I put on my best poor pitiful look and asked the nice lady if there was any place she could recommend where we could spend the night. Not until I asked did she inform me that they also allowed dry camping in the parking lot. I could not see anything from where we were so I asked where that area might be. With a disinterested wave of her hand she said, “Just over that way with the rest of the RVs.” OOOKAY…thanks!
Construction and the setting sun made it difficult to see but we wended our way through construction zones and serpentine parking lanes until we spotted the dry lot.
It was actually pretty nice – level and laid out with well defined spaces and easy to maneuver into a site. There were only two empty spaces so we grabbed one and called it good.
Otherwise we would have ended up in the car lot where it was NOT level or in a field where the rodeo visitors had set up an encampment.
Security drove by on a regular schedule and Russ talked to the lady driving the the route. She said she could order a shuttle for us if we wanted to go into the casino. We declined and just rested. We felt very secure here. And it was free…that’s always good.
Thank goodness we had full water and propane and empty holding tanks. While I made an impromptu dinner, Russ snapped a few photos of the setting sun.
To save battery power, and just because it sounded like fun, we broke out the camp lanterns and dined by lantern glow. The gentle light soothed our tired spirits and we enjoyed the evening. I was even able to get on the casino free wifi, with the help of my booster device, and check a bit of email.
The only downside to a nice evening was the idiot who left his car parked about two rows from where we were. His car alarm kept going off, and it was one of those intermittent ones. It would squeal like a stuck pig and then go off and then about 15 seconds later it would start up again. We located the car and Russ talked to security. She said she had called it in five times already but no one would respond to the page. It finally quit after a couple of hours of the nerve jolting noise so I guess either the owner finally heard the page or his battery died. I’m kinda hoping it was the latter.
In the morning we treated ourselves to the breakfast buffet at the casino and we were sure glad we did. We got there early and the place was almost empty. We were so early, I was the first one into he scrambled eggs!! That’s always nice. This was one of the best breakfast buffets I have encountered. Everything was fresh and tasty and the wait staff was so considerate and kind.
All of this and much more for $7.15. I think that was quite a deal. They even had hot fry bread and puff pastries that were fresh and flaky. YUM!
A quick trip tot he Pendleton Woolen Mill was in order after breakfast. It’s only about 10 minutes from the casino and was easy to get to. Don’t try to park your RV there though unless you are under about 25 feet and not towing.
The Pendleton Woolen Mill has been in operation since 1863 and makes shirts, blankets, vests, and all manner of beautiful woolen item. I have to admit I was a bit taken aback to read the labels on the shirts. They all said Assembled in Mexico – but the wool was produced and the cloth made here in the USA. Hmmmm. Times have changed.
We didn’t buy any shirts but we did buy a couple of small blankets – Made in the USA!! Mine is just a small lap robe.
Russ got a stadium blanket – a bit bigger but not as heavy as mine.
It was a great stop but it was crowded with all the people in town for the rodeo so we didn’t linger. We made our purchases, hurried back to Therapy, hitched up and headed for the beautiful Wallowa area in northeastern Oregon…but that’s a story for another day.
