Finally! After seven years of trying, we finally made it east of the Cascades! Only for a long weekend, but still better than not at all, right? Spring break was the perfect time for this trip: Not too warm, not too cold, no ticks yet (!), and a nice way to relax and recharge.
We left Friday morning after dropping off Abby and George at Billie's (Pepper came of course with us!). Our first stop after reaching Bend was Rockin' Dave's Bagel Bistro where Jan had ... two bagels (No way!) and I had a gluten free BLT. Yum! Freshly strengthened we headed up Pilot Butte, an extinct volcano in the middle of Bend. The hike goes up a paved road that winds around the butte all the way to the top. And the view from there is phenomenal!
Since it was still a bit early we drove to Strictly Organic Coffee to grab some iced coffee. Bend is really fantastic since it allows dogs in the outdoor seating areas, so Pepper could enjoy our company (as well as the occasional ice cube that ... fell .. *cough*... on the ground).
Then it was time to see where we'd stay the next days. The house is way out in the middle of nowhere, about 20 minutes or so south of Bend. It's a smaller house built next to the owner's house on a 15 acre property.
Oh yeah, and there was also this... person .. greeting us right next to the drive way. A little bit creepy, no?
Anyways, the house itself is gorgeous! Small, but it doesn't feel that way. And very clean (except for the cracks between the hardwood floor that Pepper considered not clean enough - he took care of that with his loooong tongue :)). Absolutely beautiful.
The only real problem we had was that the fridge decided to die. Which is unfortunate, since that means we had to give our almond milk to the house sitters who put them in their fridge in the main house. Unfortunate, since we didn't have milk the next morning for coffee or cereal. Ah well, we lived :).
After dinner we went on a walk around the property
and then settled for a very quiet night (the loudest noise was a coyote that ran around right outside our window). It is unbelievable quiet here. And dark. The night sky looked amazing.
On Saturday morning we headed to Mother's Juice Cafe to get breakfast and coffee. Jan had some coffee cake, yogurt, strawberries, and granola, and I went for a smoothie. Good start! We then drove ... for a long time... not fully planned that way to be honest :). Turns out that when you ask google maps to get you to the Newberry National Volcanic Monument, it really literally gets you there. Which means lots of small gravel roads.
Which was really great because we saw the lava field really well!
We then followed more small roads back up to I 97, in hopes of getting closer to Paulina Lake. Turns out, since it is so early in the season, the road was still blocked and we couldn't drive there. So we decided to park the car nearby and hike to the lake (about 6 miles round trip). What a fantastic decision! The air was crisp and clean, and the ground soft, with lots of logs for Pepper to jump over (man, he enjoyed that!), and the occasional snow on the side. There was more and more snow the higher we went, and the last few meters we hiked through a good foot or so (note to self - it helps to have water resistant shoes, even in almost-April).
We made it up to Paulina Falls, had lunch there, and then returned back to our car.
And on the way home we stopped at Ida's Cupcakes for some... you guessed it ... cupcakes! Man, those were rich cupcakes. Didn't finish mine, but it'll make a nice morning snack :).
Sunday, our last day here in the Bend area. After breakfast at Strictly Organic Coffee (Burrito for Jan and Biscotti for me, plus coffee of course) we drove through Redmond and up to Smith Rock State Park, famous for its rock climbing due to the tuff and basalt. But that's not why we went there, of course. It's actually also a very nice hiking area. The hike turned out to be quite exhausting (the initial ascend is rather steep), but absolutely fabulous. We had an amazing time!
From the parking lot, we headed up (and down) the Misery Ridge Trail (aptly named!), then west down the Mesa Verde Trail, and lastly back to the parking lot on the River Trail. An absolutely fantastic hike, and a great finish of a great weekend! Below are some more impressions of Smith Rock.
