Day 111, 112 - Pendleton, OR

Tuesday (111) - Today was shopping day at Walmart. We also considered leaving here after two weeks since the Sunriver Thousand Trails was open to new arrivals. We had a reservation for two weeks starting on the 28th. I say “had” because I went online and cancelled it. Multiple reasons. We already paid for this place until June 14 though the Sunriver Park wouldn’t cost anything. We have 50amp power and a sewer connection here. Probably only 30amp and no sewer in Sunriver. And, the distance to PDX is about the same though it’s probably faster from Pendleton since it’s all Interstate. Plus, we don’t get charged to receive packages here. Most of the Thousand Trails parks charge a handling fee. Sunriver would be much more of a “camping” experience as the sites are spread out with a lot more trees.

Wednesday (112) - It was in the 80s (°F) by late morning and we took a walking tour of downtown. The first stop was the local Chamber of Commerce to find out what touristy things were opening up. The Pendleton Underground was going to be doing tours with reduced numbers starting in about ten days. No information on the wool factory tours yet. About a tenth of the stores along the eight blocks we walked along were actually open and some of the restaurants had set up outdoor seating. The building in the picture is the former train station turned into a museum, and was closed.

There were a number of bronze sculptures along Main Street but I think my favorite art was this bicycle outside of the Chamber. Like most places in OR, cycling is a big thing. But, I haven’t seen many cyclists recently. Organized rides and races have probably been cancelled.

Inside of the Chamber, there were a couple of these fat-tire bicycle/hobby horses. You steer using the reigns, apply the brakes by pulling back on the reigns, and the throttle is on the right footrest. They have them for parades.

On another note, since I have the freezer temperature monitored, it is evident that it takes a long time to recover after putting a bunch of unfrozen stuff in. About 24-hours ago after getting back from Walmart, the freezer was about 8°F. After putting in our groceries, it warmed up to almost 25°F. Right now, it has cooled back down to 15°F so it still has a ways to go. These absorption refrigerators don’t really work that well.

While we were walking around downtown, I was able to log into Home Assistant using a 30-day demo of their cloud service. Kind of cool and I think it’s probably worth the $5/month. Of course, it only works if we have Internet.