above: Bend and the Cascades seen from Pilot Butte.
Bend turned out to be one of our favorite cities so far. So, we took some time to hang out and sample a bit of what it had to offer.
above: Music on the street during the “art walk”.
The second night we were there, there was an “art walk” downtown. The galleries stayed open late, musicians played on street corners and the whole place had a festive atmosphere. The Pottery Lounge was offering a kids night out so we took the opportunity to dump the Dudes off and have a few hours to ourselves. I could have bought a beautiful sculpture for $20,000 at one of the nicer galleries but, decided that food was more important. We did, however, splurge on dinner at a Thai restaurant and were not disappointed. The Dudes, meanwhile, had a great time doing arts and crafts and glazed their own hot chocolate mugs.
Bend is also very bike friendly with wide bike lanes on every road. It also has a lot of mountain biking available so we took our bikes out to one of the parks and enjoyed a ride along a river in a wooded area complete with old growth Ponderosa Pines.
above: Pilot Butte, in the backround, as seen from Lava Butte.
The whole valley is bumpy with old cinder cone volcanos including Pilot Butte in the middle of town. You can drive to the top and get a 360 degree view of town, all the other “bumps” in the valley and the cascade range. We caught the sunset over the Cascades one night from up top which was pretty nice.
above and right: The crater of Lava Butte.
A trip anywhere is not complete until we have visited a playground. So, we managed to fit in three playgrounds while we were there. The Dudes gave them all a thumbs up rating.
The Princess doesn’t get to have much fun since most places have signs that say “no dogs”. Bend happens to be very dog friendly and has 7 dog parks. She was very happy when we took the time to play at two of them.
We also made the 30 minute drive into the Cascades which takes you from the desert into the mountains complete with lakes, wetlands and a ski mountain. We also went from sunshine into rain in the short drive. The Cascades soak up all the rain which leaves only about 12 inches a year for Bend.
above: A lake and Fall color in the Cascades.
Bend was a very easy and fun place to be and we will definitely have to make another trip back.
above: The Deschutes River running through Drake Park, downtown.
“Pick the day. Enjoy it – to the hilt. The day as it comes. People as they come… The past, I think, has helped me appreciate the present – and I don’t want to spoil any of it by fretting about the future.” Audrey Hepburn
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