Destination: Hermiston, Oregon
We have finally arrived for Lynda’s second assignment. Hermiston, Oregon was our third choice. But it paid extremely well to make up the difference for us missing out on our Alaska trip for the summer.
Lynda was offered a position in the Anchorage area. However, as of July 18th 2022, we still do not have her nursing license approved. We sent the application in May and were originally told 30 days,
Here 60 days later and we still do not have her license. We have heard from other recruiters it’s taking up to 3-5 months.
Hermiston, Oregon is very similar on time frames and the reason why Lynda was able to get such a lucrative contract.
If we had headed up there, we would be sitting around, not that happens with us, but we would be paying for our lodging, food, etc until that comes in.
It’s also a blessing because the Alcan highway, the main highway through Canada, is now closed due to flooding with no timetable set for fixing the road.
In other words, we would have had a huge challenge getting back.
We are happy to be back in Oregon because our family and friends are only 3-4hrs away.
So here we are in Hermiston, Oregon which is famous for growing watermelons. It’s slogan is “Where life is Sweet”.
The city sits 7 miles south of the Columbia River with a population of about 19,696 and is located in Umatilla County.
Hermiston is the largest city in eastern Oregon. It’s located close to the tri-cities corridor made up of Kennewick, Pasco and Richland in Washington.
The city has become a hub for logistics due to it’s proximity to the I-82 and I-84 interchange.
How did Hermiston, Oregon get its name?
In the 1860’s and into the 70’s Hermiston was known as “Six Mile House” due to its old west hotel with bar. Six Mile Hose was an overnight stop for trail weary travelers and freighters.
When the railroad came into Eastern Oregon, replacing the freights was a passing set of railroad tracks called Maxwell Sidings.
This later became the Maxwell Land and Irrigation company. On July 10th 1907 the town was incorporated and renamed Hermiston. The town was named after a Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel called the “Weir of Hermiston”.
Coming into this city we had no idea what to expect.
All we knew about Hermiston was it was close to the Columbia river and known for its watermelons.
One of our biggest issues was finding housing for us. Hermiston is an agrarian city with very little in the way of corporate or short term housing.
The closest city with corporate housing is 45 minutes away in a town called Kennewick. With all the driving Lynda does for Home Health, it didn’t make much sense to add 1.5hrs to her day.
Luckily I found a great place on the outside of town on 1 acre of land. it’s living in the country for us.
What have we done so far in Hermiston, Oregon?
We try and make it a point to see as much as there is to see and get to know the surrounding areas.
One of the places we went this week on our new e-bikes was called Hat Rock which looks like it sounds.
We took a 15 mile bike trip riding through the local farms with cows, goats and even alpacas lining the roadways as we rode by.
It was such a great time.riding through the countryside. AlI I could do while riding was hum the tune from “Green Acres” … Green Acres is the place to be, farm living is the life for me….. well that’s it for now.
Now to get plugged into the community.