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Day 1 |
Probing America: High Tech on Back Roads Day One Wilsonville, Oregon to Lewiston, Idaho June 24, 1992
Lewiston is just across the Snake River from Clarkston, Washington. Those two, Lewis and Clark, were important, if you recall any Pacific Northwest history. There is even a bar in the Ramada called Merriweather. We, unfortunately, are not at the Ramada, but rather in the $37.40 Super 8 bridal suite. Seems there is a baseball tournament starting tomorrow plus lots of people waiting for rides on boats and rafts on the Snake. So, after trying 5 motels you take what you can get and like it. This has been about a 360 mile day, longer than we planned. The two stops we had anticipated didn't work out. The second was Walla Walla, Washington, home of Whitman College. An attractive and well kempt town, but as the thermometer hit 112 we decided to come again.
The first intended adventure spot was Stanfield, Oregon. A town of maybe 1500 people, located about 20 miles west of Pendleton. Jack's parents grew up there and we have visited it. His Dad, Bill, was born on a farm out on Butter Creek. He was an orphan by eleven. His mother died in child birth when he was about 9 as did so many women in those days, and his father shot himself in the head when Bill was 11, leaving Bill, his older sister and two younger sisters and a brother to fend for themselves. They did, with the help of various aunts and uncles.
Jack's mom, Margaret, moved to Stanfield with her family from Albert Lea, Minnesota, when she was about 8. Her father was there in search of cheap land, but he apparently forgot to ask about water. On the map Stanfield is 11 miles from the Columbia River, but in the 1910s there were no canals. So John and Sadie Bagan did as best they could. John operated a livery stable for a time, and owned the first trucks for hire outside of Pendleton. Family legend has it that John made and lost a couple small fortunes in sheep. Bill and Margaret both graduated from Stanfield High School which is still there, about 4 blocks down the street from what used to be Clyde McCoy’s Pool Hall. During the summers when Jack must have been 5 to 7, his mother would come to Stanfield with her two children to visit her parents. We found some of the favorite places. The Bagan house is there, with the rusted cars still in the back field. They were there in l935. What used to be McCoy’s Pool Hall now houses the only restaurant in town. John Bagan used take Jack into McCoy’s and buy him a root beer while he tipped a few brews with his pals. Sadie would be furious when they came home. The current restaurant has a large sign in front inviting truck drivers to come in and try the food. We opened the door and a man with a heavy accent said the gas line was leaking, so he was closed. We tried a tavern and a man in a dirty white shirt who was making sandwiches for four fellows drinking beer and smoking cigarettes said all he had left was prime rib, and he ran out of potato (no e) salad but he might have some cole slaw. We backed out of there. The lady in the third tavern told us even without our asking that they didn't do food, but one thick bearded customer offered that there was a restaurant just up the street, that is McCoy's old place. So the circle was complete. Stanfield, to the casual visitor, is little more than a cheap place to rent a house. We drove on to Hermiston about 6 miles south of the Columbia River and had a surprising good tuna salad at Fountains. Fountains has existed from just after WWII, reads the menu. It started as the Vets Club, then underwent a variety of name changes, including Tiny's. Along the Columbia we were not far from Richland, Washington, which got a big boost around 1944 when the government started making atomic bombs there. The high school teams to this day are known as the Bombers, and the school insignia is a mushroom-shaped cloud. (We kid you not!) Parents, of course, have the Bomber's Booster Club.
Well, enough. One thing we can report about the rural areas of this part of America is that fishing worms are holding steady at 75 cents a dozen or two dozen for $1.25. Tomorrow we’ll be crossing through Idaho and into Montana. For those of you concerned, the radiator is holding out. (The day before leaving, the radiator on the Probe appeared to be leaking. After dumping in a can of Stopleak and getting conflicting advice about the product's effectiveness, we bought a spare can and thought positively. We also watch the water temperature gauge carefully.) |
