You know that famous movie moment where our hero the out-of-towner walks into a local bar, the music comes to a screeching halt, and everybody stares?   Yeah, I felt kinda like that tonight.

In a town of only 400 people, and one bar/restaurant/breakfast place/whatever, a new face stands out.  Welcome to Dufur, Oregon.

My main business was in The Dalles (about 15 minutes north of Dufur), but there were no RV parks answering the phone there — so, off to Dufur I went.  The Dalles is a fairly remote/rural place, but even the residents there were surprised to hear that I ventured out to Dufur.  It’s difficult to explain the geography here — after an amazing drive east from Portland out I-84 through the Columbia Gorge (top 5 drives ever), you head south into masses of steep, rolling hills — farm country.  Dufur is the first little town you come to.

The Dufur RV park is on the very southern edge of town (contrary to many of the online addresses), tucked between a laundromat, some “historic buildings,” and a sort of junk yard/abandoned farm equipment area.  The park contained the original “lower area” with many permanent residents, and the newer “upper area” with pull-throughs, which is where I stayed.  My overnight stay cost me $20, payable in cash to the nice older lady in trailer #1.  I didn’t get her name, but we had a nice chat about Dufur with a tiny TV showing Jeopardy in the background.   Not quite realizing how tiny Dufur was, I asked her where I might find a bite to eat — “the restaurant is still open.”

Yes, the restaurant — the Pastime Saloon — is the only restaurant in town.  It’s a combination bar/restaurant/breakfast place, full of taxidermy and sports memorabilia.  After eating my open faced turkey sandwich smothered in gravy (reminded me of my childhood), I had a few beers and talked with some of the locals.  After getting over the weirdness of my existence, they seemed to accept me well enough and we had a great time for a few hours.  One thing of note about the Pastime Saloon, and really, any place in Oregon: they all have *great beer*.  This was the most rural, farmland bar you’ll find, yet they had amazing, fresh taps.  I love Oregon.

I could go on about the locals of Dufur, but I wouldn’t do the experience justice.  This was the type of thing I was looking forward to during my nomadic adventures, and it was certainly worthwhile.  And now I have a free Dufur RV Park calendar hanging on the wall of the Airstream.

Posted in: Randomness