Category Archives: 2017 Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey

This is the virtual tour that will imagine what it would be like to visit every North American drive-in theater in 2017 by visiting one or two every day. While the drive-ins, restaurants, and hotels are real, all the events in this section are fiction. But it’s fun to dream!

May 8: Milton-Freewater Drive-In Theater, Milton-Freewater OR

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It’s Day 128 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. The fastest way to get from La Grande OR to Milton-Freewater wasn’t the shortest way, but an hour and a half later I arrived at the Milton-Freewater Drive-In Theater.

I was fortunate to find another drive-in video profile, this time for the M-F. (It’s sometimes called the Milton-Freewater, sometimes the M-F, and I’ve got to admit that three characters are a lot easier to type.)

The M-F was built in 1953 and was bought by the Spiess family in 1961. Big bills came in a cluster about 50 years later. The M-F sustained terrible damage (as seen here) during a windstorm in January 2008. “That was the first year we were in charge of day-to-day operations after my parents semi-retired from running it,” Mike Spiess told Ruralite. In 2011, Oregon drinking water laws required them to drill a new well, and they bought a digital projector in 2013.

In 2014, at that time of the Ruralite article, Mike and his wife Lorie owned the M-F and also held down day jobs. “The drive-in is our family hobby,” he said.

The M-F is open Fridays through Sundays this time of year, so I was on my own on a Monday night.

Miles Today / Total:  77 / 14051 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 59

Nearby Restaurant: I’m glad I got to Wee bit O’Heathers in time for lunch. They serve the kind of thin hash browns that mix well with other vegetables, and the cinnamon rolls were amazing. It was kind of crowded, but you know that’s always a good sign for a small-town restaurant.

Where I Virtually Stayed: There are some chain hotels across the border in Walla Walla WA, but I wanted to stay in town and same money, so I spent the night at the Out West Motel. Clean, if not fancy, with a fridge and a coffee maker in my room. Sometimes that’s all I need.

Only in Milton-Freewater: There aren’t that many cities with hyphenated names, although there are plenty of newspapers with hyphenated names. In Milton-Freewater’s case, the reason was the same as it typically was for newspapers – a merger. In 1951, the neighboring rival cities of Milton and Freewater voted to merge.

Next stop: 99W Drive-in, Newberg OR.

May 7: La Grande Drive In, La Grande OR

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La Grande drive-in marquee

photo from the La Grande Drive-In Facebook page

It’s Day 127 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It took only two hours of I-84 driving to go from Parma ID across the border to the La Grande Drive In in La Grande OR.

The La Grange Drive-In was built in the early 1950s. According to their history page, the current owners bought the La Grande in 1953.

A 2008 article in the Baker City Herald talked with La Grande manager Edna Henderson about the damage it took from a windstorm during the previous off-season. “We rebuilt three-fourths of it,” she said, adding that it took about four weeks to rebuild because workers had to work around the weather. Back then, the La Grange hosted an average of 225 cars per weekend.

The Observer of La Grande wrote about the drive-in at the opening of the 2013 season with its new digital projector. “For some moviegoers like Theresa Curtiss, the drive-in is one of the only ways to pass the time in La Grande, but is a good way to have a relaxing night. ‘There’s just nothing else to do except the drive-in now,’ she said.”

It was great to chalk up another movie experience on a Sunday night, and I also got a break after three straight viewings of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. On the other hand, the movie was one I’d already seen, the latest Smurfs installment. Oh well!

Miles Today / Total:  131 / 13974 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Smurfs: The Lost Village / 59

Nearby Restaurant: After checking out several interesting restaurants in La Grande, only to find them closed on Sundays, I settled for Denny’s. This one had a bar attached, which is pretty unusual, and pushed a variety of hamburgers for lunch, which is pretty standard. I like being able to get a full breakfast in the middle of the day, especially when my previous hotel’s continental version was a bit light. What can I say? Denny’s worked.

Where I Virtually Stayed: I didn’t have breakfast problems at Sunday night’s hotel, the Best Western Plus Rama Inn. First came soup and cookies in the evening, followed by sausage, bacon, and scrambled eggs with breakfast the next morning. In between, I had a comfy room with good wifi and a fridge. I was happy with my choice for the night.

Only in La Grande: According to Wikipedia, La Grande was home to a huge sugar beet refinery built by Oregon Sugar Company in 1898. The region was never very productive for sugar beets; in 1908, the factory only operated on 28 days due to low yields. The factory, “a mistake from the beginning and soon recognized as such”, was shuttered in 1912.

Next stop: Milton-Freewater Drive-In Theater, Milton-Freewater OR.

May 6: Parma Motor-Vu Drive In, Parma ID

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It’s Day 126 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. In between long-drive days, I got a short one, just a half hour from Caldwell ID to the Parma Motor-Vu Drive In, in Parma of course.

As recounted in a 2013 Idaho Press-Tribune article celebrating its 60th anniversary, the Motor Vu was built in 1953 by Bill Dobbs, who wanted to get people to stop watching TV and return to the movies. Folks kept watching their sets at home, but the drive-in did just well enough to stay in operation all those years.

Dobbs’ daughter Karen Cornwell, who owns the place now, said that during the lean 1980s, the Motor Vu survived with Spanish-language films. “For a while the drive-in showed those films Wednesdays and Sundays and English-language films Thursdays through Saturdays.”

The wonderful history page on the Motor Vu web site tells more stories about the difficult time between the first wave of drive-ins and their eventual nostalgic resurgence. “The famous Motor-Vu marquee neon went out except for the MO. We couldn’t afford to get it fixed and the kids started calling it the MO. At first, it didn’t seem too cute to us since it was a reminder of hard times, but it wasn’t long before we, too, were calling it the MO. Finally, two years later, we got it fixed and would you believe it – the ‘R’ still didn’t work and we then had Moe Toe Voo.”

I was so glad to continue to make up ground toward my goal of 200 active drive-in nights this year. (After a lot of cold, closed drive-ins I visited in March and April, my pace is back up to 168.) I didn’t really mind seeing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 yet again. This year, I’ve seen much worse more often. Even on its third consecutive night, GotGV2 still makes a fine drive-in film.

Miles Today / Total:  21 / 13843 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 / 58

Nearby Restaurant: With the short drive, I had plenty of time to relax at the Parma Ridge Winery for lunch and stuff. I love a good mushroom and swiss burger, and the “G&R” added some chunky blue cheese. I prefer dry red wines, but the dry Gewürztraminer was flavorful and refreshing. And ah, those beautiful vineyard views!

Where I Virtually Stayed: I love it when TripAdvisor can steer me to a mom and pop classic motel that’s just as good as the chains at a better price. That’s what I had to do when my search of Parma didn’t turn up a place to stay and I went up the road to the Ontario Inn just across the border in Ontario OR. My room was clean and comfortable, and it had a fridge. Breakfast in the morning had coffee and English muffins. And the money I saved will provide a magnificent lunch somewhere literally down the road.

Only in Parma: There’s a statue of Bigfoot in front of the replica of Old Fort Boise at the aptly named Old Fort Boise Park. (Some references call it a state park, but it’s only about one square block in the Parma city limits, so I doubt it.) But it’s not the famous furry Bigfoot. This one was a part-Cherokee named Starr Wilkinson, known for his wide, almost seven-foot frame, for his 18-inch feet, and for allegedly leading a band of raiders who pillaged wagon trains. Some of the Shoshone Indians he led (long story) called him Chief Bigfoot, and the name stuck.

Next stop: La Grande Drive In, La Grande OR.