Cove, Oregon.

The first part of my ride to La Grande was a short hop to Portland, Oregon. I had a couple of hours there and took advantage of the wait to walk around town. I don't know if it was too early (09.30) but the downtown area was fairly empty. I passed the famous Powells bookstore and resolved to have a good browse when I came back through the city.I got lunch and headed back to the bus station. This one was a whole lot nicer and busier than the SF one, but still not in a nice part of town. I guess the rents are cheaper!

On my ride to La Grande I wasn't as lucky as I had been on my first Greyhound trip, the bus was very busy. I had a young woman sat next to me, at first she was OK, she didn't want to chat, I had no issue with that. Unfortunately she did want to sleep and failing having a window seat asked me if she could sleep on me. I am so British, I said no problem!!! At least she didn't drool and it was a short nap.The ride took me through the Columbia river gorge which was beautiful and I know, would be a great place to hike. In the cities it is possible to get around without a car and to a certain extent between cities as well. However if you want to go anywhere in the countryside, forget it, a car is required.The bus got delayed at one of our stops and I was about twenty minutes late getting into La Grande, I was having kittens. I hate being late, even if it isn't my fault, the Kidd's were going to be meeting me. We got into the bus station and there they were, I got off, got a hug hello and then went to get my bag. I passed my bag to Lynn, I think he winced a little when he picked it up, it was heavy. I explained that there was a present in there for both of them and that it isn't normally that heavy.With everything loaded it was off to the Kidd house in Cove, about twelve miles from La Grande. I had arrived in eastern Oregon. Little did I know how different it would be.

We got to the house, which is in a lovely location overlooking the valley, on a small rise with large hills behind. We went in and Judy gave me a choice of bedrooms, I chose Dustin's downstairs as I snore and often have to get up in the night to go to the bathroom. I then dug out the present I had brought for the Kidd's. It was a six pack of beer from the Rogue Brewery in Newport. It was only when I had got it back to Mo's that I had realised that you are not allowed to take alcohol onto Greyhound buses. SO, I had wrapped each bottle individually in my dirty clothes and put the bundles into my rucksack. I breathed a sigh of relief as I pulled each bottle from its protective covering and they were intact. Back into the cardboard carry case they went and were bourne back upstairs. I was a bit worried as I didn't know if the ale was available in Eastern Oregon and it might not be anything special there. I couldn't have been more wrong. Lynn was really pleased!! He and Judy had gone to Newport the previous year and loved the Dead Guy ale and had even bought three T-shirts. We were off to a good start!!

We had a relaxed dinner of BLTs and I was introduced to the animals, the two cats, Pierre and Fiona and the dog, Bud. I was sleepy and in bed for about 10.30. No late nights for me.

Friday, 4th September started late. We had a late breakfast and had coffee out on the deck. Then the three of us headed to Lynn & Judy's company Eagle Cap steel supply, taking along provisions for the work BBQ.It was a nice morning for me, I got to meet the other staff, Dean, an avid hunter, Jamie, Keira, Terry, Arran and Trent. Dean freaked me out, we were talking generally about the differences between the U.S. and the U.K. and the topic of gun ownership came up. Dean explained that he had about twenty-five long guns and couldn't have any more as there was no more room in his gun safe. He wasn't sure of how many hand guns he had. I said I was surprised as most people don't have a gun in the U.K. and even our police officers don't carry them. So, I had never held a gun let alone fired one. With that Dean disappeared and I though no more about it. When Dean returned he was ready to hand me a 45 Glock pistol, I was freaked and wouldn't hold it until he removed the clip. He offered to let me shoot it, I said that I would need to think about this as it was not something that I had seriously considered doing before. The reality of having a gun in front of me and then holding it, even unloaded, was something I needed time to digest. Jamie also offered to teach me to shoot, I said I would think about it, but it would have to be a small gun!!

Lunch was a BBQ at the office, after which we left and headed back to the house, Lynn needed to change cars before the evening. We had gone to the office in the Dodge SUV but as it was a Friday night we were going to a "cruise in" at a restored Texaco petrol station in downtown La Grande. It had been closed for a while before being bought by a retired preacher, preacher John, who had set about restoring it. Every Friday night some local people with vintage cars gathered there and they would provide a BBQ and free hot dogs etc. to local people. Lynn drove a Dodge Dart convertible to the cruise in, we sat around and ate hot dogs. To finish the night off we went back to the house and drank beer with a baseball game on t.v. A good first day in Cove.