Closer pelican view

Yakima Valley's Pelicans

I can't believe I forgot to show you Yakima Valley's White Pelicans on this blog. They make the Yakima River their home from about march to September or October.

Yakima Valley's Pelicans

I had a lucky day driving on I-82 along the Yakima River one day last week. My timing was just right to catch a good shot of some of the American White Pelicans who make the river their home from about Mrch through October each year. When I was commuting early in the morning daily, I rarely saw them, as they are usually in flight later in the morning.

Not a barn

Not every rural building that is not a house is a barn.

When the hops are picked, they are dried in a kiln such as this or a more modern version. The high temperature needed to dry the hops must be monitored 24 hours a day.

Not many of the old kilns like this one remain in the Valley. I remember several hop kiln fires in the Valley since we came here, and they were in more modern facilities. These old wooden buildings would have gone up quite quickly in a fire.

Now, how did you like that segue--from the barns of the last couple of days to this non-barn--to the picking of hops. Hop harvest has finally reached the hopyards in my neighborhood. Some peeks at the process will feature in the next few days.

A busy time in the Valley.

Got Fruit?

I'm always impressed when I pass this graphic illustration of the types of fruit grown in this valley. It's on the end of a processing plant north of Wapato. And that doesn't even take into consideration the other crops such as hops, asparagus, corn, potatoes, mint, grapes--I am sure there are others that are not coming to mind right now.