West Richland Real Estate Blog

I’ve been watching the progress on the new Kadlec Clinic being built in West Richland for a couple months now, and just within the last week or two the frame started going up. Here’s how it’s looking as of this past weekend:

They broke ground back in March, and the structure is just going up now, so obviously building a new medical facility takes a fair bit of time. It’s due to open early next year. The official name will be Kadlec Clinic West Richland Primary Care. Some of the features of the new clinic are:

• 19,500 square feet over two stories
• space for up to 12 physicians/health care providers
• laboratory and x-ray capabilities
• physician specialties will include family practice, pediatrics and internal medicine

I should mention that Kadlec does have a small presence on Kennedy Rd. in West Richland now. The doctors there will move to this new building when it’s finished early next year.

And as a West Richland resident, I’m excited to have a true medical facility like this so close to home.

[where: 99353]

Young Entrepreneurs

Originally uploaded by Matt McGee

If you happened to drive down Canter Street in the Polo Club section of West Richland this weekend, you probably came across West Richland’s newest entrepreneurs — my son, Sean, and his friend, Alex. This is a photo of the two of them running a lemonade stand outside Alex’s house. For just 25 cents, you get a nice-sized cup of delicious lemonade — I’d be charging 50 cents a shot if it were me.

But they don’t seem to need my advice: The people of West Richland have been patronizing them quite a bit this weekend. Sean came home with more than $4 yesterday, and when I was there this afternoon, they said they were on pace to sell more lemonade today.

Gut feeling? They’ll be doing this several more times this summer. When you’re 10 years old, bringing home a few bucks from just hanging out with your buddy and pouring lemonade for passersby must be pretty addictive. You probably won’t see them next weekend (hydroplane races), but look for them again after that — and stop the car to support a local West Richland business.

A contact on Flickr once told me, “You have the most amazing skies where you live!,” as he was browsing through some of my West Richland photos. I think he’s right — pointing the camera up is almost always a good idea in this city.

I’m not sure tonight’s sky was “amazing,” but it sure was interesting. This is what I saw while taking the dog for a walk at around 6:30 pm. I don’t think that’s a cloud formation — I think it’s smoke. Or maybe a combination of the two. I know there are fires to the south, the west, and the northeast of us, and only smoke would make the sun turn into a little orange ball like you see in that photo. If it was clouds, you wouldn’t see the sun at all.

You can click the photo to see a bigger version on Flickr.

Update: I bet it’s from this fire on Mt. Adams, near Yakima.

If you’re looking for something fun before the fireworks shows (which won’t start until about 10 pm), don’t forget that the Mid Columbia Symphony will be celebrating the 4th of July with a free concert in West Richland. It’ll start at 7 pm on Friday. The symphony will be playing pops and patriotic songs to celebrate Independence Day. Guaranteed good time with great music!

Wow, time flies when you’re avoiding long lines at the other post offices.

I was in the West Richland Post Office earlier today and saw that they have a little sign on the wall promoting their upcoming 10th Anniversary. And I didn’t really believe it had been open that long, because it opened just before Cari and I moved to West Richland … which was 10 years ago! Crazy how fast that 10 years has gone.

I remember when I was working in Kennewick many years ago, and in an attempt to avoid the long lines at the post offices in Pasco and Richland, I’d drive all the way out here to West Richland to mail Christmas gifts and such. Even with the extra time in the car, I know I got back to work more quickly because the lines were much shorter at this post office.

Anyway, the celebration is from 9 am to 4 pm on July 10th at the West Richland post office.

As far as I know, the West Richland population is a little more than 10,000 these days. Last night, that many people poured into the Bombing Range Sports Complex for the 8th annual Hogs & Dogs event. Yep — the organizers are estimating a crowd of 10,000 people this year. Holy you-know-what!! (And they say they sold 4,000 hot dogs!)

There were rows and rows of motorcycles — seemed like mostly Harley Davidsons from what I could tell. There were apparently classic cars on display, too, but the McGee family must not have fought through the crowds to that part of the park. We did enjoy hot dogs, chips, and soda pop for dinner … listened to a little music … saw some friends … and caught the very end of a stunt motorcycle performance by Jason Britton.

All in all, West Richland should be proud. This is a fun event and we’re glad we stopped by this year. But if it keeps growing … how many more people can they fit at the Bombing Range Sports Complex? I guess that’s for someone else to figure out.

I took some pictures last night and posted them on Flickr: Hogs and Dogs 2008 - West Richland, WA. Here are a couple of my favorites…enjoy!