Walla Walla couple finds gardening oasis

When Mark Brucks and Susan Monahan were getting ready to retire after living and working in Austin, TX for twenty years, they carefully developed a list of criteria for their new home town. The list included walkability, a place with a college or university, and room to garden.

For years they spent summer and Christmas vacations on the road, visiting towns "Colorado and west, "looking for just the right spot. A friend in Centralia asked, "Have you ever heard of Walla Walla?"

So of course, they visited and in fact made sure to visit twice, once in the summer, and once in the winter, to get a tr...