1. Mike, Terry, Ed, Jake, and I started the day by piling into a couple of rigs and heading east to Meacham, Oregon, home of the Oregon Trail Store and Deli. It's a cozy spot featuring a handful of tables and a modest selection of groceries. A very friendly couple run the place. The man acts as the server and his wife is a superb cook. We got settled in and I ordered the day's special, a half order of biscuits and gravy with a couple sausage links and I added a side of hash browns to my order with a small bowl of gravy.
Every plate of food we ordered was generous -- the guys' eyes really popped with shock when my platter of biscuits and gravy came out. Not one of us could believe that these light, flaky, freshly baked biscuits swimming in and covered by sausage gravy was a half order and my side of hash browns was also hefty. I was blown away by how delicious it all was!
Every one of us thoroughly enjoyed his breakfast. We had a blast making each other laugh and the man who runs the place got off a few good wise cracks himself and enjoyed having us in his and his wife's joint.
This couple has run this place for about four years. Since this group of us come down to Pendleton at least once a year, we are hoping they stay in business a long time. We'll drive out there every time we visit, whether for breakfast or their famous burgers and fries for lunch or dinner.
2. The day just kept getting better after this terrific start.
I decided around noon to have a beer at the buddy bar near the hotel desk and noticed that this bar had a porter on tap, the Bruce/Lee from Pendleton's Prodigal Son Brewing.
The Bruce/Lee was awesome. Terry and I had ordered a flight of beers at Prodigal Son back in 2015 and we didn't think they were all that good.
My guess is that, as often happens, Prodigal Son has improved their brewing methods because this Bruce/Lee porter was a perfect balance of chocolate and coffee balanced by a subtle bitter finish. This beer felt substantial in my mouth, not thin, and I loved that its texture and its taste were both so pleasing.
Ed contacted me not long after I finished one Bruce/Lee and wondered if I might be in the mood for an early afternoon beer. I was. We sat at a table and I thoroughly enjoyed my second Bruce/Lee.
A couple of hours passed by and, right at 3:00, fellow Basementeer and long long time friend Colette drove up outside the hotel and picked me up. As we've done for the last few years, we arranged to get together for a couple or three hours in Pendleton.
We went to Pendleton's superb distillery, the Oregon Grain Growers Brand Distillery and decided to take a table in the outdoor seating area, near a heater.
Colette ordered a Caesar salad, the terrific Marilyn Monroe pizza (white citrus and mozzarella cheese, and artichokes dotted with ricotta cheese stars that looked like they'd been squeezed out of a cookie press).
Because I had a big dinner coming up later, I only ate one slice of this heavenly pizza. I sure enjoyed my cocktail, the Ginger Grant (named after the actress character played by Tina Louise on Gilligan's Island). The Ginger Grant was a delicious blend of gin, strawberry puree, lime, and ginger beer over ice.
Colette and I had a superb conversation. We talked about Brian Senter, killed six years ago in an auto/pedestrian accident in the Walla Walla area. Brian was a student of mine twice at Whitworth in Jan term and spring term of 1984 and we had seen each other three times in the 1990s. Once I saw him in the play Bus Stop in Seattle and the other two times we got together in Eugene. He directed the theater program at Walla Walla High School and was a deeply beloved teacher.
Talking about Brian led to conversations about Colette's daughter, Gabriella, and her high school experience (she attends Walla Walla High) and we also talked at some length about both of our families and the challenges of depression and other mental illnesses. For a variety of reasons, Colette has deep and broad knowledge about psychological issues and I enjoyed listening to her stories and insights and it meant a lot to me to talk a bit about my history with depression and how things have improved so much over the last 10-12 years.
After Colette dropped me off back at the Wildhorse and I joined the other guys at the casino's fine dining venue, Plateau, I got a text from Colette remarking that unlike other times we've met, we didn't talk at all about books! (I did, however, learn just what Colette has left to do to finish her Masters of Fine Arts at Eastern Oregon University.) So, she promised to post a list of books she's been reading and we'll have to talk about books when we meet up again.
3. For the grand finale of this fantastic day, Jake, Ed, Mike, Terry, and I sat down to order dinner at Plateau.
This is a tradition every time we go to Pendleton and is always a highlight of our trip.
I loved my dinner tonight. I started with a dry gin martini and I ordered the thick and delicious Pendleton Whisky Steak, a New York strip steak peppered and dressed with a light whiskey sauce. It was divine. So were my sides, crispy Brussels sprouts and sautéed wild mushrooms. I enhanced my dinner with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon and we decided to top off our meal with a couple orders of carrot cake with cream cheese icing, rum raisin sauce, and pineapple sorbet. I also enjoyed a cup of coffee.
We had a great time dining, joking, praising the food, and enjoying each other's company. I kept saying over and over again that I thought we should stay three nights at the Wildhorse instead of only two. I didn't want this visit and this party to end! Of course, if we ever decide to stay three nights, I'll start lobbying for four.
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