R. and I went to visit Izzy the Camel recently. Izzy lives in Waitsburg, WA. She's got her own <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Izzy-The-Camel/175301045832391" target="_blank">facebook page</a>.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7747412268/" title="Izzy the Camel by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8283/7747412268_efe2c978a5_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Izzy the Camel"></a>
My MoM told us about Izzy and we figured that we had to meet a camel living in Waitsburg. I mean, really, a camel in the middle of Eastern Washington who pastures with horses?
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7747447536/" title="Me and Izzy the Camel by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8446/7747447536_1c9979c3db_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Me and Izzy the Camel"></a>
Just to set the scene. Waitsburg is a tiny little town about a 20 minute drive from Walla Walla. It's a farming town and the population is something slightly more than 1,000. For a long time, you just drove through Waitsburg on your way to Dayton but over the past few years exciting things have started happening.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7747624356/" title="R. on main street in Waitsburg by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7127/7747624356_e0b9c5d0e8_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="R. on main street in Waitsburg"></a>
I think it started with the brewery Laht Neppur which on the road out of town. Then along main street <a href="http://www.whoopemuphollowcafe.com/" target="_blank">Whooemup Cafe </a>opened. It's not cheap and everyone grumbled: it wont last. But it did because it turns out people willing to pay for good food. Then across the street the <a href="http://www.jimgermanbar.com/" target="_blank">jimgermanbar</a> opened. Jim German is serious about his cocktails but they aren't cheap. They are made with top shelf liquor and locally sourced ingredients like mint and blackberries.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7747583322/" title="Izzy and her field by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8442/7747583322_463827cbdc_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Izzy and her field"></a>
Anyhow, back to Izzy. I read on her facebook page that she likes carrots so before our trip I asked my mom for some carrots. She gave them to me from her<a href="http://welcometablefarm.com/" target="_blank"> CSA box from Welcome Table Farm</a>. You know because my MoM is cool enough to participate in a CSA and who doesn't love locally grown, organic carrots?! There were some finger length carrots and green carrot tops in the bottom of the food crisper from a week or two ago that my MoM happily handed over.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7747575456/" title="R and a carrot by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8440/7747575456_0dc55aea88_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="R and a carrot"></a>
We drove to Waitsburg and spotted the camel. There's a little camel pull-off in the road so we took advantage of that. The only problem was that Izzy was in the middle of the field and not very close to us. Now the highway boarders the field where Izzy lives so we walked really carefully along there. We jumped the irrigation ditch and ended up pretty close to the fence.

Still, we weren't very close to her so we hollered her name a few times. Izzy. I-Z-Z-Y. Izzy. This seems to have gotten her attention and then R. had the great idea to wave a carrot at her.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7747418622/" title="R and Izzy the Camel by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7250/7747418622_f65554d7ab_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="R and Izzy the Camel"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7747423728/" title="R and Izzy the Camel by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8293/7747423728_1db985034d_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="R and Izzy the Camel"></a>
This of course was mostly just silly because the carrots weren't any bigger than our fingers but Izzy came right over. It turns out that Izzy is actually really big. She came up to R. first and R. gave her the carrot but Izzy's mouth is really big and R. got nervous and let go of the carrot too quickly and it dropped on the ground. So I gave her some carrot greens which she like a lot.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7747560512/" title="Close up of Izzy the Camel by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8293/7747560512_0d37abf67b_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Close up of Izzy the Camel"></a>
Once we go the hang of things we alternated between feeding her and taking pictures. It was great fun. What's more, lots of people driving along the highway also stopped to take pictures of us feeding Izzy. One car stopped and a teenage boy jumped out wearing a stocking cap and jeans (he must be from Seattle--because locals don't wear stocking caps in the middle of August) and started taking pictures with his iphone. He said this to us: imagine, a camel. here. We said: it's Izzy, the camel. (You know, because at this point we're experts.) And then we pointed to the sign on the barn: Izzy the camel of Waitsburg.

The thing is, you can only keep a camel occupied for so long. When we ran out of carrots and carrot tops, Izzy ran out of interest. She hung around for a little bit hoping for more but there was none. So we said our good-byes and headed into Waitsburg for breakfast.

We walked down main street--which is all of a block, took some pictures (the black and white American flag painted on the American Legion building<a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009161176_waitsburgflag02m.html" target="_blank"> created a fuss when it was first done </a> in 2009 but now it seems to be a town staple) and ate breakfast at a<a href="http://www.waitsburgtimes.com/news/2011-04-14/Front_Page/Waitsburg_To_Get_50s_Diner.html" target="_blank"> really cute '50s style diner called Betty's</a>.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7747587816/" title="Betty's Diner by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8434/7747587816_76615f5e79_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Betty's Diner"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7747598142/" title="Loaded Hash browns by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8299/7747598142_c4f300f22e_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Loaded Hash browns"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7747594482/" title="Eggs on biscuits and gravy by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8290/7747594482_b4d65a2b22_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Eggs on biscuits and gravy"></a>
Betty's was great. The coffee is $.93. I assume that works out to $1 with tax. R. had biscuits and gravy with a side of ham and I had a crazy hash brown dish with veggies, bacon, sausage and gravy. The food was great but the portion sizes were huge. The incredible part was that the bill came out to something like $20.21 for two people. If you're ever in Waitsburg, I'd recommend it.<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7747602270/" title="Me drinking coffee by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8287/7747602270_ea1d233626_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Me drinking coffee"></a>