An Eastern Oregon wedding

It's been a long time since Lori and I were in "the other Oregon." But this past weekend, we drove to Pendleton to attend the wedding of our friends' son. It was the first time I'd ever stopped there, rather than drive past it on the way to somewhere else, and it stirred in me a mix of positive emotions.

First, just getting there and back was a nice diversion from the short, stop-and-go trips that characterize daily life in Portland. Pendleton lies 200 miles east on Interstate 84, smack in the middle of wheat country. It's a 3 1/2-hour drive each way, but oh, it's such a pretty drive when you're passing through the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (above). The geology is amazing, with steep canyon walls on both sides of the magnificent wide river separating Oregon and Washington, and numerous waterfalls on the Oregon side.

Second, arriving around 4 p.m. Saturday gave us some time before the wedding to explore the town, albeit from our car rather than on foot. Pendleton is best known as the home of Pendleton Woolen Mills and the annual Round-Up, a late-summer rodeo that draws thousands of hard partiers to this self-proclaimed community of the "Real West."

Years ago, when we lived in Bend in Central Oregon, I confess I viewed Pendleton as redneck, isolated from urban influences and steeped in a culture of cowboys and cattle. True, Pendleton is a conservative community (it's the home of Gordon Smith, a Republican businessman and member of the Mormon church, who represented Oregon in the U.S. Senate until his defeat in 2008). But, as with most things, there is more than meets the eye.

We drove up into the hills on one side of town and at first were struck by the resemblance to Astoria, on Oregon's northwest coast, with the steep streets and older homes. The more we drove, though, the more signs of poverty we saw: unpaved streets, some dilapidated structures, a sign outside one school advertising free breakfast and lunch for students.

We meandered back downtown, passing flowered baskets along the city's Main Street, with tidy sidewalks and refurbished storefronts, before crossing over the Umatilla River and ascending into another hilly residential neighborhood. The contrast could not have been greater. Here we found uniformly paved streets and sidewalks, newer and bigger homes, well-maintained parks and generally just more signs of affluence. It truly was a revelation for me, so narrow-minded had I been in thinking of Pendleton as a two-bit town. Shame on me.

It's clear this community has a sense of pride and history and more variety than I had imagined, with a state prison and a regional hospital among its major employers, and signs of growing diversity, with its proximity to the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs and the arrival of Latino immigrants.

Third, and finally, it was the wedding itself of Steve Wilcox and Rachael Jones -- and the country-flavored reception -- that made the trip so satisfying. Steve is the middle child of our friends and longtime neighbors, Eric and Sue Wilcox. When we was younger, Steve used to babysit for Jordan and they developed a nice friendship. To see him as a young adult, so radiantly happy with his new bride and basking in the love and support of his parents and siblings, was very nice.

His older brother, Scott, an Air Force captain just back from a tour of Afghanistan, was the best man and delivered a spontaneous toast at the reception that was spot on. "Appreciate every single moment together. Every. Single. Moment." Little sister, Rebecca, all gussied up in blond curls and a black dress, was a "groomsman." She and our youngest son, Jordan, were born within days of each other and have grown up as best friends.

Steve's wife, Rachael, grew up in Pilot Rock, 15 miles south of Pendleton. Hence, the Eastern Oregon wedding. The newlyweds met at a science camp and leave today for a honeymoon in Paris before returning home to live in Wilsonville.

When life gets stressful, there's nothing like a wedding or a birth to bring renewed hope to all of us. Seeing this young couple, surrounded by friends and family and the focus of everyone's well wishes, made me appreciate our long friendship with Eric and Sue, which made it possible for us to be there, and the passage of time, during which we've seen the Wilcox kids grow up alongside our own three children.

It may sound trite but I'll write this anyway: With all that's going on that can bring you down (the disaster in the Gulf, two wars in the Middle East, petty politics and a sluggish economy), Steve and Rachael's wedding wasn't just a welcome diversion but a source of inspiration and reason to view the world with more optimism.

Photograph: U.S. Forest Service