050912 - PENDLETON, OREGON
September 12, 2005
We are finally out of Washington State.
Pendleton is in NW Oregon. It's a small city with a big reputation. Besides being known for its line of clothing, each year in the 2nd week of September, it has its annual Rodeo, called ROUNDUP. We stumbled on this event by accident while fooling with one my computer travel programs.
The town is about 15,000 people usually and swells to about 3 times its size during roundup. To these people, that's allot, but,I remember going to a rodeo in Madison Square Gardens that held much more than that, but for an outdoor, small town event it's quite a party.
Anyway, when we entered the town, we took a quick look see and it took about 15 minutes to cruise it.
We found the stadium, next to it was the convention center, and then we found Wal-Mart - which was bigger than the 2 of them combined.
This morning we were awakened by the rocking of our little house accompanied by the sound of loud, rushing wind.
It was 7:30 am and the sun was shining, with a bright blue sky and white clouds over head. The trees were shaking and bending from the violent gusts that were reported to be about 44 mph.
Peter did not seem to mind the noise and movement - as soon as i opened the door - he leaped out. Fortunately, the wind was coming from the west and our door is on the east side, so our patio area is sheltered.
The next evening, just after dark, an RV pulled up besides us and Peter actually let the driver pet him.
She was a silver haired senior, driving a late model 28 ft model C, dressed in a blue sweater over what looked like a white nurse's uniform. Her name was Fran.
She lives in Gunnison, Colorado and is driving to Vancouver, Canada to attend a party tomorrow. She left Salt Lake City this morning at 7 am and drove 600 miles to Pendleton this evening. Pretty amazing. To reach the Canadian boarder she will have to drive about another 400 miles tomorrow. I hope she made it.
Oddly enough, I was planning on staying at Blue Mesa Park, which is in Gunnison. She talked a little about the town and suggested a good Italian and Chinese restaurant. She lives in a condo on the river.
We talked about traveling and some of its difficulties for the older traveler, but she seemed to be able to handle the routines of RV camping, although admittedly slower. She seemed pretty adventurous, having skydived in Hawaii last year.
We are finally out of Washington State.
Pendleton is in NW Oregon. It's a small city with a big reputation. Besides being known for its line of clothing, each year in the 2nd week of September, it has its annual Rodeo, called ROUNDUP. We stumbled on this event by accident while fooling with one my computer travel programs.
The town is about 15,000 people usually and swells to about 3 times its size during roundup. To these people, that's allot, but,I remember going to a rodeo in Madison Square Gardens that held much more than that, but for an outdoor, small town event it's quite a party.
Anyway, when we entered the town, we took a quick look see and it took about 15 minutes to cruise it.
We found the stadium, next to it was the convention center, and then we found Wal-Mart - which was bigger than the 2 of them combined.
This morning we were awakened by the rocking of our little house accompanied by the sound of loud, rushing wind.
It was 7:30 am and the sun was shining, with a bright blue sky and white clouds over head. The trees were shaking and bending from the violent gusts that were reported to be about 44 mph.
Peter did not seem to mind the noise and movement - as soon as i opened the door - he leaped out. Fortunately, the wind was coming from the west and our door is on the east side, so our patio area is sheltered.
The next evening, just after dark, an RV pulled up besides us and Peter actually let the driver pet him.
She was a silver haired senior, driving a late model 28 ft model C, dressed in a blue sweater over what looked like a white nurse's uniform. Her name was Fran.
She lives in Gunnison, Colorado and is driving to Vancouver, Canada to attend a party tomorrow. She left Salt Lake City this morning at 7 am and drove 600 miles to Pendleton this evening. Pretty amazing. To reach the Canadian boarder she will have to drive about another 400 miles tomorrow. I hope she made it.
Oddly enough, I was planning on staying at Blue Mesa Park, which is in Gunnison. She talked a little about the town and suggested a good Italian and Chinese restaurant. She lives in a condo on the river.
We talked about traveling and some of its difficulties for the older traveler, but she seemed to be able to handle the routines of RV camping, although admittedly slower. She seemed pretty adventurous, having skydived in Hawaii last year.
She was tired from her day's driving, so we said good nite and she was planning on taking off at 7 the next morning.
One of our other neighbors was a contract physical therapist, traveling with his dog Mabel (a Lab mix). He has an agency that gets him temporary jobs at about 3 month at a time, and travels the country, trying to stay in the warm spots as often as he can.
Unfortunately for us, the actual rodeo events did not start until Tuesday the 13th, so we arrived a little too early for the big show but too late to get a reservation, so we had to move on with just the a walk thru. Apparently there is a rodeo circuit in the area, so perhaps next time we will be better informed as to the events and dates. I'll have to keep wondering how Peter would have reacted to all the horses and livestock.
Till next time,
posted by The Highway Guys @ 9:37 PM
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