Monday August 22, Pendleton OR

We have been doing a bit of the tourist thing in town today. Heard about a tour of an Underground network that was dug in the late 1800’s by Chinese labourers and housed secret card rooms, opium dens, and Speakeasy’s during the Prohibition Days. It was a fascinating 90 minute tour with a great guide and also included a tour of some of the brothels that were running until the 1950’s. These had been shut down and the rooms were left as is until they were re-entered about 20 years ago. A real insight into what this western town was like during another era, when working men wanted to be enteretained.

The central part of town had many old buildings and after reading about the Rainbow Café which has been operating continuously in the same building for 125 years, seemed like a good place for lunch. Felt like we had stepped back in time, the walls were lined with old photos from the Rodeos that had taken place in town for the last 100 years, and seating was in booths or on bar stools. It was obviously the place where locals gather, and they were really friendly, checking out where we were from. And the food was traditional but pretty good too.

The town has a number of top quality Western wear stores, including the most famous… Hamley and Co. Could not believe that amount of really expensive gear they had from Western boots in many designs and colours to solid silver spurs. And more cowboy hats than you could ever believe.

Finished the day off with a few chores, saw a place where you could take your vehicle in and shampoo and vacuum the carpets, something that badly needed doing, then back home to do the laundry at camp.

With a pretty strong wind blowing today is a bit cooler then yesterday.