An Early Morning Walk

We spent last night with another Harvest Host, Tertulia Cellars outside of Walla Walla, Washington. We were set to arrive after the tasting room closed, and they graciously left a gate open for us. We were very thankful for Google Maps, as I don't think we would have found it on our own. It was tucked away amongst rolling hills covered in grapevines, and lots of little unmarked roads! We arrived at dusk and had a quick dinner of leftover blueberry muffins, sliced cheese and salami, and fruit; it seemed the perfect thing to eat at twilight in a vineyard. After dark, Erik and I walked outside and gazed up at the stars, and coyotes in the distance reminded me of my childhood nights on the prairies of Alberta.

I awoke early this morning and slipped out of the trailer without waking the kids. I enjoyed a solitary walk between rows of grapevines. The air was fresh and cool and filled with the gentle sounds of farmland; the crowing of a rooster, a barking dog, the whinny of a horse. The sweet, pungent smell of silage hung in the air, again bringing me back to my childhood.

And the sun rose over the vineyard.

  

Heavy on the vine.

Tertulia Cellars in the golden light of morning. 

Harvest Hosts was inspired by similar programs in Europe, such as France Passion.  We've had such wonderful stays so far, and I'm looking ahead at our route to fit in as many Harvest Hosts stays as we can. I'm also dreaming of doing this in Europe someday!

"The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do."  -Galileo Galilei

And my biggest and littlest enjoyed an early snack of peanut butter and bananas to hold them over until our Saturday morning pancakes. Erik got to do a little wine tasting before we headed out for another day's journey.