WALLA WALLA, Wash. — The “town so nice they named it twice” truly was twice as nice for Stella the dog.

Stella, a goldendoodle from Anacortes, Washington, got to visit Walla Walla, Washington, recently while taking a break from cancer treatments at Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

It was a golden weekend in September when Stella came with her family. Lisa Strandberg, who’s had Stella for 10 years, wasn’t in the greatest of spirits before the visit. In July, Stella had been diagnosed with “very aggressive cancer” in her face — a tumor above her eye that was the “size of a golf ball.”

Strandberg’s veterinarian told her to take Stella to the WSU hospital, renowned for its work.

So Stella was spending five days a week at the hospital and getting “breaks” on the weekends.

“It was a pretty major surgery,” Strandberg said. “Her whole face and radiation and everything. Just like a human.”

Strandberg and her partner, Patrick Neri, made the four-hour trek across the state one weekend to visit Stella and opted to take a detour to Walla Walla, a place Strandberg became familiar with on previous visits with friends.

But this visit would be different. Little did Strandberg know how different it would be, and in a good way.

“It was all about (Stella) and where she was gonna be comfortable,” Strandberg said. “It ended up being even more relaxing in so many ways.”

They called ahead of time and asked some wineries if it was OK to bring Stella. Not only did they welcome Stella, they invited the dog to run free through the vineyards.

“They would say, ‘Oh, go sit out in the grass and let your dog run through the vines,’” Strandberg said with a laugh of disbelief. “I mean, where else can you get that?

“If I were to come back as a vineyard dog, that’s how I’d wanna come back. That’s the life, let me tell you, and she got to live it for a weekend.”

The goldendoodle got to gallop alongside the grapes at Rasa Vineyards, Woodward Canyon and Tero Estates, to name a few.

And then there was the bacon — Bacon & Eggs, to be specific.

The well-known breakfast spot on East Main Street was recommended by staff at the Visit Walla Walla downtown information kiosk. The restaurant staff took note immediately of Stella as she came with Strandberg and Neri.

The three got settled on the dog-friendly patio and Stella was treated to water, bacon and affection.

“They were so nice, like, incredibly nice,” Bacon & Eggs co-owner Michelle Adams said of Strandberg and Neri. “It really was mostly two of my employees who just connected. I know it really meant a lot to them.”

Dawn Olsen, a server, and co-worker Kylie Woody immediately grew fond of Stella.

“I’m just a huge dog person,” Olsen said. She said she gets playful with basically every dog that comes to the patio.

Olsen heard Stella’s story and was compelled to do more.

“The whole story just really touched my heart,” Olsen said.

Strandberg and Neri said they’d be coming back the next day for more breakfast, so Olsen hatched a plan and Woody got on board.

After leaving the restaurant that morning, the couple got to see a full day of Stella running free, soaking in the September sunshine and shunning any sickness or sadness.

Good on their word, Strandberg and Neri returned to Bacon & Eggs the next morning.

They expected more good food and perhaps more bacon for Stella. They received much more than that.

“Their kindness, it brings me to tears,” Strandberg said, pausing to reflect on the moment.

Stella was presented with a bedazzled collar, made by Woody, that read “I beat cancer.” Gifts also included a new stuffed animal, some of Stella’s favorite treats and even some canine-approved CBD treatments to help relieve the pain of the tumor and surgery.

Then Adams, along with wife and co-owner Michelle Giannunzio and the rest of the staff, offered their meal for free.

“If you own a restaurant, (I think) you should do kind things that you can financially handle doing,” Adams said.

Strandberg, knowing how hard hit restaurants are right now during COVID-19-related restrictions, could hardly believe it.

“I couldn’t stop crying, overwhelmed with this kindness,” Strandberg said. “This girl, Dawn, works two jobs and she was going to be working late that night.”

Strandberg, Neri and Stella left the Walla Walla Valley overwhelmed by the kindness of its people. When Stella returned to WSU, the students at the school told Strandberg that Stella had a spring in her step.

“You can just tell they have a really cool vibe,” Strandberg said of the staff. “They’ve just got something going on and we ran into that a lot in Walla Walla, which was a surprise.

“There’s something you’ve done over there to keep your businesses alive; it really shows a community effort and that was surprising to us.”

Two months later, not everything is quite a happy ending yet.

After being given the all-clear on Stella’s cancer, the family found a new growth on her.

Meanwhile, Bacon & Eggs has been closed entirely for a few weeks because of the latest pandemic shutdown. Adams said they’ve been selling rum cakes to meet rent this month.

But the memory of the experience lingers, like a streak of blue sky on gray day.

Strandberg is hopeful the new growth is nothing serious and will get it checked at WSU.

Adams said the rum cakes have been selling like hotcakes and they are hopeful to open again soon. The state’s ban on indoor dining lifts Dec. 14. Those interested in getting a rum cake can email the restaurant at baconandeggswallawalla@gmail.com.

The toy and the collar Woody and Olsen gave Stella will always be a token to Strandberg and her family of a place so nice they named it twice.

“It was a really cool experience,” Strandberg said. “A healing one.”