Lots of Orange

These days, you see a lot of this when you're traveling between College Place and Walla Walla. Just to the right of this shot is the Blue Mountain Mall, which is being completely redone. All but the anchor stores were torn out, and new buildings are replacing them. The mall has been a flop since long before I moved here in 2001. Stores would open and close before their grand opening was over. You'd walk through the mall and maybe run into 3 people - most of them over 70 and power-walking. You could pass 10 empty stores between open ones. It was pathetic. Poor management and lack of interest from the owners, from what I hear, are the causes. But now some new billionaire in California has purchased the mall and is making drastic changes. Let's hope this improves things! Also, the road crossing this one is being extended several miles. It is going to be the main connection between Route 125/Highway 11 that goes between College Place and Milton-Freewater, and Highway 12, which takes you from Walla Walla/College Place to Tri-Cities and beyond. This calls for a massive revamp of the road system around here. An entire bank was picked up and moved. Intersections are being widened and redirected. It's an absolute mess...and it results in lots of orange. At least the roads now coordinate with Home Depot!