Six Degrees of Chiloquin

Here's another story from our recent adventure in Oregon. After a long day of fishing at the Lake of the Woods, we stopped at Melita's Cafe in Chiloquin for dinner. Melita's is out in the middle of nowhere-land on Highway 97, but we had heard good things about it from Pam who owns the Ranch House on the Williamson River where we were spending the week. And the good news was that Melita's also had a big "LOUNGE" sign, so we knew we could order a cocktail to celebrate Barry's and my winning "biggest fish" and "first fish" respectively.

Melita's Cafe is pure country, with bright lighting, wood-paneling on the walls, lots of knick knacks and a big glass case displaying their prize-winning pies. The adjacent lounge is dark and the drinks are ice cold. We sat in the bright room so as not to befuddle the bartender, Ruthie, who gasped when six of us entered the lounge and asked if we could eat dinner there. "I guess if you insist," she said. She suggested we take a look inside the restaurant, and after Terry went to check it out we decided it was best to move. Ruthie didn't have to serve dinner that way, but she did bring us some great cocktails.

While waiting to order dinner, I noticed a man sitting across the room with his back to us. He was wearing the same T-shirt as Gary, which wouldn't be so unusual if it was a mass-market item like those "Old Guys Rule" shirts. This gentleman, sitting with several other people, was wearing the Reyn Spooner Newport Beach Centennial T-shirt. I pointed him out to Gary, Terry, Barry, Bob and Laurie. It seemed odd to find two guys with the same Newport Beach T-shirt in Chiloquin, Oregon. Gary immediately got up and went over to greet the guy.

Thankfully I knew what Gary wanted for dinner, because when he goes to introduce himself to someone, he's always gone a long time in my experience. This was no different. I ordered his chicken fried steak while he was over there laughing, patting the fellow on the back and comparing notes about where they got their shirts. I heard the man say he was from Newport Beach and then Gary pointed all of us out to them and we waved. Finally Gary returned to tell us the man's name was Allen and he was with his friends, Chuck and Charlene, and all of them came up from Balboa because they had property in the area. Before they left, they stopped by our table and we had a nice chat. I took a picture of Gary and Allen in their t-shirts and if I can ever get my camera fixed so the photos can be downloaded, I'll add it to this post.

We told Pam and her husband about this funny chance meeting at Melita's and now she is going to contact them to introduce herself. I'm sure that won't take as long as Gary's intro, but they'll undoubtedly have lots to talk about relative to Chiloquin. Apparently Chiloquin is way better known than I thought it was!