Pendleton, OR

Sept 9, 2012- Sunday
We drove about 40 miles to Pendleton, OR to attend the round up and Professional Bull Riders events. We are staying at the Wild Horse Casino and RV Park. It is a nice place with a pool and all the amenities we need to enjoy our stay. The wind kicked up today and we were told it is the first real windy day of the summer. The temperature is in the 70's but when the sun goes down it gets pretty cold and we can't use our fireplace so we go inside a little earlier than usual. Nice to have the trailer. I think I've said that before. Our site wasn't ready for us when we arrived at about 11:30 so we went into town and scouted the area. After that we went back and went to the casino for a while. Gail invested $2 in penny slots and won $20. I invested $20 and lost $18 so we broke even. Didn't know we were such high rollers did you. Had a real good lunch while watching the Seahawks. We got settled in, met our neighbors, had a good dinner and went to bed at about 10. Here are pics of the Park and Casino.

Sept 10, 2012- Monday
Don played golf this morning at the Wild Horse Golf Course across the street from the park. Nice course and very affordable. It only took about 3.5 hours to play 18 holes. The wind blew again all day. We went into town to see where we can park for the events beginning tomorrow. We found a pretty good pizza joint so had lunch and brought leftovers home for dinner. After lunch we went to the Museum at Tamastslikt Cultural Institute. This is a terrific display of the history of the American Indian in the area. There is also a display of the history of artist Charles Russell. This is a traveling exhibit that we were lucky to see. The wind chased us inside at about 7:30 so we enjoyed the evening watching TV and bed again at 10. Are we creatures of habit? Maybe so but that isn't always a bad thing.

Sept 11, 2012-Tuesday
We met up with two Native American ladies Don met while tailgating at the Seahawk games several years ago. Vicki and Bea are real nice people who introduced us to friends and family attending the Pendleton Roundup. We met them at the Rainbow Cafe and Bar where they bought us some drinks and introduced us to some of the locals. From there we all went to the Let R Buck Room under the grandstands at the rodeo grounds. The place was getting very busy and crowded so we went with Vick and Bea to the Indian Teepee area. They help set up some of the 200+ teepees on the grounds. From there we went to the Professional Bullriders Event. It was very cool. They said it is the smallest venue in the States. It lasted until about 9:30 then back to the park. It is still in the high 70's in the day but gets down to the high 30's at night. Here are Indian Village and bullriding pictures.

Sept 12, 2012-Wednesday

 

Today we went to the Pendleton Roundup Rodeo. The pic above is of the entrance to the arena This is the 100th year of the rodeo. It began in 1910 but was not held in 1942 and 1943 because of WWII. The population of the town goes from 16,000 to about 120,000 during this week. I have never seen so many cowboy hats, boots and Wrangler Jeans. It was quite an experience. The rodeo grounds double as the high school stadium but the track around the football field is dirt instead an artificial surface. We thought the most exciting event was the Indian Pony relay race. Before the races medics bring in back boards because this is the most dangerous event in the rodeo. In this event 3 or 4 teams of Indians and ponies enter and the track. One of the Indians from each team starts on a pony and when a shot fires all of the riders take a lap, 1/4 mile, at full speed around the track. When they come around at about full speed they get off this horse and jump on another one being held by a team mate. No saddles or bridles. They hang on to a halter or just horse hair. They do this exchange three times. CRAZY!!!! They also have bull riding during the day. Since the arena is so large they set up a smaller bull riding arena using PVC pipe. If a bull brushes into the "fence" it falls down and you have a bull running around on the football field. It was pretty amusing. It was a fun full day from about 1-5 at the rodeo. Here is a pic looking across to where the action begins.

Afterwards it was back to the park to relax and get ready for the drive home Thursday.

Sept 13, 2012-Thursday
It was about a 300 mile drive that was uneventful except for the smoke in the air caused by all the fires in Washington and Idaho from Hermiston, OR to about Snoqualmie Pass, over 200 miles.