YAKIMA — Friday, Oct. 7 — So many readers tipped me to eat at Miner's in Yakima (or actually Union Gap, I believe), I had to stop.

It wasn't my first visit. When I lived in Yakima, I worshipped at the Miner's grill just like everybody else.

Since I was there last, it's about quadrupled in size. As I walked through the indoor seating area I got the sense more of being in a casino than a hamburger joint. It was loud and crowded and busy. When I was, uh, using the men's room, I almost suffered trauma when a young woman's amplified voice issued from a speaker directly over my head: "Order No. 312, your order's ready at the front counter!"

It was too early for lunch (and burgers start at more than $4), so I ordered a fresh peach milk shake, as suggested by a reader.

The nice woman working the counter said they use canned peaches. No, they don't use fresh, even when they're in season. Even in Yakima.

The $3 shake tasted slightly peachy.

I ducked out just after a man stepped in and told the clerk that a busload of school kids would arrive any minute. "Hear that!" she hollered to the huge crew working the prep area. "Bus load coming in!"

"Order No. 324, your order's ready at the front counter!" the loudspeaker blared. I think I heard a yelp from the men's room.

I don't think Miner's needs my business. They're doing just fine.

Northward ho

I tuned the radio to some snappy mariachi music on a Spanish language station and tooled northward through the Yakima River Canyon, which is definitely on the short list of the state's most scenic drives. Fluted basalt, river and railroad tracks were my company for 30 miles to Ellensburg.

Ate lunch from a reader tip, at The Yellow Church, a converted church at 111 S. Pearl St. in Ellensburg. (Great lemon-pepper chicken caesar salad, something to counter all those onion rings. Look on the menu for the items labeled "preacher kid's favorite.")

In case you're wondering how I choose among all the reader tips that came in: Since I have no idea where in town most of the places are, I drive until I see the first one. (The scientific method.)

Just up the block from the Yellow Church I found Dick and Jane's Spot, the home of a couple of artists (named, really, Dick and Jane) who have made their house and yard a work of art: festooned with reflectors, sculpture, neon, electrical insulators, you name it. It was a nostalgia trip for me: I did a feature story on them for the Yakima paper not too long after they started decorating it (they started 27 years ago). Now with more gewgaws than ever on the fences and walls, it's an Ellensburg institution. (See www.reflectorart.com.) Thanks to the many readers who suggested a stop.

In case you didn't get yours

Somebody outside Ellensburg is still selling potbellied pigs. I have their number if you need it.

Blewett Pass for fall color this weekend

After the dazzling leaves of Pend Oreille and Ferry counties, I'm jaded. But the northern half of the Blewett Pass highway got me goggling once again. Some maples are neon orange, flanking the canyon not far south of Highway 2.

Yodel-ay-hee-hoo

It's Friday night as I sit in my room up in the rafters of Haus Rohrbach Pension, tucked against the edge of the Leavenworth Ski Hill. And though I'm about a mile and a half away, I can hear yodeling all the way from town.

It's Oktoberfest in this little chunk of Bavaria.

I'm not sure this was the best place to wind up my tour of Eastern Washington. Leavenworth is in the 509 area code, but otherwise it's basically a junior member of the European Union.

But then again, this trip has been about ferreting out the things that make our state an interesting stew. Call this the sauerbraten.

I stopped in town just as Oktoberfest was getting underway this afternoon. I set myself a personal challenge: In less than five minutes, find a man in lederhosen and a woman in a dirndl playing rollicking accordion music.

Piece of cake. Or should I say strudel.

Tomorrow

I'll take a reader tip from Lisa of Bellevue and try an alternate approach to Stevens Pass via the Chumstick Highway and the little town of Plain. Then home. I'll share a final few notes when I'm back in 206.

Reader tips

If you are looking for great Mexican food, check out El Caporal in Selah, or Santiago's in Yakima!
— Kim Selah, Wash.

Going to Leavenworth, there is a great store just east that you need to see. There's an animal farm but the store itself is so much fun. Inside there are many different kinds of salsa, spices, canned fruits, soup mixtures spread over uneven floors, rooms that wander and many cats sitting on shelves. The last time we were there, kittens mewed at us behind displays.
— Carol Straley, Kamloops, B.C.

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