Ukiah, Oregon
My next destination was the Ukiah Thicket Cafe and Lounge. Much to my disappointment, Mel Torme was not performing. This might have something to do with this death, but I suspect is mostly a scheduling thing. When I arrived, the Thicket cafe was about half full. It takes about five people to make it half full. There's a Lounge (tavern) attached and a common kitchen serves both facilities. This place is pretty cool, actually. The curse and the blessing of a small town is that everyone is so garsh derned friendly. All of the people in the place seemed to be related (just like some counties in Arkansas) and they all seemed to know one another by name. So, in stumbles this yahoo from Portland. They welcomed me with a show of great hospitality, stamped my tour book, plopped a menu down in front of me and made me feel right at home. An older gentleman sitting at the cafe bar asked me about my bike and began to regale me with stories from his youth. He used to race motorcycles and had owned quite a list of machines: Indian, Triumph, Harley-Davidson, Honda, and Norton. I was impressed, to say the least. He had rebuilt quite a few of them himself... especially the Harleys, but that goes without saying. His stories were incredible... a ride from Texas to Idaho in two days on a Harley leaking oil.. oh, there I go again being redundant; an amazing drag race on a supped up Vicent; a massive low-side crash that messed up his back and took him out of racing for good... there were so many. While I'm sure that all of the stories were true, it seemed to me that a man who had had all of these experiences would have to be about 200 years old. He didn't look all that old to me. 
Anyway, after a hearty meal I was ready to hit the road again. Off to Pendleton to spend the night. I snapped a picture of a ratty old sign in the parking lot. As I did this, another woman (who also seemed to know everyone and was possibly related in some way to everyone else) popped her head out of the post office across the street to tell me there was a much nicer sign out front. I thanked her and shook my head in amazement. You can have no secrets in a town like Ukiah. You can do nothing without being observed. That's its charm. That's also a problem, in my opinion. I like to have a few secrets, thank you very much. |