I remember when I moved there the first time, it was Round-Up week. How could you move to Pendleton for school and not go to the Round-Up? Greatest show I've ever seen, I've since been 5 more times. My papa and I went to the second night of the PBR and the first day of the actual rodeo. It is really something during the national anthem to have fighter jets fly overhead. For those of you who have never been or don't know much about it, it's a PRCA rodeo that lasts a week. The town swells from about 16,000 to 75,000. Motels are packed, trailers and tents are parked and tucked away everywhere. They completely block off Main Street for vendors and shows. There are tents full of goods all around the Round-Up grounds and you can't forget about the tribal village that's set up behind the arena. My favorite is always the fry bread, but they have such beautiful jewelry and other assorted goods for sale too. Guess what I'm getting at is you really want to bring a lot of spending money. One of our first stops was Hamley's. It really meant a lot to my papa who has ridden Hamley saddles his entire life. The store had had a devastating fire years ago and opened once again the week before we got there. In the 60's my papa ordered a custom saddle for around $300, nowadays they cost at least 10 times that. Some may say they're nothing special, but then again they've probably never ridden a Hamley ;) .
I was 18 that year and even though I'd been to Cow Palace, I'd never seen such an event. My dad and I strolled down Main St. one night and watched the festivities since I clearly couldn't go to the bars. I remember watching a guy get hypnotized and think he was Brittney Spears, later we'd become friends. The all time highlight though was a cowboy, he was a roper, who rode his horse into Crabby's Underground Saloon. My dad and I got quite a kick out of it and just knew the bouncer was sure to kick him right out. Shortly he did indeed come back out, but only to let his horse do what he needed to do. All be damned if they didn't let him and his horse stay in the bar! I knew right then that that town was going to be awesome.
It didn't disappoint. I made lots of friends, met tons of people, drank copious amounts of beer and in general partied like a little rock-star. It was great! I even got to ride my horse in the Round-Up arena at NIRA finals. True to the laws of life it wasn't all rainbows and glitter, but boy do I look back on those years fondly. I experienced life to it's fullest and I never wanted to leave. Unfortunately the college is only a Junior College, so eventually it all came to an end. I'm pretty sure my graduating class was the end of an epic era. When I went back the parties weren't near as big and groups became more cliquish. Now don't assume all I did was party. I continued to get excellent grades, oddly enough we all rushed to do homework as soon as it was assigned so that we had more time to well basically screw off.
From September of 2005 to December of 2008 I lived in 9 different houses. One place I only lived in for a month, my boxes never left the porch or got unpacked. After that my best friend and I paid $200 apiece for the luxury of a blow up mattress on the floor of our roommates bedroom. We were very mobile at this point in our lives. I only lived in Pendleton one summer, the other two were spent in CA and Mt. Vernon. This year when my parents brought me back to La Grande for my final year of college we got to talking. Even though I haven't lived in Pendleton for years and I've been here for the last 2, Pendleton still feels more like home than La Grande ever has. Last week I had to take my trailer over for an alignment. Friday when I picked it up I decided to run some errands. I spent probably an hour on Main St talking to different business owners. As I was leaving I ran into the guy who worked on my trailer and chatted with him for a second. Whether or not these people remembered me or even knew me at all they were friendly. People just aren't that friendly on this side of the mountain. Every time I drop down off of Cabbage Hill my soul quiets. It's like I can breathe easy and I just feel so at home. A sense of comfort and confidence instantly rolls over me. I don't know if I'll ever get to live in Pendleton again, or if it's really where I should be anymore. But I'll always love it and the friends I still have there and the folks who've become like family will always hold a special place in my heart.
Adrian Buckaroogirl has a song I'm Leaving Nevada, and when I left Pendleton in 2011 this song really rang true. "This damn truck is taking me away from where I belong", that's exactly how I felt. I literally cried. Even though I knew I had to move due to health issues it didn't make it any better. I may be 50 miles east now but I'm still close enough to make day trips and visit when I want to. In June I'm moving to Utah and in the fall when my job is done I'll move back home. It saddens my heart to not know when I'll get to come back.
XO Loves,
Me
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