BEND, OR

La la la……

Here I am FINALLY!

And by my calculations only SIX posts behind!

Sheesh!

Sorry about that. We have been doing a combo of State Parks and stealth camping for the last week here along the beautiful Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. Friday night we made the trek up to Parkdale to visit Solera Brewery. What a night! A great brewery, an Irish Band, and corned beef and cabbage. We had a super time - but of course that will be in about 5 posts from now. Saturday we visited Logsdon Farmhouse Ales and then headed back down to Hood River for Double Mountain Brewery's 7th Anniversary Party. 

It was a busy weekend!

Right now I have to reach way back to more than a week ago to fill you in on our pictures of Bend. 

With the Bend Ale Trail occupying us for Friday night and Saturday we spent Sunday and Monday morning taking a better look at the city.

The Bend Visitor Center - this was Sunday - we were waiting until Monday morning 9:00 am for it to open to receive our Bend Ale Trail prize. 

We walked through the downtown - we were looking for a coffee shop to get on line.

It wasn't too hard to find Looney Bean Coffee just down the street from Bend Brewing Co. We were in luck because they had a separate room with kid's stuff - wifi - and outlets! Good coffee and treats to boot!

While we were on the internet Cassia coloured and read. Here's one of her works of art. This is also Cassia's smile when asked to smile. 

Then is was off to walk along the river - we heard there was a playground over the bridge - it was the least we could do for Cassia's patience during the Ale Trail and the mornings internet session.

And there it is! Lot's of kids to play with too.

Then our walk back. The skies look pretty grey and it did rain later in the evening but the temperature's weren't that bad. 

This one's for you Nancy K!

Yaaaaaaaaa! 

Funny that we ran into Brewmaster Michael from Brew Werks - and his wife. We chatted a bit about restaurants and breweries. 

Since we were parked downtown for the night we went for a walk along Bond and Wall Streets after dinner. 

LOVE sweet shoppes like this one! We couldn't help ourselves to go and take a look.

Easter = Spring!

I'd imagine that the staff is pretty sick of Willy Wonka by now - listening to that play everyday. Pretty neat though! 

AND if you can believe we didn't buy one thing in the candy store! 

Bend's Tower Theatre - nice in the day - even better at night with the lights.

On our way back we went up to the top of the parkade to get bit of an elevated view.

Following our visit to the Visitor Centre Monday morning we headed over to the Old Mill District - a revitalized area just outside of the downtown area which used to be the location of the Brooks - Scanlon Mill which closed in 1983.

The district includes a combination of residential, offices and shops. High end shops.

A clear but very cold and windy day - it took all we had to walk around. 

You just can't help but be impressed by this type of artwork - right?! The dedication to this amount of work is amazing.

Since it was early, and really we weren't there to shop - we didn't stay long.

Sadly, the Old Mill District misses the mark. Too bad the planners didn't realize that it takes more than fancy shops to make a community. The Old Mill District is a bit too shiny which translates into soulless - another living ghost town. They would have been better to provide shops and services that people utilize on a daily basis such as a grocery store, schools, a college even and such in order to ensure it's vitality. PLUS! Housing with a variety of price points - not just high end.

A missed opportunity.

So - that was our tour of Bend, Oregon.

As with other places we have visited, it didn't quite meet up to our expectations. Have we finally learned that the places we have stumbled upon, with no preconceived notions, are the ones that end up providing the most magical experiences. Such as Breckenridge and Carpinteria.

Bend, in our opinion (!!!!!), is over boomerized and hipsterized. Judging by the red dots I guess I just made those two words up.

Not our kind of place.

But the craft brew was good! LOVED Boneyard!

Teresa

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