When I read in our Lewis and Clark book Undaunted Courage that the expedition spent some time in The Dalles along the Columbia River in Oregon, I realized that I might be able to see a location that I had read about a number of years ago. I’ve never written fiction, but I’ve read a number of books where the landscape and the towns are so important to the storyline that they’re like another character in the book. Grass Valley, Oregon, is such a place. So when we were driving southeast from Roslyn, Washington, I talked Barney into exploring this town that’s about 45 minutes south of The Dalles.
A number of years ago I happened on a cowboy romance series of 5 eBooks that I really enjoyed, not only because of the Christian slant on the romantic lives of the characters, but also because of the description of where they lived. The series name is Grass Valley Cowboys by Shanna Hatfield, and the first book in the series is “A Cowboy’s Christmas Plan.” The land around the small town of Grass Valley is home to ranchers who raised beef cows and grew wheat to feed them. In the fall, the land is golden because the wheat is almost ready to harvest.
What fascinates me is how an author can see a town like what we saw in Grass Valley and create another town that draws people like me to want to see it. The one feature of the fictional town that isn’t in the real town is the elementary school, which is probably in a nearby town that’s actually a little larger.
In the books, the local cafe is the place where everyone goes for meals any time of the day. The owner is a middle-aged woman who speaks her mind and loves everyone.
By the way, we had a delicious BLT for lunch.
In the books, a very sad young woman lives across the highway from the cafe in a motel room. Her boyfriend died in Iraq before he knew he was a father, and now she’s left with a four-year-old girl who’s longing for her mother’s love.
Every Sunday the family in the series goes to church together, and it’s where the young men in the family got a solid foundation as to how to live and love.
other local pictures
Hope you enjoyed my look at a fictional town based on a real town. Now we’re on our way to the Grand Tetons.
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