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!)
