Washington State's Pullman campus sprawls across its hilltop, red brick and basalt buildings arranged among open spaces and deep green conifers. The materials weren't chosen for aesthetics alone - they were found on site, quarried and built into structures that have aged into a coherent architectural identity. Thompson Hall anchors the historic core; newer buildings spread outward with varying degrees of sympathy for the original palette. The university ranks as Washington's second-largest institution of higher education, trailing only the University of Washington across the mountains in Seattle. Programs range broadly, as land-grant missions require, but certain specialties have gained national recognition: agriculture, veterinary medicine, and a hospitality program that operates its own hotel.

Cougar Gold comes in cans. Sharp white cheddar, aged for at least a year, packaged in metal containers that look like paint cans and have developed a cult following that extends well beyond Pullman city limits. The cheese emerged from World War II-era research, when the U.S. government and American Can Company funded WSU to develop shelf-stable cheese for troops overseas. The project succeeded, the war ended, and the university kept making cheese - now for alumni networks and mail-order customers who pay premium prices for the distinctive flavor and unusual packaging. The creamery produces other varieties, but Cougar Gold remains the signature, available at the WSU campus store and shipped worldwide to those who know to ask.

Pullman's downtown barely registers compared to the campus that overshadows it. Grand Avenue runs through town on a north-south axis; Main Street crosses east-west, connecting to Moscow via Highway 270 across the state line. US 195 bypasses the town entirely, carrying through-traffic that has no business with universities or cheese. The terrain makes everything harder - those hills that look so photogenic from aerial views translate to daily climbs for anyone relying on legs rather than wheels. Pullman Transit buses serve the university community but run on schedules geared toward class times rather than tourist convenience. A bike path to Moscow exists for the hardy; car-sharing and taxi services cover the gaps for everyone else.

The National Lentil Festival tells you something about Pullman's context. Each August, the town celebrates the legume that grows across the surrounding hills, a crop that thrives in this particular climate and soil combination. The Palouse produces a significant portion of America's lentil supply, along with wheat, barley, and other grains that turn the landscape into abstract art when viewed from above. Moscow offers the nearest alternative to Pullman's limited dining and entertainment options - close enough for a quick drive, far enough to feel like leaving town. Spokane, ninety miles north, provides the regional airport and urban amenities that neither university town can match. But for those who appreciate small-scale college-town life, surrounded by agricultural land that produces food rather than sprawl, Pullman delivers exactly what it promises.