A real vacation is one that gets you away from day to day life completely, not just physically but psychologically, no matter how long or short. I was fortunate to have one of those vacations thanks to a colleague (now my long time friend) who retired from corporate life to enjoy a rural life in Walla Walla.

It has been a long time since I last took a long drive (I used to love these long drives down the endless highway). Leaving behind cold, wet, cloudy home, I drove straight to what was expected to be warm, dry, sunny Walla Walla. What met me, however, was another cloud... but warm and dry temperature.

Ever since my friend retired, I began counting the months to see how long she'd last in the country. The moment I arrived, I could see how different her life is now and that its been keeping her quite busy. She has approximately 4 acre land and she wants to grow vegetables. Here's a snapshot of her kitchen view (yes, her kitchen has this picture perfect view), small part of land that she managed to plant vegetables, and the a grape vine that came with the house (apparently, it's normal to see a vine or two in a regular home in this region).

My friend and her husband showed me around town. Of course we had to stop by nearby wineries. Columbia-Crest is the biggest in town and one of the oldest in the state. It's visitor center looks like a mansion, and its vines are pretty old (I find it interesting that vines look like giant ginseng). Tagaris is a smaller winery, but their restaurant offers great food at reasonable prices.

After a great meal and a sip, we stopped by McNary dam. The triangular block weighs a ton, and hundreds of them were dropped in the river to form a base for the dam. The river divides Washington state from Oregon state.

Next to the McNary dam on Washington side is this long ridge with strange rock formations. They look like giant mushrooms growing on the land. If you look closely at the picture on the right, you'll see a flipped automobile. It seemed to have gone off the ridge.

Although I didn't get bright sun I was hoping for, the clouds gave me good contrast for a dramatic photo-shot. These are from McNary dam. Don't they look like some sacrificial site? The picture on right used to be homestead when they were building the dam.

These are from Umatilla National Wildlife Refugee. Umatilla is known for large chemical weapon storage. As you drive around, you'll find some white spring or mushroom looking poles here and there to detect any chemical leakage. Other than the horrible thought of what could happen, scenery is gorgeous!

I am counting on another visit in September -- a great "crush" time for wineries.