Welcome To The Real West

"The real west." It says this on a sign in Pendelton. And I have to say that when we were in Pendelton over Veterans Day weekend, I did feel like I was in a real old western town. Like time had stood still for many years. Of course this sleepy little town has some modern conveniences. Wal-Mart, Bi-Mart, Dollar Tree & Safeway to name a few, but even these are smaller than I am used to and offer a much lesser selection of goods.

I find it ammusing that the whole entire town shuts down for the Pendelton Round-Up every September. Schools and many businesses close and lock their doors for a whole week for this famous rodeo that has been going every year since 1910. 

I loved the charm of downtown. Many old buildings still stand and a new, but old looking, boardwalk has recently been laid to ensure that old town feeling as you walk along and visit the few shops Pendelton has to offer.

But the best part about Pendelton is that the Walker's live there. Those dear friends of ours that moved away over the summer. They were so good to put us up in their home for 4 whole days. It was a perfect little get a way and we had ourselves a great time!

We spent lots of time in the hot tub.

The adults got to go on a date one night to this darling and fabulous little steak house called Hamley's. As we were being seated there was a man and wife eating at a table nearby. He was all decked out in his cowboy attire and had a handlebar mustache. Perhaps a local. Maybe an actor. Who knows? But with the old fashioned decorations in Hamley's I really did feel like I was in the real west and wouldn't have been suprised if a gun fight would have broken out right then and there.

Another really fun thing to do in Pendleton is their underground tour. It's an hour and a half and well worth the 15.00 per person. Our guide was funny and knew a ton about Pendleton's history. We learned so many amazing and CRAZY facts~ Pendelton has a VERY colorful history. A large Chinese population that felt discriminated against by the white folk and chose to live underground. Secret bars and gambling halls. Many escape routes used by the baddest of the bad to elude police. Perhaps the most shocking to learn about was Madame Stella's Brothel. It ran for many, many years. Madame Stella, out of the goodness of her heart, provided good work for those young girls who's families had been hit hard by the depression. Many of the girls who chose to work in the brothel were good christian girls who didn't know what else to do to make a buck to help out their families. So Madame Stella provided them with a home, food, job and a chapel where they could go and worship while they weren't working. Wow.

The Gold's had to get a picture by this "Old Gold" sign!

An underground jail. Used for torture or to house those too drunk to go home on their own.

An old well with water still inside. And the water appeared to be crystal clear. Very interesting.

Sophia organized a dance performance one night. Ivy decided to be shy and wouldn't participate, but the triplet's danced with everything they had. It was so cute!

This is just a funny shot I got of Eli while him and Tyler were running around the house being boys. It was so good to see them play together again. And when we left they gave each other the biggest, most sincere hug. It was precious.

Next time we make the 4 hour trek to Pendleton we will be going to check out the Round-Up. Yee-Haw! But I think we will be some of the few who aren't wearing cowboy hats or boots. It would be way to expensive to outfit our whole family and I know we would never really use it again. I hope the cowboys don't beat us up.