Greetings to all! I type this from O'Brien, Oregon where we spent one night as we work our way towards the Oregon Coast. This post will recap our final week in Bend. We had the great joy of spending 13 days there and it was fabulous - between Bend and all there is to do there in its scenic beauty and cool vibe and spending time with our dear friends Carol and Chuck Varland and their family.
We ended the month of June taking the Cascades Scenic highway to Mt. Bachelor - this included enjoying Salt Creek Falls and a chairlift ride on Mt. Bachelor. And the weather was once again spectacular.
We kicked off July on Suttle Lake with Carol and Chuck's son Justin and his wife Chris - it was a glorious morning on the water - it was very low key and lovely. We spent the afternoon doing errands and getting a few things done around the rig - including an afternoon nap!
The most amazing hikes we did were on Wednesday - we went to Blue Pool, and then Sahalie Falls. This area is about an hour northwest of Bend along the MacKenzie River and I have never seen water this color in the middle of the woods. The trail was difficult in the sense that it was filled with tree roots and lava rocks so you really had to watch where you were going. We made sure to stop frequently to take in the stunning scenery.
Here is Sahalie Falls:
After these hikes, we were ready to sit a spell - so we went to Clear Lake "Resort" and enjoyed a cold drink. I put Resort in quotes as it was essentially a simple cabin on a beautiful lake and the sign out front was HILARIOUS. A long way from cold beer . . . LOL.
The next day we went to another beautiful area - Paulina Lake - there were more lovely falls and we enjoyed a nice lunch (with cold beer!) right on the lake . . . This area was about 20 minutes south of Bend.
That evening, we went to the Bend Elks game - they are a summer college wood bat baseball league. It was a super fun event and we enjoyed it with the entire Varland family. There were supposed to be fireworks after the game, however, a storm rolled in creating a dramatically beautiful sky and we high-tailed it to the car before the rain started. The Elks won after 7.5 innings before they made the weather call.
The 4th of July was a fun day in Bend - they have a Pet Parade that has been going since 1924. It was the 98th parade as they cancelled only 3 times - once during WW2 and twice during Covid. It was mostly dogs who were decked out for the 4th and also included a "protest" for cats as they are not currently allowed to participate - all in good fun. It was a blast! We then barbecued at the Varlands and saw great fireworks that evening.
Our final weekend in Bend was spent running some errands and getting ready for the next leg of our trip - we took advantage of all the stores near our campsite - Costco and Trader Joe's were just 5 minutes away! On Sunday, we took a quick trip to the Redmond Caves where there were some Lava Tubes - such a cool experience and yet another interesting thing to do in Bend.
As our time in Bend comes to a close, I would be remiss to not mention the craft beer scene here. Although it's popular throughout the country, Bend has dozens of micro-breweries / food trucks and it's a fun aspect of their culture. Their beer names are fun and creative and after several samplings, we have concluded that the beer is quite tasty as well!
After 13 days, we left Bend yesterday and worked our way southwest - the ride was beautiful and we made a quick pitstop at Rogue Gorge - essentially a rest stop with a beautiful short walk and more falls!
We spent the night at Lone Mountain Resort Park - a great site and Paul cooked a delicious steak and red bell peppers on the grill. We got some laundry done and met a few nice people. Today - we head to the coast and we are so excited to see it and explore. More to come!
Thanks for following along and for all your love and support - Jen & Paul
