Adventure 141: Wild Horse Casino/Pendleton, Oregon

The early morning's promise.

For non gamblers, we sure seem to be spending quite a bit of time near casinos. The good news is that we've yet to push our first "play" button. We left Jackpot right after dawn this morning and cruised an easy forty miles for the first highlight of our day. We invited ourselves to the Hooley's for breakfast. They were gracious (As always), and spread a scrumptious farm breakfast before us. Gary and Loey Hooley, their daughter, Sarah, their two sons Isaac and Andy, along with Loey's sister Pat and her husband Tom were in attendance. And of course, there were cows, dogs cats, peacocks, and everything else a city slicker like me can attribute to a farm. We met their family a couple of summers ago when we acted as chauffeurs for Miss Kate Friesen (Daughter of the late Miss Jane and Kelvin), who spent the summer working on the farm. For those of you trying to keep score, Miss Jane is Judy's youngest sister. At any rate, we visited the Hooley's again a summer ago and were treated to  healthy farm living, lots of back road driving, and a kind of peace that most people just long for. We were excited to spend the morning with them, and our time with them lifted our spirits all the way to La Grande (And perhaps beyond, but I was quite tense by then). After La Grande, we decided to white knuckle it over Deadman's Pass because even though it was foggy, the temperature was as warm as it would likely get. The fog did prove imposing. At one point I had less than thirty yards of visibility (That was when the three big rigs passed me one after another like three big fat pigs). I welcomed the trucks passing me, thankful they didn't bump into me and grateful their tail lights gave me a reference point I hadn't had. Awhile later, we pulled safely into the nearly empty RV park behind the Wild Horse casino and hunkered in for the night. For dinner, we enjoyed pancakes and the farm fresh eggs Loey gave us as a parting gift. Safe, warm, and sated, we're thankful for the traveling mercies we had today, and it looks like we may be graced with some tomorrow as well. Today, Spokane received about six or seven inches of fresh snow (The WSDOT cameras are dismal, especially when I stop to think I was in Palm Springs two days ago). However, the weatherman says that high pressure is building and tomorrow will be cold but sunny. We'll pray for that, and I'll refrain from my usual quip about weatherman (No I won't: They are always right; they're just never on time). No matter, the weather is just another thing I'm not in charge of. I'm just thankful I kept it together over Dead Man today. Happy Hardt, one of our good friends, commented that my stories on the blog (I sometimes make stuff up) could come back to haunt me. Maybe she is right because the Wily Cager was on fire this afternoon, winning back to back games, which resulted in an overall tie for the entire adventure. Tomorrow morning we will play for the glass trophy, the champion's ring, all the marbles, and the rest of the cliches as well. No pressure, but cheating will definitely occur. Either way, we'll rest tonight knowing that life is good, especially today.

 Fric and Frac park outside the shop in the back of the Hooley's.

 A portion of their land. It may look peaceful now, but in short order they will ramp up the growing season.

 The Hooley's home: They will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the farm this June.

 I'm sure these two are named Fric and Frac.

 The Hooley family (Plus Judy minus Andy who hadn't arrived yet).

 After the Boise basin and into Baker City, the morning was clear and easy.

 As we approached the Blue Mountains, the weather really was as good as we could hope for.

 Believe it or not, this was the best visibility we had crossing Deadman's Pass.

 Fric and Frac nestled safely in slot 61 out back of the Wild Horse Casino.

A view back at the fog shrouded mountains.

The Wild Horse casino in the background. I don't know the folks in the motorhome.