Garry and Carol's Travels: May 4, 2010

We left Joseph, OR and started heading west. The winds were very strong and we were being blown all over the road. We decided to pull off into a rest area to have lunch and just after we stopped we were hit with HAIL. Our weather this trip has been all over the place. We decided to make a very short day and to pull into Pendleton for the day. We timed it just right as we were passing the Pendleton Woolen Mills and decide to stop and see if we could get a tour. We were just in time to take a tour. The multi-colored and intricately patterned blankets are woven there. They are able to weave a basic blanket in 20 minutes. There are 2 shuttles moving across the loom at a speed of 220 times a minute. Each shuttle only goes halfway. Apparently when they meet at the center they exchange threads and then pull the other thread back to the other side to complete the row. Fascinating. There isn't a seam in the middle when finished. They are moving so fast that you can't even see them. They are then sent off to the Pendleton factory in Washougal, WA for finishing. We are near there so I guess we will now head there to see the final process. May as well.

The town of Pendleton is good size. We stopped at the Chamber of Commerce to get some information. The wind was still so strong it was almost impossible to walk the streets. Garry found out where a Fly-fishing store was and we drove there. It was way tooo windy to fish but he got some good advice about Alaska lures, etc. Not to be left out there was a Quilt fabric store RIGHT NEXT DOOR. Naturally I had to pay it a visit and of course I bought some fabric. Good grief! It is a good thing we don't live here or we would be in trouble. Anyway we started talking to the gentleman in the Fishing store about where we could stop overnight as we really didn't want to go to the Walmart down the street. We have been able to avoid that so far. As luck would have it he was the manager for the complex we were in and said we could go right next door to an open area next to the Umtilla River (complete with a restroom) and spend the night. We were also behind a 3 foot retaining wall which helped to block the wind somewhat. Was a pretty little oasis right near the Pendleton Rodeo and Round Up stadium. This was a real Western oriented town. Garry and I took a walk before dinner along the Riverwalk that ran along the river right in front of our parking spot.

This morning we were up early, 5AM, to try and get down the road before the winds start up again. We stopped at The Dalles and got information about the dam across the Columbia River. I was interested to hear that they incorporated 3 "fish ladders" into the dam. These are serpentine, tiered water ways that enable the Salmon to swim up stream and get into the upper Columbia River on the other side of the dam. There is even a "fish counter" mid way along the "ladder" who does an actual count of the number of Chinook Salmon seen evryday. Yestweday there were over 5000 fish counted.