"Miles from nowhere, I guess I'll take my time, oh yeah, to reach there."* The lyric from Cat…read moreStevens' song played in my head as we drove through open farm land for a 22 mile round trip detour from the turnoff on Highway 20 and back again to that same spot. The reason for the 11 miles in to Willow Creek Cafe and 11 miles back again on the last day of vacation was a piece of pie. Seriously. Do we regret it? Only that we bought just one piece to go. As we shared the slice of delectable berry pie at home that night we kicked ourselves for not buying a whole one. Or at least one slice each of the several kinds they had for sale. So this fan review is for the pie and the nice people who sell it at the cafe. Also I can share that it smelled wonderful in there and the owner told me they had just cooked up a batch of clam chowder, the soup of the day on that Friday in late afternoon preparing for the dinner folks. How it is that people make a go of a small business like this literally miles from nowhere, it is after all 11miles from the center of the remote little town of Vale, Oregon, is a mystery. In particular since all around is evidence of declining population and shuttering businesses in Vale itself. But the nice couple who own this cafe now purchased it as recently as 2015, I think, so they must see opportunity there for people to find and eat their good food. The convenience store associated with the cafe has shelves with minimal stocking. So while I couldn't say one should drive out of their way to pick something up there, the pie sure is great. Rumor is they have good home cooking too for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If past performance is a predictor of the future, I sure believe that based on having had the pie. Cat's song continues: 'Lord my body has been a good friend, but I won't need it, when I reach the end." I should have thought about THAT lyric in the song when I was so concerned about calories to limit myself to a measly shared piece of this great pie. I should have bought a whole one. Now you know better. THIS N THAT: 1) VIBE: See photos. Cozy country cafe meets local watering establishment. Quilts on walls and booths in the main room along with counter seating at a bar. I noted ads for happy hour and it appears they have been and wine. There is a room in the back with more seating at tables and chairs and booths along with a big TV and a pool table. I took a photo of that room but didn't post it because on the day of our visit the owner's brother was stretched out in one of the booths taking a nap after a day of hard work. While I thought that was endearing to see, and describe, I was pretty sure the guy might not find it so funny to see a photo of it on shared. 2) PARKING: Gravel lot. 3) ACCESSIBILITY: Convenience store is level in. One step up between convenience store and cafe. Main door of cafe is step up from parking lot. Side door of the cafe - to right of main - has ramp. However, that door is kept locked. If you need to use it you'll need to call ahead so they can unlock it or send someone in to ask for it to be unlocked. Once in, cafe is all on one level. Standard height seating options. Didn't check the loo. 4) WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW THE SONG?*: Here it is as sung by the talented and sexy Cat in a 1976 concert. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTmebIjKFwU

After my breakfast at Shangri La in Boise, I ordered a falafel sandwich to go and made a quick stop…read moreat the Boise Co-Op to stock up. Then - I got on the road and headed to Oregon. At a red light just before the freeway, another motorcyclist waves at me and came across traffic to to introduce himself as a fellow ADV Rider who had seen my request for recommendations for motorcycles with tires in stock and wish me safe travels! As I head out of Boise, I am sad to note that one of the freeway over-crossings has a big sign for "Black Cat Road" - but there aren't any nearby offramps and I don't want to do a 15 mile detour to get a picture of the sign. The terrain becomes more agricultural and I can smell spinach and onions at the same time, like a big Greek salad! My plan for the next several days is to stop before I think I need to - and hydrate more. My stomach is still a bit off - so I stop at a store that promises alcohol, tobacco, firearms, pawn and cold drinks for a rest stop. But still - no signs of any parks or any place to really sit down and relax. From there, I go from nice rolling farm land onto Hwy 26 where the farmland is flat and hot. Lots of big big ag completely lacking places to stop to eat my sandwich. Finally, I stop at Willow Creek Cafe (http://www.facebook.com/WillowcreekStoreCafe/) in Vale, OR which is half convenient store and charming cafe where the walls are covered with these amazing Log Cabin quilts that have rounded edges and curves (with Log Cabin? how can log cabin be curvy, I thought) made by Bev, the owner. Bev gave me the okay to eat my sandwich at one of their tables (no outside tables), I ordered iced tea and settled in to find myself regaled with macabre tales of true crime and dumbassery by a farmer and his adult daughter at the adjacent booth who were talking with Bev when I arrived. Once the tales of true crime (some dentist killed his wife by strangling her with a piano wire or something) are exhausted, talk turns to travel and "what are you doing on that motorcycle?" The farmer and his daughter (who appears to be about my age) talk about her brief time in Portland - which he thought was quite dangerous, and then he proceeds to tell me about his trip to Oakland with a load of onions, also quite dangers. We discuss my route and the three of them agree that there is absolutely nothing redeeming to see on my route - it's just not nice - and I'd be better off taking the shorter route. After warning me how dangerous it is in eastern Oregon and that there are bad people who might cause me harm, the other two guests leave. Now that I have her to myself, I get Bev to lead me on a grand tour of her quilts, she graciously answers my questions and gives me her two instruction books so I can learn to make such awesome quilts myself! All in all - a great slice of life and I'm so glad that the Willow Creek Cafe was here for my lunch break - it was a lot of fun and I can't wait to play around with Bev's quilt patterns.