Weekend in Walla Walla

We haven't had much of an opportunity to hang out with our friends Malinda and Jean in Seattle, even though we don't live that far away anymore (250 miles is a lot closer than the 3,000 when we were still in Boston.) So we decided to take a vacation together in Walla Walla, WA.

Why Walla Walla? It's only about a four hour drive from both Seattle and Trout Lake; it's a small town but has a college (Whitman College) that is more likely to give it some energy; and none of us had ever been there, so why not?

We used VRBO.com to find a three bedroom rental house that would be big enough for the four adults and three kids to fit comfortably for four days. Rental houses are a great option because they offer a more comfortable "home-like" environment. In particular, the presence of a full kitchen allows us to cook most of our meals.

We didn't have many planned activities for the trip, and that was on purpose. The whole point was just to get together someplace away from both of our homes (and the associated distractions). And with a total of three kids under 3 years of age, any planning that we did ahead of time would inevitably be futile anyway.

A few friends of ours actually went to Whitman, so we did have a few recommendations for things to do while we were there. One destination was the "taco truck" on Rose St downtown, known for being one of the best taco trucks in the region. Good stuff, although it's a good thing that they had pictures on their menu; they had things that we'd never heard of before.

Most of the meals came out of our own kitchen. We took turns preparing dinners, and Jean and I both brought some of our favorite kitchen tools (Jean brought his knife set; I brought a 5qt dutch oven.) Agriculture is the largest industry in Walla Walla, and the farmers' market that we attended was packed and full of delicious in season fruits and veggies, including large bags of the eponymous sweet onion.

On one evening, we did venture out of Walla Walla to nearby Waitsburg for some of the best Southern food we've had in a long time at the Whoopemup Hollow Cafe. Certainly not where we expected to find it!

And of course we just had to go out for breakfast to a local pastry shop. Yum.

Anders caught a mild cold on this trip, his first ever, with a runny nose being the most visible sign. But thankfully it didn't seem to affect him much. We slept in as much as we could (which actually wasn't much.)

Most of our time was spent at home, but we did do a bit of exploring around Walla Walla, including a jaunt around Pioneer Park.

With the kids around, there wasn't much actual "downtime" for true relaxation. But I guess that's just part of parenting, right?

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket