Our first stop was in Prosser, WA on Sept. 6 and we stayed two nights at the Wine Country RV park. They are set up very well to handle the motorhome and trailer and continually have events in the park. On Thursday evening we attended a wine tasting event in the office area put on by Tucannon Cellars. Their wines looked great on the website, but those that brought to taste, were OK, but not exceptional.
We arrived on Wednesday and once set up we walked over to the wine village and went to Apex/Willow Springs, Coyote Canyon and McKinley Springs. Coyote and McKinley were exceptional. On a future trip, we would love to come a little later in September and attend the Hot Air Balloon Rally.
On Thursday, we drove out to Columbia Crest, which their grounds were beautiful. We also went to Desert Winds and 14 Hands, and then went into downtown to Bills. We were very impressed with Bills wines and will definitely go back. The reserve wines at 14 Hands were fantastic and we've been buying Desert Winds wine for many years, so we always enjoy going there. Definitely we are now stocked for our trip south, with wine overflowing from the cabinets!
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| Columbia Crest |
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| 14 Hands |
On Friday we drove to Huntington, OR and stayed at Catfish Junction RV park along the Snake River. Beautiful view of the river from our campsite, would love to come back and do some kayaking. Still pretty hazy.
We then west to Declo, Idaho for a couple of nights. Nice park, but nothing significant around the area to do, but their is a picnic area and boat ramp on the Snake River, within walking distance of the RV Park.
Our next stop was in Evanston for one night. We stayed one night at the Philips RV Park and they were able to accommodate us, but the park was by a busy street and was very noisy all night long. Probably would look for another location next time through. We then went onto Rawlins, WY and stayed two nights. The Western Hills Campground was great and very quiet.
In Rawlins we went to the Carbon County Museum, which had lots of exhibits from the people and places around Rawlins. For a free museum, it was small but very interesting.
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| Horse snow shoes |
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| Sheepherders wagon - possibly the first RV? |
We then took a tour of the Wyoming Frontier Prison in Rawlins, opening in 1901. The prison did go on to get multiple additions. The prison did use different execution methods, with nine men being hanged by the gallows, either the traveling gallows and or the newer indoor version of the Julien Gallows. In 1936 they installed the gas chamber and five men were executed using that method.
The prison closed its doors after 80 years and from 1981 to 1987 sat abandoned until a low budget movie titled "Prison" was filmed on location. The prison now has been listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and offers tours to about 15,000 visitors annually.
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| Block A - first portion of prison built |
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| Cafeteria - One prisoner painted murals as his "job". |
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| Watch Tower |
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| Prison courtyard for most inmates |
Death House: consisting of inside hanging gallows, 6 cells on death row and the gas chamber.
Rawlins has 14 murals located around the town. This one is known as Aspen Alley.
Next time we may consider visiting the Flaming Gorge area, Encampment and Saratoga to include the Hobo Hot Pool (Hot Springs).
On September 14 we headed to Loveland, CO.
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