A Cameo Appearance, Part 2

The mansion sits on a hill overlooking a curved, fairly narrow valley as the road approaches the bend where the Columbia River flows into the first part of the Gorge. You can't see the Columbia River from the bed and breakfast, but you can see the Walla Walla River flowing lazily through the valley, the riparian zone protected on either side of it.

The mansion was built as a home for a family with seven children, but things got hung up along the way, and the shell of it sat unfinished for about ten years. Finally, the owners got things squared away and pursued their dream of making it into a bed and breakfast. It's surrounded by orchards of 175,000 trees, all planted and the irrigation installed by the innkeepers, who were alfalfa farmers in a past life. They have now sold the orchards off, preferring to stick to one job.

One of the very first things I did, upon arriving and settling in, was to head for the poolside, where I settled into a deck chair (while Husband took a nap) and read for awhile, peering across my feet at the waterfall.  It was so peaceful and warm and relaxing out there, I could have stayed right there for days!

Above the pool, built into the hillside, was a jacuzzi. You just don't have time to try out everything if you're at the mansion for only one day, so we didn't get to test the jacuzzi out. Several other couples came emerged to enjoy the poolside ambiance, and they seemed to share the happy, quiet atmosphere of the place.

Across the valley, over the top of the apple orchard, we could see the farm with the red barn, a bit of the river, and the highway snaking by as it comes off Nine Mile Hill.

After our filling supper, Husband and I decided an evening walk was in order. We noticed that the orchard was on the waning side of apple blossom time, but there were still a few hardy souls hanging in there.

The skies at the mansion are typical for eastern Washington: always changing, with the light and clouds playing hide-and-seek through the afternoon and evening. It may not be Montana, but it's still big sky country!

We climbed the hill through the orchards, looking for a view of the Columbia River, but only caught a little glimpse of it. So we walked "through the gloaming" back to the mansion, which was now lit up to greet the evening.

Here you can see the suites from the back of the mansion, two on each level and one up under the eaves. Ours was on the bottom right, under the kitchen. The noise of cooking and washing up was clearly audible, but not particularly bothersome to us.

The next morning after breakfast, Husband and I took off for a hike before driving home.  We walked through apple orchards, and uphill through vineyards ...

...through the typical drylands of the eastern side of this state, with its red and green and gold grasses, and down again past a cherry orchard ...

...passing a congregation of smudge pots, now quiet in the warming air of spring.

We made only a cameo appearance at the B&B, essentially. Just one day. I'm glad we went.