The Sampler

We visited Ten Barrel Brewery again last night, our last evening in Bend... and for the first time we tried their Sampler, which came with a little taste of each of the ten beers on tap:

It was fun to try them all and see what we liked best (Jason's favorite - S1NIST0R Black Ale - didn't change), though we were glad we heeded our server's advice & just split it!

Tonight we drive over to the Oregon Coast, where we're meeting friends for the Holiday Weekend... but we still have more Bend pictures to share, so you haven't heard the last of our adventures here yet!

Around Town - our 'Local' spots

As we finish up our visit here in Bend, we thought we'd share some of our favorite local spots... all of these places are from a block to less than 1/2 a mile from our house.

Just a block away from our house is Galveston Avenue, home to one of our favorite Brunch spots, The Victorian:

They even have a specialty Bloody Mary, for the adventurous eater:

Sounds kinda gross to me, but then I'm not much of a Bloody Mary fan to begin with...
Just down the street is our favorite of the local breweries (Jason's favorite beer here is the "S1nist0r Black Ale" & their veggie burger is a-maz-ing), the Ten Barrel:

The main problem is that it also seems to be everyone else's favorite spot, so you need a lot of luck to get a coveted outdoor table.

Nearby, as you drive towards downtown, is CHOW, another favorite brunch spot. (For anyone who didn't know, I am semi-obsessed with brunch. Best meal of the week! :)

Their focus is on local vendors, something that it has in common with our favorite Boise spot from last year. Bend is a very eco-conscious town, so we've been seeing a big focus on 'local' all over. Jason claims that his bacon here was the best he's ever had.


You can see their garden as you walk in...
Indoor is a rotating gallery from local artists, and I love the outdoor signs, made from old railroad ties and silverware:

So if you ever find yourself in the River West neighborhood of Bend, you know a few great spots to visit! Up next, a tour of our favorites from Downtown Bend.

Last Weekend

Hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend... we enjoyed our last weekend in Bend.

Enjoying some wine in the backyard with the boys

Though we're sad to be leaving soon, we've had a great time here... and still have more pictures to share before we head to our next stop, so keep checking back in!

Tumalo Falls

Sorry we've been so delinquent with posting lately... we're still enjoying our time in Bend (sadly, drawing to a close!), but lots of the day-to-day stuff isn't really picture-worthy. :)

That being said, we do have pictures from a great hike we took last week at Tumalo Falls. Normally on a waterfall-focused hike, the waterfall is your reward at the end of the trail, but here you actually start downstream from the base of the waterfall.


A quick (and steep!) hike takes you to the top of the waterfall:

Viewing the edge from above


Jason enjoys the view
You can then continue along the river (& yes, through the woods) for more views and eventually a few smaller waterfalls.



The elevation was high enough to find snow along the trail


A deep moment in the woods


We've got a busy weekend planned and promise to keep our camera with us, so more updates to come!

Bend Ale Trail

Most of what Bend seems to be known for is how outdoorsy everyone and everything is, and we've been soaking up our fair share of the beautiful outdoors. BUT another highlight of this town is its many microbreweries, which we're also trying to soak up!

The city calls the seven local microbreweries its "Ale Trail" and you can even visit them all on a tours... perhaps even on this crazy 16-person-bike-contraption!

We're still making the rounds, but recently enjoyed our visit to the Bend Brewing Company. More updates to come as we see more of what this fine city has to offer! :)

Feathered Friend

The other day we came home and found a chicken hanging out in our yard!

As we've never seen a chicken just wandering around on its own (such city folk! :), we were completely lost as to what to do. Were we even supposed to do anything, or just ignore it? Not knowing proper chicken visitor etiquette, I sent the following email to our landlord (yes, seriously):

Random question for you... We just came home & there's a chicken in the yard. New situation for us :), so just curious what a Bend resident would do? Maybe it will find it's way home, but we weren't sure if we were supposed to do anything to help it along...
Thanks!

She emailed back that she was in the neighborhood and would be right over. Turns out that she wasn't really sure what to do either, but just wanted to see it. Eventually the little guy moved on... a neighbor a couple houses down seems to let his feathered friends wander around, so we're assuming that's where he lives? Still, an interesting little adventure for the afternoon!

Home Away from Home: Bend Edition

Frank and Boozer want to take you on a tour around our 'Home' here in Bend, Oregon.

Isn't it cute from the street? The whole neighborhood is full of these little cottage-style homes. Supposedly its a leftover from when Bend was a logging town and these were the loggers' cabins.


This is our second-favorite spot in the house, the couch!


Frank checks in on Jason at the Bend Board of Options Exchange at the dining table:


The kitchen:


After a long day of napping, here's where we get our beauty sleep:


And our favorite spot in the house... this spot of sunshine in the backyard is perfect for sun bathing:

Smith Rock State Park

This past weekend we visited Smith Rock State Park about 30 miles away in Terrebonne, Oregon. The scenery was so gorgeous: tons of trees and towering red rocks all with the Crooked River running through the center of the park.

The park has miles of hiking and mountain biking trails... though I kid you not that one of the trails was named "Misery Ridge." Seriously. Doesn't that sound enticing?

Jason starting out on our hike


There were rock climbers climbing to alarming heights all along the trail:

Then Jason found us a picnic table with an amazing view to enjoy lunch before finishing our visit:


Our full album from the day is below:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Oregon Trail

We're getting unpacked and settled in our 'home' here in Bend and will share pictures of our cute little cottage... but in the meantime, wanted to share some pictures of the drive across Oregon:

So pretty! Though we may be a bit biased because we were finally hitting some clear weather. :)