They say “Home is where our story begins.”  I decided to go back to my hometown in rural south eastern Washington State for the first time in way too many years (maybe a decade) to be with a friend during her father’s memorial service.  It was strange and wonderful to be back at my roots and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and spend time with family and perhaps revisit my youth.

I took walks along the Columbia River, which was more beautiful than I remembered. In younger years, I swam this river and traversed it on innertubes, speedboat, water skis and ‘unboats’.  Now there is a River Cruise ship, the American Empress, that is gorgeous and navigates the river following the Lewis and Clark Trail via the spectacular Columbia River Gorge and passes through many locks including the Bonneville Dam.

I climbed Badger Mountain to see the view from the top.

Photo Credit – http://www.paradisosdelsol.com/

My sisters and I went winetasting at our brother, Paul’s winery, Paradisos del Sol in Washington’s burgeoning wine country.   Paradisos has  a charming and homey tasting room in Zillah where Paul pairs 10 sips with 10 tastes.   As Paul says, “Come taste Paradise!”  You can check out Paradisos del Sol and many other wineries on the Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail

Driving around  in my sister, Carole’s car, I found myself pulling over like a crazy person to take photos of seemingly random things, but childhood memories to me, like the fact that I was once a ‘Richland Bomber’.  Yep, lots of memories…

Although I enjoyed my mini vaca to Eastern Washington, I did not have time to write up my yummy, creamy Homemade Mushroom Soup recipe, made with delectable morel mushrooms which are only available for a short time.  Recipe coming soon, I promise!  I didn’t want to leave you hanging without any Meatless Monday ideas, so I’m sharing 30 Minute Vegetarian Meals You Can Make in 30 Minutes from Buzzfeed.  Some of them look pretty good.  Let me know if you try any of them!

Click Here For Recipes http://www.buzzfeed.com/deenashanker/meatless-30-minute-meals?utm_term=.rkYZ24k0Y#.apyWpZok5