We have had an amazing three days in Bend, Oregon for what was to be a prelude to our Grants Pass, Oregon house sit. As you may recall from a prior post, however, that house sit was cancelled due to a critical family medical issue with the home owners. We had already purchased out tickets to Bend, however, so here we are. We are thrilled to be here before heading into the oven that is Arizona for the remainder of June and the first half of July.
Bend is the county seat of Deschutes County in central Oregon. Bend is a city of about 80,000 –the largest city in central Oregon. It is gorgeous, active, and vibrant. It has it all — lovely rivers and canals, beautiful trees and flowers, and nearby mountains. It is the best shades of green and blue and very active. We hope to return.
Our first full day here on Wednesday we spent hiking along the Deschutes River which is a major tributary to the Columbia River. While it is a popular river for water sports, we were on the quieter end on Wednesday.
The Deschutes River Trail took us up a gorge and into neighborhoods on top of hills/buttes out of the city center. We left that trail to follow a North Rim path to the Sylvan and Summit city parks (where we thought ther might be a good view but no — just the satisfaction of having summitted). We then walked back into town where we reconnected with the Deschutes River at a different point.
We then spent some time exploring the downtown area, including their Wednesday afternoon farmers market.
Peckish Travels 