I'd like to start off with this: today's blog post is for my friend R.'s mom. Thanks for sharing her with me for the week. We've been having a great time.

My MoM and I picked up R. in Pasco on Friday afternoon about 1pm. Pasco is about an hour car ride away from Walla Walla so it gave me some time to catch up with my mom on the drive over. On the drive back, we stopped by a couple of different wineries. This of course was great fun.
<a title="R. and Me at L'Ecole Winery by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7710163790/"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8424/7710163790_41478fb1d7_z.jpg" alt="R. and Me at L'Ecole Winery" width="640" height="480" /></a>
We decided to go by a Walla Walla Valley classic <a href="http://www.lecole.com/" target="_blank">L'Ecole No 41</a>. It's a winery that's in an old school house in a tiny little town Lowden. I love this winery and I guess that I have been to taste wine there every time I've been home to visit since I graduated from college--that's almost 10 years. The space is beautiful, although I was apparently too busy catching up with my friend R. to take any pictures inside, and the wine is divine.
<a title="MoM and R. Wine tasting in Walla Walla at Canoe Ridge by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7710167428/"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8156/7710167428_a43cb48f7f_z.jpg" alt="MoM and R. Wine tasting in Walla Walla at Canoe Ridge" width="640" height="480" /></a>
<a title="R. and Me Wine tasting in Walla Walla at Canoe Ridge by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7710170968/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7267/7710170968_cf345c0fdd_z.jpg" alt="R. and Me Wine tasting in Walla Walla at Canoe Ridge" width="640" height="480" /></a>
From L'Ecole No 41 we headed to <a href="http://www.canoeridgevineyard.com/" target="_blank">Canoe Ridge</a>. Canoe Ridge is in Walla Walla proper. My dAd built a couple of pieces for their tasting room which I had never seen so we headed over to taste this wine and to admire his work. The Canoe Ridge is in an old train repair and maintenance building.
<a title="Wine tasting in Walla Walla at Canoe Ridge by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7710219554/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7263/7710219554_ac03147b1e_z.jpg" alt="Wine tasting in Walla Walla at Canoe Ridge" width="640" height="480" /></a>
<a title="Wine tasting in Walla Walla at Canoe Ridge by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7710230416/"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8014/7710230416_55b2261022_z.jpg" alt="Wine tasting in Walla Walla at Canoe Ridge" width="640" height="480" /></a>
The wine was tasty and J. who was pouring the wines was a delight to talk to. R. ended up buying the Melbec she liked it so much.
<a title="Wine tasting in Walla Walla at Canoe Ridge by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7710233564/"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8151/7710233564_dd8e106ec6_z.jpg" alt="Wine tasting in Walla Walla at Canoe Ridge" width="640" height="480" /></a>
From there we went home to swim for a little bit before the First Friday Art Walk. My dAd hosts different local artists there each month as well as our local in house artist L. The event was really lovely. There was wine to drink, Klicker fruit and cheese to eat and lots of interseting people to talk to.
<a title="Street Art in Walla Walla by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7710237044/"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8290/7710237044_ef99e3dc46_z.jpg" alt="Street Art in Walla Walla" width="640" height="480" /></a><a title="Walla Faces in Walla Walla by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7710240232/"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8162/7710240232_21e25ea034_z.jpg" alt="Walla Faces in Walla Walla" width="640" height="480" /></a>
<a title="Walla Faces in Walla Walla by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7710255516/"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8158/7710255516_8f84a226da_z.jpg" alt="Walla Faces in Walla Walla" width="640" height="480" /></a>
Then we wandered downtown to check out Walla Faces. There was live jazz music and plenty off wine to drink. C. and R. both had wine. I had a diet coke. Jet lag can sneak up on a girl at funny times. This was great fun even though at times the music was really too loud to talk easily over.
<a title="R. and Me in Walla Faces in Walla Walla by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7710249448/"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8165/7710249448_3b00a1ac74_z.jpg" alt="R. and Me in Walla Faces in Walla Walla" width="640" height="480" /></a>
<a title="Drinks at Walla Faces in Walla Walla by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7710246324/"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8161/7710246324_dbf2e090ed_z.jpg" alt="Drinks at Walla Faces in Walla Walla" width="640" height="480" /></a>
The night ended with us at Laht Neppur. We sampled the flight of beer currently on tap, ordered a vegetarian pizza and then a pint of beer to drink with our pizza. It was a great night. We drank beer. Told stories. Gossiped. Walked home cutting through Whitman College and ran through the sprinkler my parents set on our front lawn.
<a title="Beer tasting in Walla Walla at Laht Neppur by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7710258326/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7138/7710258326_3a4445737d_z.jpg" alt="Beer tasting in Walla Walla at Laht Neppur" width="640" height="480" /></a>
<a title="Back-seat blonde ale in Walla Walla by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7710263518/"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8008/7710263518_19641335b4_z.jpg" alt="Back-seat blonde ale in Walla Walla" width="640" height="480" /></a>
It was a pretty great welcome to Walla Walla if you ask me.