Pendleton, Oregon: Our only plan for the day was to golf at the Wildhorse Resort. Well, there was also a Giants game at 4:20p (they lost). We carried our clubs up to the resort office and used their call box to request a shuttle. (Shuttle buses cruise around the campground all day to take campers to the casino, but if you phone, they will fetch you for a ride to the golf course or cultural museum.
We were not paired with another two-some and had a fast round. Wildhorse is a very pretty golf course, loaded with beautiful birds. We saw Yellow Headed Blackbirds, herons, many types of waterfowl (including geese, as this IS a golf course, after all), and also saw - and heard - so many frogs croaking in the ponds. I made three long putts today - something I NEVER do, and one shot was headed into a pond, when it miraculously hit a boulder and bounced onto the green! The vistas from the golf course are nothing but wheat fields. Wheat everywhere. Wheat is King in Umatilla County (nearly 300,000 acres in wheat) and cattle is Queen.
I had a much higher score than My Driver today, so that means I won, right? (Never marry a cross country runner - they only want to play sports where the lowest score wins.)
That's okay. After our round, my cross country runner took our laundry to the on-site launderette and we are now good to go for another week or so. While he was away I made us each an appetizer plate, prepped dinner, and fired-up the satellite dish so we could watch the Giants in Atlanta. The weather is just lovely here, mid-80s and no wind.
Dinner tonight was a quesadilla (with the leftover beef taco filling from last night) with flour tortillas. I used shredded mozzarella instead of a typical Mexican cheese only because i needed to use a bit of mozzarella in the fridge. It was white. It melted. All good. Instead of serving a salad alongside the quesadilla, I served the salad (lettuce, tomato, olives and sour cream) on top of the quesadilla. It was a bit like a tostada? Not sure, but we each finished our quesadilla salad and I think this item may appear again on our menu. A great one-plate meal for any leftover taco filling.
Leaving you with one thought tonight. Just when you think you have scored a great campsite near the clubhouse, laundry, and pool/spa, you hear two little words (over and over and over and over again) that make you rethink your luck: MARCO. POLO.
Until my next update, I remain, your over-par correspondent.
Campground Information: Wildhorse RV Park - Exit 216 off I-84 just east of Pendleton, Oregon. Nice sites, with plenty room between campers. Pool and hottub, full service paved sites with 30/50 amp. The resort has a golf course, and a very good on-site cultural museum, Tamástslikt, about the history and future of the Umatilla, Cayuse, and Walla Walla tribes. You can walk or shuttle to the casino. Free wifi. Bathhouse, laundry. They also rent tipis! With taxes, we paid $120 per night.
We Loved staying at that campground! Wide open views for sure. I liked watching the traffic climb that mt road, thinking of covered wagons coming down the trails. And all the birds!