Back to Bend

After our short but beautiful trip to Crater Lake, we headed back up to Bend. We stayed at the Expo Fairgrounds, which proved to be a nice base to continue to explore the area. The first place we went was Smith Rock State Park, a crazy pretty small park just up the street that is very popular with climbers. We can see why. While there we saw several different parties climbing the face and one group training/teaching. A real gem near Redmond, OR. I spoke with a local photographer who tipped me off as to where to set up for a great sunset photo. Maybe next time.

We also drove up into the mountains to the Dee Wright Observatory at the summit of McKenzie Pass. This place is smack in the middle of a desolate lava field and is just surreal. It seems like we’ve been surrounded by lava and other signs of volcanic activity for weeks. Probably because we have been.

Barrel racing at the Expo one night was fun to stumble across. I’d never seen this live before and it was a lot of fun. Lots of families watching their daughters ride. It was just like soccer, little league, hockey league, etc…except with horses. And more expensive. I loved it.

We really liked the Bend area and could have spent more time there. This refrain has been repeated several times in our travels so far and I’ll say it again: we’ll be back. Sorry, Arnold.