Snipes Mountain Brewery

The dominant architectural feature of the Snipes Mountain Brewery, visible from both inside and outsie through huge windows, are the brewing vats. The local micro-brew is significant. We go for the food.

another " 'tis the season" shot

The season for car wash fundraisers.

Couldn't resist another angle

Theme Day--Yellow

The concept of an Ice Cream Happy Hour struck me as wonderfully funny when I took this photo.
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Theme Day happens the first of every month at City Daily Photos around the world. Today's theme is yellow. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants .

Sky reflected

Vist other Skywatchers here.

Another interesting Sunnyside sculpture

...celebrating the dairy industry in the Valley. That is my assumption, as there is no plaque offering an explanation.

Other heritage scupltures in Sunnyside were featured in some of my first YVDP posts here and here.

Nested against the sky

I was waiting for my other half while he picked up some paperwork at the Hospice office the other day (He is a hospice volunteer visitor.) and was intriqued by the nest in this tree. I thought the tree filled the frame nicely against the sky. You can click on this one to enlarge, but you don't see much of the nest even at that. I guess I should put in for a telephoto lens.

Look for other Skywatch photos at the Skywatch blog.

I had never noticed...

We passed this corner in Sunnyside the other day, and I saw something I had never noticed as long as we have lived in the Valley and despite the fact that for eleven years I worked just half a block down the street.

Keep your eyes open--you never know what you might learn.

Nowhere Else

I have found French Fried Asparagus in one other restaurant in the Yakima Valley. But when fresh asparagus is not in season, French Fried Asparagus is definitely unique to Stokes Burger Ranch in Sunnyside.

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Dean Stokes introduced the local treat in the late 80s and it was so popular that folks came clear from Seattle to try it. Later, he introduced French fried zucchini in late summer and fall, and French fried mushrooms when neither asparagus nor zucchini were not on the market.

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At first attempts to use frozen asparagus failed, but just a couple of years ago Dean found the secret and French Fried asparagus is now on the menu year round.

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It has been joined by French fried dill pickle--but I think Dean has gone a bit too far with that one.

Epiphany Prayer

Dear Jesus, as You led the Three Kings to You by the light of a star, please draw us ever closer to You by the light of Faith. Help us to desire You as ardently as they did. Give us the grace to overcome all the obstacles that keep us far from You. May we, like them, have something to give You when we appear before You. Mary, Our Mother, help us to know Your Son. Amen.

Merlin lives on a small farm between Grandview and Sunnyside. His mate, whose name I never learned, died a few years ago.

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The funniest coincidence happened shortly after I had learned about Merlin and taken this picture (which comes from my files--it's not easy to get a good shot of Merlin as he usually hangs out in the back pasture.) I was in a shop in Yakima and somehow the conversation with the young woman waiting on me took a strange turn. She told me that her parents were going to buy a camel. The camel under consideration was Merlin. Apparently the sale did not go through, as, the last time I checked, Merlin was still sharing the same field with a few bovine friends.

Neon Cinema

Lots of new movies out this week and next.
In the summertime, when the AC is straining to deal with a week or so of 105º F. we see quite a few movies just to stay cool. That's obviously not a problem now.

Parade entry

We weren't able to go to Sunnyside's annual "lighted farm implement parade" last night, but earlier in the day we did see this new pickup being readied for the event. A lot of cities have lighted parades during the Christmas season, but so far as I know, Sunnyside is the only one where the emphasis is on all sorts of tractors, harvesters, sprayers--anything to do with agriculture. Yes, there are a few floats from local organizations and nearby communities, a fire engine or two, and maybe a Model T--but most of the entries are usually found in the field.

Breakfast

I popped through my old breakfast stomping grounds this morning. Before I retired, I drove through here for a Sourdough Breakfast Sandwich two or three days a week. At my early commute time it was not as busy as this. Sometimes I miss my morning sandwich and the friendly folks who serve them up at the window.

PhotoHunt is doing the theme of Breakfast today. I usually do PhotoHunt posts at Katney's Kaboodle, but this seemed to fit today. To see more PhotoHunters, stop by at TnChick's blog.

Gaston meets Belle

You can click to enlarge this one and see that the cast members of this production of Beauty and the Beast are...

...a little older than you might expect.

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That's because it is this year's offering by the Over the Hill Gang, a local amateur theatrical group which has lowered its minimum age to 45 to be sure of enough players to put together a cast. They have been putting on an annual musical in Sunnyside for about twenty years.

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Here Belle, her nose in a book about a charming prince, is immune to the charms of Gaston while all the village look on.

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I was charmed by the only full page ad in the program. It proclaimed: "Belle works for us!" with a picture of the star.

Another pioneer depicted

In my first YVDP post I cited the importance of irrigation to the Yakima Valley. According to the placque that accompanies this sculpture in downtown Sunnyside, H. Lloyd Miller, and early Sunnyside businessman, was instrumental in the development of the Roza Canal, which opened up agriculture in lands above the Sunnyside Valley Irrigation Canal. Further research finds that Miller, who came to Sunnyside in about 1907, was considered "one of the foremost businessmen in this region of the state." The Roza project was approved in 1935 and water first came to the Roza in 1941. This statue shows Miller standing in the canal as the water first flowed. The project was finished in 1951.

Ben Snipes Cabin

In relation to yesterday's cattle bridge, here is a statue of one of the early pioneers of the Yakima Valley which was erected near his cabin in Sunnyside. Ben Snipes came west in 1852. After some time in Willamette Valley of Oregon and in the gold fields of California, he learned butchering, and came back to the Northwest, where he eventually settled at the foot of Snipes Mountain near Sunnyside around 1859. By 1861, Ben Snipes was driving so many cattle he had no idea how many he had.

The cabin was move to this location across the street from the Sunnyside Museum. The sculpture was added in recent years.