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Tip #3: Don’t try to carry with you all the wine you buy. Many wineries will hold wine to be collected at the end of the day. Some will even deliver it to your hotel (if you’re visiting). As a local, I think I’d be hard-pressed to get home delivery, but you never know. The small town can-do attitude goes a long way.Tip #4: Choose your driver carefully. Our driver was kind enough to drop us off downtown where we could walk to the last few tasting rooms. And we were promised safe rides home, with wine transport included, when we were done. Safe driving is essential.

Tip #5: Eat a fantastic dinner. I can’t stress this enough, after a day of tasting a good dinner is absolutely essential. We opted for Saffron, a great new restaurant downtown offering Mediterranean cuisine. Being county fair and rodeo weekend, a corn dog was sent to our table, “Compliments of the chef.” It was a running joke amongst friends. Four courses (and four bottles of wine) later, we were exceptionally happy.

And last, but certainly not least, Tip #6: Dance! Not only had we tasted wine all afternoon, but we’d then consumed four bottles of wine with dinner. There’s only one way to make this all work out nicely, and that’s to dance. Now Walla Walla is still small, but there are rumors of some new dancing spots downtown. In the meantime, keep your ear to the ground for the underground dance parties. For those of you in the city, you know where to go.

I get home at 2:00 a.m., throw myself onto the bed, lie back, hands folded behind my head, look out the window at the Indian Summer moon and think about which wineries I want to visit next weekend. That’s more than just surviving.