree Top Apple Juice celebrated its 50th year of producing quality natural apple juice in the Yakima Valley. Started by the Charbonneau family in1940, employees chose the name, “Tree Top” in a contest. The name, “Tree Top” originated from the widely held belief at the time, that the best apples grew on the top of the trees. The Yakima Valley is well known for its abundant fruit orchards, so it is not surprising that this business grew to become a grower owned cooperative. The Tree Top organization has stayed on the cutting edge of the juice industry by offering unfiltered apple juice in response to the demand for natural foods, Pear-Apple and Pear-Grape pure fruit blends. Tree Top Fresh Apple Slices® made their debut in 2001 and in 2008 trim® launched as Tree Top’s first beverage to help with weight management.

In response to the growing ag-tourism requests, on October 31, 2011, Tree Top opened its new Tree Top Store & Visitor Center. Here you can learn about farm-to-table production of apple juice and the history of Tree Top. The store is stocked with Tree Top products and gifts, and features a Café to enjoy sandwiches, baked goods, coffee, smoothies and juice.

The new Tree Top Store & Visitor Center is located at 204 E.2nd Avenue. Selah, WA.

Tree Top corporate Website.

Tags: Ag-Tourism in Yakima Valley, Selah, Tree top, Tree top juice, Tree Top Visitor Center
Posted in Culinary, Farm Fresh, Selah | 1 Comment »