Walla Walla

The next leg of my great adventure took me from the wheat country of eastern Washington, south through the Palouse region. The Palouse area can only be understood by being there; preferably by standing atop Steptoe Butte and walking around it’s narrow cone-shaped apex. The vista is truely incredible. On this trip the sky was so filled with smoke from fires burning in Canada that I didn’t stay long…and it was HOT! When I arrived at my destination, Walla Walla, the lady at the front desk of the motel said it had been 115 degrees that day! Thank God for air conditioning. My poor dog, Yojii, was in desperate need of a huge slurp of water.
I like Walla Walla. The more time I spend in Walla Walla, the more I like it. It’s neat, clean and seems like it’s prosperous. Home to Whitman College, a small liberal arts college, it has a vibrant downtown that’s lined with sidewalk bistros and handsome shops that have the new-old look. One of my major goals in staying the night in Walla Walla was to try and contact an old acquaintance of mine from when I was a life-guard in Porcupine Bay, a campground which is part of Coulee Dam National Recreation Area, back in 1968. Over forty years ago! Dave Cosby and I spent one entire summer rooming together in a surplus government shack and shared duties as lifeguards at the campground swimming area. I didn’t make a lot of money that summer, but I have memories that more than make up for it. Dave and I met in his store, chatted a while (I think he was in shock seeing a face out of his past…four decades in the past) then left.
Next stop Boise for a pin-up shoot.