Walla Walla!

The name alone is alluring---Walla Walla---say it a few times and it just brings a smile to your face, for no apparent reason other than the sheer sound of it. And to top it all off, it's wine country! Sounds like perfection to me!

We go west after crossing the beautiful Columbia river and follow the road all along it marveling at the beauty of this drive, when all of a sudden we see the signs, "Stonehenge"!, OK we'll take the detour,

hmm, where am I again?  The views clearly show where

but it's hard not to make the quick stop at this little oddity along the way. We keep driving along what clearly defines "amber waves of grain".

 The landscape has me awestruck, we went from mountains and walls of dark green pine to these golden fields in a blink. Where am I again? Two and a half hours later or so we are in Walla Walla, a beautiful town surrounded by vineyards and farms and a main street where each lamp post boasts a hanging petunia, and no two are alike.

And every other storefront is a tasting room with my rock star favorite right around the corner from where I live.

and what is not a tasting room is either a coffee bar or a restaurant,

which might just be attached to a tasting room! And if that's not convenient enough, we can always take a 15 minute drive out to one of the vineyards,

and have a little tasting there,

and watch the vineyard pups lounge about,

while trying to do the same.

And on our last day there is the most precious little lavender farm,

which calls out "go west, young man, go west!"