Winter Road Trip Surprises

It is not uncommon to find many people ready to head out of town this time of year.  They crave some blue skies and warm temperatures.  We’re no different.  We planned a weekend road trip to get out of town and to see My Other Girl.  We just got lucky on the blue skies…very, very lucky.  Driving through Oregon, across the ‘fat’ part of Idaho in February, should have included deep, deep snow…but as I mentioned, we were lucky and in for some lovely surprises.

We arrived in Pendleton, Oregon, too late for any stores to be open, so it was easy to stay on budget!  We window shopped antique stores, western wear and consignment stores, as we mentally planned a return trip someday.  The Prodigal Son Pub was a colorful eatery, with stray bits of art, tables in odd shapes and a play room for small children.

I am not sure I will ever understand life in Oregon, where ‘no shirts, no shoes, no service’, applies to all, but the staff.  Still, the flip-flop wearing waitress was pleasant and the food… simple and delicious.We had a full day’s drive, enjoying the views of potato fields, blue skies, a book on tape, nodding off (me) and being together…We arrived at our destination…My Other Girl and Number 5 Son’s newlywed apartment in Rexburg, Idaho.  As far as Married Student Housing goes…these two have it made.  Their 2 bedroom apartment is darling and all seems right in their world, but for Dad to see it for himself, well that is…even better.Thirty years ago (or so), when My Loving Spouse came from across ‘The Pond’ he spent 5 years living in Driggs, Idaho….just 30 minutes down the road.  We spent the day pursuing his old haunts, with the Grand Teton in the back ground….and his often heard mutterings,

“I just cannot believe that there isn’t 2 feet of snow here…in February!”We went to see the ‘House that Pat’ built.  Now, I know My Loving Spouse can build or fix anything, but still, I wasn’t prepared for this log home.  (Even though someone ‘ruined’ it by adding on to it, per Mr. Builder Himself).  “You built a log home?”

“Yes”

“WOW! Did you have one of those kits?  A prefab deal?”

“No.  This is a hand peeled log home.”

…and I appropriately said,

“WOW!” again, because I was amazed and surprised…and impressed.The next stop…’the restaurant that Pat’ built.  Although, now called ‘The Royal Wolf’, the original name ‘The British Rail’ is still etched into the door.My Loving Spouse told of installing the bar ‘rail’, a small stretch of real rail road rail, that took 10 men to move, the bar he found in an old barn and took hours of restoring and the beams installed and the fun that was had…and the pictures don’t do the place justice, but I couldn’t figure out how to ask all the customers to get out of my way, so I could take some proper photographs.As we headed back down the road, we got the best surprise of all…a couple of farmers out feeding their cattle…with a horse-drawn sleigh.They saw that we’d pulled over to take some pictures, so they did the ‘neighborly’ thing to do…the brought the team across the field and up close so we could get a great look at it.The ‘old boys’ said, that there had been a ‘team pulling’ event that day, and as their horses were all harnessed up they decided to use them to feed their cattle and when there is 2 feet of snow on the ground this is how they feed their cattle everyday.Getting out-of-town, seeing the kids, being together…traveling surprises…makes it…’even better’.