Cabbage Hill 3

This part of the descent on Cabbage Hill enters a crevice of the hillside and takes one of several sharp curves. You can see why this hill might be treacherous in bad weather.

Cabbage Hill 2

Another view as you descend Cabbage Hill towards the Walla Walla Valley.

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.

No Restrooms

This is Cabbage Hill. While in the summer it is a mere overheating threat if you run the air conditioning in your car while climbing the steep hill, in the winter it is always questionable. Whenever we travel for Christmas or Thanksgiving we pray that the weather will hold and keep the roads clear because if there is snow or ice on this road, the drive becomes quite treacherous. I will show more photos in the next couple of days. This is just as you begin to come down the hill toward the Walla Walla Valley; you can see the farms and small-town homesteads dotting the fields below. The viewpoint offers a fantastic view, especially in the evening on a clear day.

Typical Drive

Just before New Year's, my friend Ciel popped online to say hello and asked how the weather was. She is familiar with my part of the world, surprisingly, and although she is quite a ways away in Versailles, France, she holds a special place in her heart for the WW Valley, where she has some local friends. I took this picture that day to show her what the weather was like...but forgot to post it! We had some sun over the past weekend, but before that, most days looked like this. The sign says "Walla Walla River," as in this photo I am about to go over it. This is Highway 11, the main road that connects Walla Walla and College Place to their next-door neighbour, Milton-Freewater, just across the border in Oregon.

Disappearing Act

This is supposed to be Wal-Mart. I was sitting at a red light at the intersection right next to the large store and glanced over...only to find the store had disappeared! Winter is quite regularly foggy in the WW Valley; I don't usually mind, though, because it hides the fact that otherwise, things are pretty dreary and boring.

Morning Glory

This is the view from my front porch. And on this particular morning it was exceptionally fantastic. I believe this was taken about two weeks ago.