Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...

And so we did! Another successful Chelan Crush festival is behind us and keeping to our time honored tradition this was the best ever. We had our largest group of girls yet with nine lovely ladies toasting the town. We played games, had wine and heavy snacks on Friday night followed by some relaxing in the morning. There was barely time to throw our two crock pot meals together before it was time to head out.

Usually we go the weekend after the official Crush festival to avoid the crowds but this year we ended up going on the first weekend so we decided we wanted to stand out along our journey. Kim made us some head gear, affectionately named the 'doodle-le-bops'. See the only official picture of everyone sporting them.


We got a lot of attention for wearing our 'doodle-le-bops' and probably could have sold them along the way had we needed extra money for wine. There were a few die-hards among the group who wore them the whole day as you'll see who as the pictures continue. This year due to the large group and the fact that no one was pregnant we decided to get a bus so we could all be together and didn't need two designated drivers. The bus was a lot of fun and allowed us lots of space to spread out and do a little dancing as the day went on. The bus is a definite must for future years.

We did six wineries in six hours this year and probably could have kept going but we were hungry and our bus driver had other groups to pick up. Here's the list of those we hit along with my reviews.

Four Lakes Winery, we visited last year when their only location was their wine production facility out to the east of Chelan. We really liked the family feel last year and we enjoyed them again this year. They have completed their new tasting room to the northwest of Manson up in the hills with a view of Four Lakes, Wapato Lake, Dry Lake, Roses Lake and of course Lake Chelan from their beautiful deck. They had the largest selection of tastes available so a great choice for our first stop!

Our first toast but certainly not our last...

Beautiful view from the deck down on three of the lakes.

Hard Roe To Hoe formally known as Balsamroot Winery which had been a favorite in the past was by far our most memorable and exciting stop. Last year we had noted the name change and didn't think much of it since we had really loved the Balsamroot label. Which is something I should explain about our wine group. We like wine but we love good labels. We decided to add Hard Roe To Hoe back onto our list since we had previously enjoyed the people and the wine there so much. It did not disappoint. All the great people we had met on past visits were there and the feel of the tasting room had completely changed to align with the new name. The name change was done to align with local folklore. You'll have to visit the winery yourself to hear the full tale.

Here's Misty posing by a large bottle of wine with the old Balsamroot label (*click the picture to enlarge and check out the wallpaper...)

Kate relaxing on the sofa in true George Costanza style.

And the whole group by the new sign

Tunnel Hill Winery, this had been a favorite of ours in the past due to their quaint tasting room, good cheese samples and great people sharing their passion for the wines they make. This visit was much different. It was a bit busy but we weren't in a huge hurry but to sum up our visit I actually searched for, found, purchased and played a game of Catch Phrase with the group on my iPhone because the servers were just not into interacting with the group. I think this is the only location where no one purchased wine.

Leaving Tunnel Hill - the 'doodle-le-bops' are dwindling...

Tsillan Cellars, (pronounced Chelan sha-lan tsillan is the native word for the lake meaning deep water) in the past this one has been hit or miss but we do usually include it on our tour just because we tend to like their wine and the setting is so amazing. This year was another great year at Tsillan Cellars. While it does have a very commercial feel the workers were all about us enjoying ourselves and not being rushed. It's hard not to enjoy your time at Tsillan with the waterfalls, sweeping views of the lake and great wine. This is the location were we attracted the most attention for our head pieces - we were the envy of a group of 40-something ladies who were touring around. Hopefully we're still as agile and good spirited ten years from now when we're on our 15th Crush festival!

Tasting from the barrel - always fun!

Showing some 'spirit' literally!

Second formation. After seeing us do this the group of 40-somethings came over and insisted on wearing our 'doodle-le-bops' and having us help them do a pyramid too

Benson Vineyard Estate Winery, this one has been a long time coming for us. Back in the first or second year of Crush we did make it up to Benson who had a small tasting room at the time and ever since we have meant to get back to visit but always ran out of time. Meanwhile, Benson had been slowly working on their expanded tasting room and facilities. What a great time for us to finally make it out to their site. The expanded tasting room is fantastic and the views can't be beat. You see the rolling hills covered with the vines cascading down to a panoramic view of the lake. They have created terraces surrounding their tasting room that allow for many large parties to enjoy themselves. We were in full swing by this time so it was nice to have a secluded section of the patio to sit and enjoy ourselves.

It was getting a bit windy and cold at this point but the wine was keeping us warm. Our bus driver Duane is pictured with us.

Posing by Benson sign. We love having a driver who was willing to stop and be our paparazzi.


Vin du Lac Winery, our last stop thankfully. It was getting cold and windy and we were getting tired. Vin du Lac has been a favorite with us over the years. I think we have actually visited every year during Crush. We've had down years with them where the experience wasn't the best but on the whole we enjoy Vin du Lac's wine and labels and this year didn't disappoint.

Here's some of the girls in blankets provided by the winery during tasting - if only they had been snuggies no one would have had to worry about spilling their wine...

After the last stop it was back to Grandma and Grandpa C's house for dinner and an evening in. We made two different crock pot recipes that were waiting for us when we returned. We had French Chicken Stew and Taco Soup. Both delicious and much needed after our long day of tasting. I think crock pots dinner is going to be added to the Crush traditions since it made it possible to feed our large group quickly and without much hassle.

After dinner Carrie played beauty parlor on everyone's hair - sorry no pictures of that. Then we played a little Apples to Apples and went to bed. Sunday morning was all about breakfast, taking pictures of our wine and cleaning up and clearing out.

The whole crew - starting on the left: Misty, Annie, Carrie, Jennifer, Kate, Colleen, McKenzie, Rachel, Lynn and Kim

Our loot... minus what we drank on the bus.

We did have a great kitchen crew helping Grandma and Grandpa C to keep up with us. Let me know if you ever need a trained cook and a dishwasher.

McKenzie is quite the little helper these days - her favorite thing is stirring eggs!

Ben just likes keeping busy doing whatever anyone else is doing!

Many thanks to Grandma and Grandpa C for putting up with us again and for watching the kiddos so I could enjoy some fun time with the girls. Only 359 days until next years Crush!