Walla Walla

Julie, Jared, Ashley, Cori, and I flew up to Boise on Tuesday, June 30, rented a van, and drove over to Walla Walla. Although that's where I spent the first 18 years of my life, the last time that I'd been there was nearly 18 years ago. Some things had changed and some things hadn't.

As we were planning this trip, I was surprised to see how many homes were available as vacation rentals in Walla Walla. Who knew that there'd be that many people vacationing in Walla Walla? Many of the homes already were booked for the week of July 4th. We ended up staying at a home called "The Stone Compass." It looked good on the website and, fortunately, turned out to be a very nice place:











The home was located not too far from the home in which I grew up and was very close to Pioneer Park and Wildwood Park.

We saw the home in which I grew up; it's changed a bit since I left:

We also swung by Edison Elementary School. The old school is closed and probably will be torn down. The new school, which is being built right next to it, is huge! Here are some photos of the old school:











And here are some of the new:











Of course, we had to stop at the Iceburg for lunch:










We traveled to "downtown" Walla Walla and saw the Courthouse, the old County Jail, and the old Liberty Theatre:











We also visited my Aunt Elaine and made a trip to the cemetery to see the gravesites of my dad, grandparents, and uncle:











We drove all over the place, walked around Pioneer Park and the downtown area, had a hilarious dinner at the Modern Restaurant, visited our old stake center/ward building, and generally had a wonderful time seeing all of the sites from when I was growing up. It was a great way to start our vacation.