Walla Walla!

At the beginning of the month Cole and I got to go visit some of our best friends, Chad and Amy Neidig, they live in Walla Walla, WA. Recently Chad had been diagnosed with stage 4 B Cell Lymphoma, these guys are like family to us, so we were devastated when we heard this news. So when Amy called and said they would pay for half of my airfare, up there I jumped at the chance. We haven't seen them in about a year and they had never met Cole, I was sad that Dave, and the rest of the family couldn't go. But I wasn't going to pass up seeing Amy and Chad. I was so glad to get up there and see that Chad was doing well, just the week before I got there he wasn't able to be up and walking around. Due to a hematoma that occurred after his biopsy. But the hematoma had shrunk and he was up and walking and clowning around as usual. Chad and Amy loved Cole of course, Amy said she hadn't seen Chad smile like that in weeks.

The first full day there we got to take a tour of the Ice Harbor Dam, it is located on the Snake River. Chad works for the Army Corps of Engineers, and he is in charge of this dam along with 3 others. So he had arranged for us to be able to go into the heart of the dam, it was really amazing how it works. This dam provides Hydro Electric power for the area, and it was the first dam I had ever seen with channel locks. We were going to watch one of the cargo ships go through the lock but it started to rain so we weren't able to. But I learned some very interesting facts about the dam and how it helps the area. After the dam we went to a park nearby where we got to learn about boat safety and things like that, they also had drinking goggles. These goggle simulate what it is like to be drunk, well since I don't drink I thought I'd try out these goggles. Your suppose to walk a straight line with them on. I could have sworn I was walking on the line, but Chad and Amy were busting a gut laughing at me while I tried to walk on the line. I must say that those goggles really made me kinda nauseous. I'm grateful I don't drink, I can't imagine doing that to myself.

This is me trying to walk with those goggles on, you can see I'm not quite on the line.

The Second day there Amy and I were going to go do some shopping and then go for a walk in a reserve area. But as we were shopping it started to rain, then hail and then it became sunny again. I learned that Amy wasn't exaggerating when she would tell me about how crazy the weather was there. So instead of going for a walk she drove me around the town. Walla Walla isn't very big, only a population of about 30,000, so it didn't take very long. I did see some interesting things, like houses that were built right behind other houses. I don't mean guest houses, I'm talking single family homes, and it's not like the people know each other before the houses are built. So these people have no back yards because their is house there instead. And then there is the complete opposite where you will have a 600 square foot house on a huge lot. It was fun to see.

If you look closely you can see the house behind this one. It's literally in the backyard.

On the third day there we just hung out and got ready for a dinner party that night. I was able to meet some of the friends they had made there. It was fun meeting the people that I had heard so much about. Amy had arranged for one of her friends to make a special cake just for me, it was a belly dancing cake. It was very cool looking, Amy's friend Danila did an amazing job. I had a fun time getting to know their friends, we kept putting off going to bed, because it was my last night there.


The next day I had to get on a plane and head home, I'm so glad I was able to go. I wish I could have stayed longer, but a couple of days was better than nothing.