this is what happened...

in the previous post, it was my mistake. it was 1:30 wyoming time that i got to the hotel, as i forgot my laptop doesn't automatically switch time zones like my phone does. so, it was *only* 12:30 washington time.

so this is what happened. i deplaned shortly after 11, picked up the rental car and a map from the hertz desk. i had forgotten to mapquest my hotel, but no worries, because there was a holiday inn express on the map, right? nope. cause there are two, and the one i was staying at was not on the map. and the one on the map was extremely hard to find. and the map was a very poor photocopy, and hard to decipher. i turned around and backtracked no less than three times. and maybe took some slightly illegal routes. so i finally found it, and she said she wasn't expecting me, and gave me directions to the other one. so i found that one, after only backtracking once, and walked up to the door with all my stuff. and it was locked. it figured. but, there was a little phone by the door, and all i had to do was pick it up and that brought the little man to the desk. and the whole time it was so dark and new interstates and new roads. and a big river running through town. even though it was early when i woke up, i was glad to see morning and the faint hint of dawn. it's a lot easier to find one's way in strange country when one can see where they're going!

so then i hurried and ironed my shirt this morning and hit the road after grabbing some coffee from the lobby, drove the 70 miles, and here i sit in pendleton. the country around here is very similar to wyoming. i drove through some sagebrush patches, but it appears to be mostly small grains production in this area, and some corn under pivots. pendleton is in a pretty location. there are rolling hills around here, and a bigger rim to the east, but the town itself is mostly nestled down in the valley between these hills. i'm looking forward to getting out and exploring a little bit, but i looked at the agenda and looks like i'll be here all day, probably until 7 tonight, or later. maybe a little more free time tomorrow night?

but, tonight's dinner is at hamley's steakhouse, sponsored by farm credit northwest, so i'm pretty excited about that. is the steakhouse attached to the saddle shop?

i've been trying to think of an angle on a lead cover spot for this week, and on the drive over i thought maybe i could talk to several oregon ranchers in attendance at the meeting, and the guys who are coming from wyoming, in a compare/contrast of ranching in oregon versus wyoming. i'm sure there are many similarities, and, if anything, i think they have a few more problems with the enviros, if you can imagine that.