Bend, Oregon

Bend, Oregon, is where my colleague Clarence and his wife Char retired to a few years ago.  Clarence sent us all multiple emails letting us know that if we were ever in Bend, that we could come and stay with him, so I finally took him up on the offer.  (Thanks again, Clarence and Char!)

Char and Clarence on a hike in Bend.

Bend is ohhh... a little bit rednecky, but I think that tendancy is mellowing as time goes on due to the large number of people from other parts of the country retiring there.  But not too long ago, it was a sleepy little town on the edge of the high desert, the mountains, and the meager agriculture that kinda scrapes it way out of the land.

Mount Bachelor & Broken Top Mountain

The world's smallest pumpkins

I enjoyed my stop in Bend mostly because of the company.  My stops with friends are almost always more fun than my stops without, and Char and Clarence didn't disappoint!  A few sights around town:

But I also enjoyed driving around the greater Bend area, seeing the grasses/deserts, the mountains, and making a stop at the Warm Springs Museum, which is run by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.  I've seen very little native american, well... anything on this trip so far, so the museum was an educational stop.  (I've still got high hopes for Arizona and New Mexico, coming up soon, though.)

The Warm Springs Museum