Spring Green

The green of the hillside is stunningly green to me. And no, I didn't edit this photo or have the camera on colour enhancing settings. I think it's the effect of grey, overcast skies above the grass. This is a hill outside College Place in a quiet piece of country.

The Road

It looks like this road leads right to the tree behind the hill in the countryside just west of College Place. The clouds look foreboding, don't they?

Perspective

A different perspective of yesterday's vista; this is, perhaps, what a small animal would see while perusing the field for dinner. A coyote, perhaps? Or a fox?

Scenic Spring

While out for a drive on the outskirts of the city, we came across a curve in the gravel road that looked out over this breathtaking scene. The deep green of the infant fields, the dusty blue of the newly uncovered mountains, and the grey-white of the unpredictable sky...all of this epitomizes the Walla Walla Valley in April. Welcome to my world.

Layers

I love how the water, island, hills, sky and clouds all seem to come together to create a layered effect. The rivers and creeks in our valley are swelling with the snow melting in the mountains; there have been two minor flood watch warnings already this season, and we didn't get any last year. While that might seem like a bad thing I really am glad to hear it; this means we won't have a drought this summer (or if we do it won't be terrible). This, I believe, is the Walla Walla River.

Curves

I love how the curve of the tracks kind of follows the flow of the hills here. This is just outside of Milton-Freewater on a grey, dreary, rainy Saturday in April.

Thoughts of the Past

Taken up in the hills surrounding the Walla Walla Valley, on a surprisingly blue-skied day in December.

Cabbage Hill

I mentioned in yesterday's post that Cabbage Hill can be quite dangerous in winter weather conditions. The post you see in the center of this photo is a reflective post most American roads have alongside them, so you can keep track of the edge of the road in adverse conditions. You will note that an extension (the orange part) has been added to this one; up in the mountains all of the posts have these extensions because they often get so much snow the regular posts can't be seen. Also in this photo you can see the lanes of traffic going UP the hill (we were going down). This road has the distinction of holding the American record for the opposite lanes of traffic being the farthest distance from each other at any given point. I believe the distance (not here, but nearby) is over a mile.

Harvest Time

It's harvest time, and all across the Walla Walla Valley are fields of wheat stubble, cut down for baling and stacking by machines such as this one. It's a beautiful time of year.

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.

View from Yantis

Things are just starting to turn green (this was taken at the end of March) and the trees don't quite have their leaves yet. This picture was taken from the top of the hill in Yantis Park in Milton-Freewater. At the bottom of the photo you can see the Aquatic Center, otherwise known as the only outdoor public pool in the valley (that I'm aware of!). It has a couple of slides and I've heard kids have a lot of fun at this pool during the summer. At about 11 o'clock to the pool is another noticeable building; I believe it is an elementary school, but I'd have to go back over there to refresh my memory.

Natural Power

Another shot of the many hundreds of windmills on the hills surrounding the Walla Walla Valley. They produce quite a bit of power, and I've been told by an engineer that even though they seem from a distance to be turning at a comfortable pace, the tips of the blades of these windmills are spinning at close to the speed of sound. This is a hazard for birds, as well as not being as efficient as they could be, so the newer windmills spin at a slower rate. Each blade on these windmills is, from my estimates, over 60 feet long. Anyone from this area know the exact length?

Another Bird

Since we're on a bird kick here at WWV Daily Photo, I thought I'd finish out the weekend with a Mourning Dove. I stopped to take a picture of the gorgeous green (though perhaps currently misnomered) Blue Mountains, and this little guy posed for me just across the street from where we had parked. The field and hills made a fantastic background for this rather blah little brown bird. These are common birds here in the Pacific Northwest United States, and perhaps you have them where you live? I can't say for sure why they're called Mourning Doves, but they do coo a bit like they're crying. They have a soothing, soft call, and are cute little birds, even if they aren't as colourful as their larger relatives, the ducks.

A Springtime View

From the same hill as yesterday's post, this is a view out over springtime Milton-Freewater. In the distance you can see the Blue Mountains, with some snow still on the higher parts. There is probably still a couple feet of snow at the summit. In the foothills you can see a grain elevator and the green fields, just starting the work they'll continue all summer until harvest. The foreground is a residential area of the small town, and the grass at the entrance to Yantis Park, where this photo was shot.

Hill With a View

Another geocaching photo. My husband is way more into geocaching than I am, though I find the concept interesting. I just don't like spending half an hour searching for something. The fun part is following the GPS to an unknown destination. It's like a Christmas morning surprise journey. But once you get there, if you can't find the cache within about 2 minutes, I'm bored. Poor husband, I know! Anyway, this photo was taken on the hills south of Milton-Freewater last January (that's M-F down the hill in the distance). The stormy skies are typical for this time of year, and is, in fact, what we had some of last week. This week it was sunny and beautiful for two days and the rest has been foggy/cloudy/grey/drizzly. Nice if you like that sort of thing. I don't mind it. But I actually did like the sunny days. So we are back to wearing coats outside, etc....I'm actually wearing a scarf today. Ah, the weather. One never knows what to expect!

The Hills of the Valley

Sounds like an oxy-moron, doesn't it? But really, it's true. This valley is a valley of hills. The cliche "rolling hills" really comes true here in the WWV. This is a view from a hillside on the east side of the valley, looking southeast. Husband and I were geocaching and when I turned around to take a look, this breathtaking view is what greeted me. True, it's not the Tetons, the Alps, or the blue Atlantic, but this area really grows on a person. After over 7 years of living here, I've started calling it home, and it really is beautiful. Just don't ask me in July as I hover in front of the air conditioning unit with a popcicle in each hand.

Desert Hills

Previously, I posted photos of Southfork, an enjoyable hiking and biking area just a few miles southeast of Milton-Freewater. It's hard to believe that the beautiful wooded trails along the river there are just a few turns of a road way from flattened fields and desert hills such as these. Most of the WWV is dry and brown. The elevation here ranges from approx. 700 to 1000 feet. Though it is hilly here, it is generally flat, making town biking a breeze. This contributes to the awful summers we have that average out at around 98-100* F (36-40* C). I hope to post photos of the Columbia River someday soon, which just touches the far corner of our little valley before curving off toward the West. The cliffs around that little section of the mighty Columbia resemble larger versions of these desert hills...and are much more picturesque!