Rooks Park

A spring afternoon at Rooks Park reveals that the water is flowing nicely, carrying much-needed nourishment to fields, crops, and more.

Distant Horizon

I just love the springtime views on the outskirts of the city here in the valley. The fields are green, the skies are blue, the clouds are fluffy, and the mountains are clear. Everything is bright and cheerful. This was taken on Whitman Drive while heading east into College Place.

Assault to the Nose

This....is a paper factory. It is located along Highway 12 as you're going northwest from Walla Walla toward Tri-Cities. While it is ugly, that's not the worst of it: It smells terrible. If you're lucky, at certain times during the paper-making process, you can close your eyes and pretend it smells a little bit like over-roasted herbs. But that's rare and takes a lot of concentration. It's sad that this ugly building is located right on the edge of the mighty and beautiful Columbia River.

Natural Energy

I've posted many pictures of the windmills in the Walla Walla valley; here is a nice springtime view of them, up close. These are along Highway 12 as you're heading west out of Walla Walla. There are thousands of them covering the hillsides surrounding the valley and they produce quite a bit of renewable energy. They are larger than they look; you'd need about half a dozen adults hooking arms to surround the base of one of these.

A Word From Our Sponsors

Getting ready for the Night Glow (see Monday's post) during the Balloon Stampede at the Walla Walla Fairgrounds. This was the "host" balloon in the grandstand; the event's emcee was in this balloon during Night Glow.

Touchdown!

My friend posted this picture on her Facebook page on Friday morning. One of the hot air balloons from the Balloon Stampede (see yesterday's post) landed just on the other side of her backyard fence!

Night Glow

This weekend we went - for the first time - to the annual Balloon Stampede at the fairgrounds in Walla Walla. They do this every year on Mother's Day and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (weather permitting) 30-40 hot air balloons take to the sky at 6:30 a.m. and they float around for a few hours before touching down in various places. On Saturday night a few balloons (not sure how they choose which ones) light up on the field next to the grandstand and show off their brilliant colours. It wasn't until I downloaded this one from my phone that I realized I'd caught a couple enjoying each other's company in the light of the balloons.

Dusk Approaching

If you look closely you can see a line of windmills on the hill. This is the view looking southwest as you head down highway 11 from Walla Walla toward College Place and Milton-Freewater.