Real Man

After I registered with Shannon at the Oregon Hotel/B&B, I unloaded some gear, took a hot shower and then walked next door to the Little Pine Cafe. I fed on a plate of eggs and home fries. I've noticed one thing about breakfast in Oregon, they serve a lot of potatoes with the meal. Real potatoes that make for a hearty meal. After my carb fest I went back to the room and grabbed the computer for the blog. Shannon had said I might not get access in my room so I came down to the front porch for Internet. A group of five had gathered on the porch so I just pulled up a chair. After about two minutes later this big burly gent offered me a beer. Hugh Reed. Hugh and Skeeter, his wife, own the Oregon Hotel and gas station across the road. Shannon is Skeeter's daughter and calls Hugh dad. The other two were Skeeter's younger daughter and her husband. Nice family, open, honest, down to earth. After Hugh offered me a beer we started talking and within 30 minutes he seemed like an old friend. He was born in Roswell, New Mexico but worked pretty much in California and Oregon. Hugh is 70 but you'd never know it. He's got a barrel chest and his forearms are like my calves. He's a contractor by trade, kinda like Ronnie my brother-in-law, and still has three caterpillars he runs including a number 9 that he ran off the side of a mountain. They have 28 horses of various types for sale and a full farm of animals they tend and Henry. Henry is an eight hundred pound black bear that Hugh saved when he was only a one year old cub. Now if you met Hugh in a bar and he said sit down I think you would. He strikes an imposing figure and is intimidating. He admits to being shot, stabbed, electrocuted and only knocked out once and that was by himself. Seems he was breaking a door seal loose and when it freed it knocked him off the stand onto the ground where he found himself when he woke up. I forgot to mentioned he's a martial arts expert and still does a routine to stay fit. His hands are toughened and scarred through the years of hard work and maybe a few battles along the way. Skeeter says she worries about him because he has rolled three backhoes over himself. And when he takes his hat off, you see the scars to prove it. Hugh is a strong man of principle and character, he still won't talk to the lady down the street who lied in court. But, yet gentle enough to have the love of Skeeter and her daughters who fondly call him dad and make a home for a doomed bear. Hugh is the real man. The real deal. If you ever get the opportunity to visit Oregon, go through Mitchell and spend some time with Hugh and Henry. Oh, and if you want gas, if Hugh or Skeeter aren't at the pumps, they may be at their favorite table in the Little Pine.