We LOVE Bend Oregon!!

As you know, part of this journey was finding a place to settle down some day. Bend is definitely a high contender. Of course winter would be an issue for me so it would have to be a summer home for sure but what a way to spend a summer. We will need to come back again during July and August to see what that is like but so far we have both fell in love with this place. There is so much to do here without it being either too congested or too secluded. You could easily spend most days outdoors enjoying life.

To get you up-to-date on where I left you last week I have to pick back up at Newberry National Volcanic Monument. Remember we were going through a heat wave and it was hot! So what to do when it is too hot for normal activities — well you go to a cave. We went to the Lava River Cave to see what that was all about. It is a mile-long lava tube formed from a massive eruption about 80,000 years ago. Now I have been to caverns before but this was totally different. We did research and knew that we had to bring our own lights because there is no lighting down there and to bring warm clothes. It was 95 degrees that day and you could just feel the coolness of the cave even before you reached the entrance. So after I changed into long pants in the car, we walked to the entrance and I added a long shirt and jacket. We wore headlamps for our lighting. You had to have two light sources (I guess for redundancy) so we carried a couple of small flashlights too. You climb down 55 stairs into the cave and I have to tell you that it was cold. It was 45 degrees down there and pitch black. I am not sure if I have ever seen totally darkness before but when we were down there we switched our headlamps off and there is no light. Amazing but scary too. So we walked the mile in admiring the sights as you point your light towards them. It was amazing and I wish I had photos to share but with the darkness the photos we took aren’t very good. I did get Kean as we were coming out of the cave. Not a bad two mile hike on a hot day!

Our next adventure was stand up paddle boarding. There is a part of town called the Old Mill District that has shops, restaurants, and the river running beside it. The photo at the top is a view of the river. It is a great part of town. So when we were down there we got the idea that we wanted to try paddle boarding since neither of us had done it before. So we went on a weekday when the crowd had gone (didn’t want to risk running into anyone, except for Kean which I did several times). We rented a couple of boards for an hour and off we went into the river. I was a little shaky at first but quickly got the hang of it. Neither of us fell in which was a bonus!  Paddle boarding is fun especially down stream but was pretty tough going back against the current. Several times I thought I would just be pushed back down the river and a search party would have to be sent out. I would definitely do it again but would like to try a lake to be able to enjoy it a little longer.

While it was still warm we headed to Benham Falls. This was after a visit to the gym so we had not set out to hike but would love to go back there to hike that neck of the woods. The falls were breathtaking. I stuck my foot in the water and found it to be super cold. I would love to whitewater raft up here somewhere because the rapids look challenging but the water would have to be much warmer.  Maybe during the summer sometime.   As you can see from one of the photos, Kean bought a new toy. He bought a nice camera and is learning all the settings to capture that perfect shot. Me, I’m just going to stick with the camera that fits in my back pocket but expect to see some expert shots on the blog in the near future.

The rest of the time here was spent on the golf course.  Found a good one close by the campground that we have been to a couple of times now.  In fact we are heading out again today once it warms up a little.  The hot spell turned into a cold one and it has been pretty cool that last couple of days.  In fact it was 39 degrees when we woke up this morning.  Had to run the heat which we haven’t done since coming across country last December. What a crazy swing in temperatures.

So tomorrow we pack up and move on.  It will be a little sad to leave this place, both the RV resort and the town, but we know we will be back.