Rainy Evening

If you look closely you can see the rain dripping steadily from the roof of my porch. We got a pretty good downpour Saturday evening, and yes, I opened the door to enjoy the sound and smell.

A Drive in the Rain

It's easy to do this time of year...go for a drive in the rain. If you're lucky, it will clear before you get back inside and you'll get a glimpse of a rainbow against the darkened sky. This shot was taken on a back-road in Milton-Freewater, amongst the orchards and farmhouses. I love driving in the countryside in each of the seasons for special reasons:

Spring: Everything is turning green and everything looks new.
Summer: It's much cooler among the fields, orchards and plants than it is in the city surrounded by cement, brick and asphalt!
Fall: The apples, pears, cherries, and plums are ripe and colourful on the trees.
Winter: The stark contrast of the dark, naked fingers of trees and vines against the white snow and grey skies is fun to photograph.

Country Drive 9

Welcome to Milton-Freewater! This water tower greets everyone entering the town on Highway 11 from the south. Thanks for joining me on this week-long drive through the countryside surrounding the town centers of Walla Walla, College Place and Milton-Freewater. If you joined us mid-drive, you can start from the beginning by clicking here.

Country Drive 8

Rain in the valley usually means snow in the mountains. You can see along the horizon the end of the Blue Mountains, white with fresh snow.

Country Drive 7

I just love how the sky can be so many different colours in so short an amount of time. Spring weather does some beautiful things to the sky, especially here in the Walla Walla Valley.

Country Drive 1

This week we are going to go on a little drive in the country surrounding the town centers of Walla Walla, College Place and Milton-Freewater. It's an early spring this year, according to experts (i.e. the groundhog), and the weather recently seemed to agree. However, later this week we are expecting an "arctic front" which will bring sub-freezing temperatures and perhaps even some snow. So we'll see! But for now we'll enjoy a spring-like drive in the countryside. Thanks for tagging along!

An Odd Umbrella

While waiting for someone I was picking up, I was watching people out in the rain from the shelter of my car. This one, of course, caught my eye. I'm really not sure why he's carrying a mattress on his head, but it seems perhaps an umbrella would be a bit easier to manage...

Raindrops Keep Fallin' on the Glass

On the way back from a visit to my in-laws last weekend it rained pretty steadily. I enjoy close-up pictures of raindrops, so decided to take this opportunity to practice. It will start being more grey and rainy across the Walla Walla Valley as it turns into October; rain is a staple of autumn in this valley. I don't mind it, and of course it's good for our water supply, so I don't complain about the rain, but a lot of people get down and gloomy this time of year.

Poland 6

The double rainbow that said "Good evening" the first night I was there. View from the apartment I stayed in.

Skywatch Friday

We actually get a couple of rainy, cloudy days every summer. They are rare and far-between, but we do see a couple every year. I love rain, especially in the summer, so I was happy to spend a day under a sky that looked like this.

See more skywatch shots at the Skywatch Friday website!

Summer Rain

Surprisingly, a place as hot and dry as the Walla Walla Valley occasionally gets rain in the summer. It happened on Monday, in fact. These two girls were walking high and dry across the Walla Walla U. campus under their umbrellas. The small shower we enjoyed cooled off the temperature noticeably. Which, especially since I'm 39 weeks pregnant, is always a good thing in the summer.

Celebrate the Rain

This past Sunday was commencement at Walla Walla U. It was an overcast morning with chances of thunderstorms, and though we didn't get any thunder or lightning, the valley sure got soaked! I loved the collection of umbrellas across the lawn where they hold the ceremony each year. It's called Centennial Green, as it was dubbed in 1992 when the school celebrated its 100th year. It may have been raining, but that didn't subdue the celebrations and cheering! Congratulations to the WWU class of 2009!

A Common Sight

This time of year, the Walla Walla Valley looks like this a lot. Of course, we have our sunny days, too, like today, but the clouds are never far away. This is a view of our very green Blue Mountains with the threat of rainstorm hovering overhead. I just love this view, and I could look at it all day. Fortunately...sometimes I get to! The Blue Mountains border the valley along the eastern edge.

Spring Weather

Believe it or not, that's the sky on the other side of the window. It's been grey and rainy this week, mixed with a bit of spring breeze and smiling sunshine. At this particular moment, it was sprinkling and the sun was still fighting the clouds. It did eventually win.

A Rainy Day on Main Street

On a grey and dreary day we take a little drive down Main Street. This is the main intersection of Main Street in Walla Walla. On Thursday, someone mentioned in the comments the die Brücke building. Here you see it on the right-hand side of the street. Just across from it, directly to the right of the car, is our downtown Starbucks - the best place to sit and people watch in the valley! The die Brücke building hosts the Book & Game Company, a wonderful little shoppe that sells...you guessed it: books and games. It's a fantastic store I spend hours in most times I go there. And it's hard to leave without another promising book or exciting game. Down just past the B&G Co. you can see the old theatre, which is now a Macy's (discussed in Thursday's blog). Welcome to Walla Walla!