Bend was an oasis (high speed wifi, hot showers, laundry rooms, AC power, large and well-stocked grocery stores…), and the last such place for the next several weeks. From here, we aimed for Glacier, Theodore Roosevelt, Badlands, Blackhills, and other off the grid places. Places where Folgers will be the branded coffee and where CLOSED will be the norm for Saturdays and Sundays. For us, this was Rivendell, and spending a few days in it meant we languished in time and choices and easy days, and when we finally needed to depart … it was hard. Very hard.

Much of our active time in Bend was spent taking care of errands and chores that we either ran out of time for at basecamp in the Bay Area or accumulated over the first two weeks in the wild. Oh sure, we worked in a hike and some bike riding, but we were fighting the weather – quite a bit of rain – and the needs of the family and even Timber, who was in dire need of a playdate with his Bay Area best friend, Puma.

First off, Bend is a great town. It is eclectic and vibrant with a very strong youthfulness to it. The people are friendly and health-conscious – there were lots of folks down on the river paddle boarding, cycling or running. The parks are bristling with activity and dogs and smiles. Second, Bend is a town where the foodies and the hipsters are pretty okay. In other words, no one seemed on a mission to out-mustache one another (although there is a bit of craft beer snobbery in the air). To that end, Bend is a great beer town – so buy a growler and visit lots of restaurants and brew pubs. Finally, Bend is a growing town. It seemed that every neighborhood, empty plot of land, commercial zones, etc. was in the midst of some building or re-building.

Places we ate:

• Pizza Mondo – much needed pizza fix after two weeks of camping. Very good.
• Chow – loved the art and the vibe and the setting/décor; food good too. We nailed the breakfast staples – biscuits and gravy, oat grain pancakes, eggs benedict, etc.
• McMenamins St. Francis – standard McMenamins, which was better than okay and had great beer selections.
• Plankers – great sandos … I mean really great, and a cool vibe.
• 10 Barrel Brewing Company – exceptional beer, pizza and sandwiches. My favorite place in Bend.
• Barrios – fresh and unique flavor combinations that fused the best of traditional Spanish tapas with Mexican staples. Loud joint, very loud that made conversation tough. But highly recommended.
• Dairy Queen – afternoon treat. Probably the best, cleanest and nicest DQ we’ve ever been in.

Things we did:

• Bought and returned shoes at REI – Ro bought new hiking shoes. When we arrived to hike Shevlin Park, he discovered that they’d loaded the box with two right-foot shoes of different sizes.
• Read the final half of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” – Six steady hours of reading aloud and then we watched the movie. I was hoarse the next day.
• Watched the U.S. Soccer Team draw (Portugal), then lose (Germany) and still make the Round of 16 in the World Cup.
• Explored downtown Bend and the Old Mill District.
• Sat in Starbucks for four hours – just for the free wi-fi and because the water had been shut off at our RV park. Oh, the coffee was pretty good too.
• Took Timber to the dog park – he ran a lot and played a lot, and seemed to think we were pretty good owners for giving him that treat. He also made some new friends.
• Toured Sunriver.
• Ended the experiment of Timber sleeping with Asher – easy decision when the dog barfed on the bed at 2:00a. We got him a new crate the next day and he settled down a bit into our new life on the road.
• Hiked Shevlin Park – beautiful and serene place. Most of the four-mile hike was through a light rain under overcast skies. Although there are bears (and mountain lions) that visit the park and we had bear spray, we saw nothing.