10 Reasons to be Thankful you Live in Yakima

The Yakima Valley is known for it's top quality wine and beer. 75% of the hops used in the United States come from our backyard and we have wineries for days. If you're a connoisseur or casual drinker, it's a great place to be.

Being we live in a valley, we're surrounded by hills. Although it's a skyline I'm used to as I grew up here, those hills also protect us from having things like tornadoes and most drastic storms.

Some places have never seen snow. Other places have never experienced 100 degree weather. No matter your preference, we live in an area that goes through all four seasons so there's something for everyone.

I love Seattle and Portland, but would never want to live there. I like how we live close enough, but we can keep our distance.

One thing about growing up in the valley is you know what proper fruit is supposed to be. Believe it or not, there are some places that find a soft apple and call it 'good enough'. Those types of apples wouldn't make it past our distribution trucks.

This is the perfect place to live if you love camping, fishing, hiking, hunting and so much more. All of those activities are a quick drive away.

One thing I've always appreciated is we're very diverse with ethnicity and culture. No time for hate.

I love Mexican food. Not 'Americanized' Mexican food, but proper Mexican food. As in, the kind of food you would actually find in Mexico. Yakima has no shortage of great places for that.

More than most other towns I've lived in or visited, Yakima is a 'yard sale' type of town. There seems to be one on every block in the summer and that's good news for me because I love yard saling.

No need to drive all over town to find a good cup of coffee. Yakima has many coffee shacks all over town. Whether you're getting something from a major coffee chain or a locally owned and operated stand, your morning (and afternoon and night) pick-me-up isn't far away.