PENDLETON — When Brooke Armstrong heard about Oregon lifting its pandemic restrictions on Wednesday, June 30, she said she felt little relief. Over time, she’s grown numb to the constant changes, dreading what might come next.

“I would say I was super, super excited,” said Armstrong, the executive director of Pendleton Underground Tours. “But I don’t really have much reaction anymore.”

Pendleton Underground, one of the city’s staple tourist attractions, was closed for six months due to the state’s pandemic restrictions for indoor entertainment facilities. Armstrong, whose family has been running the tours since she was a little girl, said the business took a huge hit, had significant layoffs and survived mostly off of Payment Protection Program loans.

Umatilla County joined Oregon in removing masking and social distancing mandates. With the change in restrictions, Armstrong said she’s glad to see customers traveling to Pendleton to support community businesses, many of which rely heavily on tourism and large events that were canceled for months. Even though some say that June 30 felt like the end of the pandemic in Oregon, it doesn’t feel that way to Armstrong.

“For me, I’m wondering what’s going to be next,” she said.

Pendleton residents and downtown businesses are grappling with the local post-pandemic circumstances.

Some expressed relief the day after the restrictions ended, sharing meals with friends and family at breweries as business owners opened their doors and took masking signs off their windows.

Others, however, are remaining cautious, as new COVID-19 variants are on the rise and the majority of Umatilla County residents have yet to be vaccinated, leaving the county a possible hotbed for infection, county health officials say.

Once a graveyard

Vicky Pearce, the owner of Antiques and Art on Main, said she was grateful pandemic restrictions were finally over. From her shop, which she has owned for nine years, she watched the normally bustling downtown area empty out. To her, it felt tragic.

“A graveyard,” she said. “That’s what it really was.”

The hardest part, she said, was closing her shop for more than three months — the first of three times they closed down. She estimates she lost up to $75,000 last year.

Pearce said she’s gearing up for the surge of business that comes with summer tourism and events, including the Pendleton Round-Up. And she’s glad to see people maskless, smiling without fear.

“I’m grateful for Pendleton for hanging in there and doing the best they can,” she said, adding, “I think people are ready for a change.”

‘Cautiously optimistic’

But not all businesses in downtown Pendleton are immediately returning to normal.

The Pendleton Music Company does not plan to change its masking and distancing policy, according to employee Charlie Herrington. To keep employees and customers safe from falling ill, the Main Street music shop will continue allowing only seven customers in at a time. All must wear masks.

After hearing the state was lifting restrictions, Herrington said he felt “cautiously optimistic.” With the delta variant beginning to ramp up nationally, infecting large swaths of unvaccinated people, Herrington said the business prefers to wait and see how things pan out.

“I’m just as anxious to be rid of (COVID-19) as anybody,” said Herrington, 67, who said he’s been vaccinated against the disease.

Bustling over lunch

By noon on July 1, Great Pacific Wine & Coffee Co. was bustling. More than 30 people chatted over meals in the restaurant as employees rushed to get out orders. Practically none wore masks.

Among the customers was Carole Wachsmuth, a 73-year-old Portland resident just returning from a cross-country road trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons national parks with her husband of 52 years. She said the trip renewed her love of the road after months of isolation and fear.

Wachsmuth has had to be cautious throughout the pandemic. Her sister endured six rounds of chemotherapy for ovarian cancer this year, but her body was resistant, which means she will never be cured, Wachsmuth said.

In addition, she said one of her daughters-in-law was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis this year. Another has diabetes and had a child during the pandemic.

“I’ve had a lot of people I’ve had to be careful for,” she said. “I was really careful for all of them — careful where I went, careful to wear a mask. I didn’t go a lot of places at all.”

Now that she’s fully vaccinated against COVID-19, she said she feels like a new person. It’s given her a way to protect her family. Now she’s looking forward to spending time with her nine grandchildren.

She echoed a sentiment held among many people downtown that day: “It just feels good to be normal again.”