Sunday, September 16, 2007

Road Trip to Pendleton

We took a road-trip to Pendleton, OR. It is far.
For some reason I thought that just because it's closer (compared to when we lived in Renton) that meant it was close. Not the same thing.

We got there in time to see the barrel racing finals and the bull riding finals. Oh, and the wild cow milking, which is a real kick.

I am equal parts shocked and amazed that we paid to watch humans attempt to survive for 8 seconds on top of 2000 pounds of angry elastic with hoofs and horns. Merely amazed that they all survived.

If you are ever hankering for lunch while traveling highway 14 through Bingen, WA allow me to recommend the Solstice Cafe. They have a wood fired oven there where they bake artisan bread and pizza among many delicious looking things. Everything is artisanal, organic, fresh and heirloom where possible. Their caprese salad (fresh mozzarella with heirloom tomatoes, basil and special vinaigrette) was the best I've had since Naples.

On the way back we determined that a short hike to stretch the legs would be a fine thing. So we stopped at Horsethief Butte to "see a view". The documentary evidence is here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ZimFam/HorsethiefButte

2 comments :

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a fun time was had by all, with the exception maybe of the bucking horses.

Loved the photo of your lovely windblown assistant and the shot of 3/4 of the family overlooking the view.

Glad you had fun, it was great to hear about it.

Great Grumpy Z. said...

"Glad you had fun, it was great to hear about it." (Ditto on that!)

You say this is on the Washington side of the Columbia? I had a hard time getting oriented, because the view overlooking the highway and river looks similar to some South-side views.

Great observation of the lichens!!