Whitman Mission

View from the hill where the monument is

We went to Whitman Mission yesterday. A raptor rescue group was there with some of the birds, so Game Boy collected change and we went. (We turned it into folding money first.)

As you can see, it was another beautiful day in the dry part of the Pacific Northwest. It's not cool yet, but we are starting to see the bright blue skies more rather than the washed out blue of the really hot temperatures. We saw where the mission used to be (it's all gone now), the monument on the top of the hill, and the mass grave of the victims of the massacre.

near the mission building sites

One of the things I always wonder when we are wandering around all of these historical sites is why did a group stop here, and not somewhere else? Walla Walla Valley is beautiful, and there is water, but it must have looked like a lot of nothing to people in the nineteenth century. Of course, I wonder why they stopped in Kansas, too.

Wiz and Game Boy in the tipi.

a golden eagle

The birds were all raptors that have been rescued and rehabilitated, but cannot go back into the wild. Game Boy wanted to see them. And so we did, twice.

Barn Owl, Game Boy's favorite

Peregrine falconGreat Horned Owl
Red-tailed Hawk

American Kestral, Wiz's favorite

Then the evening was spent at a party for friends' son and new daughter-in-law, welcoming her to Walla Walla. It was a beautiful evening to be at an outdoor party, and we all had a wonderful time. The sunset to the west was full of colors, while the mountains to the east had a lightning show for us. A peaceful way to end a nice day.