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| So odd to see it with snow all around! |
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We took this picture last time we were here when there was
no snow. Now I just have to find it! |
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Pat had fun testing his drone taking shots of our campsite in Bend.
We were among the trees where you can't hang a hammock (not bitter) |
On Friday June 2nd, we moved to Bend Thousand Trails (our first time there) and found a really great spot with tall trees and limited views of other campers! But horror of horrors, they had a rule about hanging things from trees (including hammocks) so someone was really pretty put out when I informed him of this rule. He'd already had it halfway up (one of the first things he did when setting up camp!). We also had trouble getting satellite of which we only cared about 110 because it provides the locals. I didn't mind but Pat said he just doesn't feel settled unless that working properly! AND the site only had water and electric so halfway between our two week stay, we had to dump the tanks which is basically like a move day! We did see two deer in our spot when we pulled in and three squirrels jumping from tree to tree chasing each other. Oh and a bunny later on. It was time for laundry again so we did that on our travel day (and later before we left again!).
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| Wonderful hike to the falls with friends from home. |
We were thrilled to see our dear friends from home on that Saturday. They had planned this trip much earlier and when we discovered that, we moved up our schedule so we could meet them. We had a full day of hiking (Bendham Falls and picnic lunch), brewpubs (Atlas Ciders and Riverbend brewery) and a home cooked meal of steaks and baked potatoes at the place they were staying. What a GREAT day!
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| "Home" chores - reworking the tech cabinet. |
We used this two week period in Bend to just be "home" meaning we just did what we felt like each day. Sometimes it was to go out and ride the bikes, other times to do things around the RV and other times explore scenery and brewpubs and downtown. We made summer reservations and did calendar planning. We got a lot done around the motorhome - reorganizing the tech cabinet and "retiring" the receiver (too big and we don't use) as well as reorganizing the freezer, sorting through scrapbook stuff (mostly toss!). We moved the satellite a gazillion times and finally found the local channels so we could get the morning and evening news. We binge watched another show on Netflix (Haven) and it ended the series so we can let that one go!
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T-boned by a dog (who was ok!).
About $1400 damage - arghh! |
One of the more memorable things that happened was we were hit by a dog (as Pat says we were t-boned!). We are so happy the dog was ok but our car definitely was not! We could only get the passenger door open about 10 inches... which for us is not wide enough! Found out Bend is super busy right now after a particularly rough winter so sadly we can't get the work done here. So we hope to do it in Vancouver when we're back there for a couple of weeks.
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Pat's new toy with his "mad" money (and Ellen thinks
it is mad indeed (but totally cool video and photos!). |
Our two purchasing highlights were getting Pat's drone (Costco!) and Ellen's guitar (Bryan's guitar). Ellen had one (before downsizing!) but it was too big for travel so the new one is really small and works well! Pat is cautiously practicing with the drone and as he says he's afraid of heights - as in too low (and hitting trees etc.!). It will be fun to have more photos (and video) from the above pesrpective.
Another highlight during this stay was the drive (which wasn't the good part) to Salmon Creek Church UMC where they were holding a Legacy Sunday with 5 former pastors (most of whom Pat worked with while he was Choir director there). It was so GREAT to see dear friends and connect with family (however briefly since we drove out and back the same day!).
Pat got his VR goggles as part of picking up mail while in Vancouver and we had fun testing that out too! It works with his Samsung 7 phone and isn't the greatest but definitely novel and fun!
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| Lava caves where we tried out our new Costco headlamps! |
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| We had a lot of fun on the bikes (after we finally got a map!) |
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| Wild Ride Brewery - always love a place by the fire! |
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Found this at Costco!!
Sadly only at the Bend location! |
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We didn't go far on this hike -
too much snow! |
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Beautiful scenery all around you - especially the
snow covered mountains on a sunny day! |
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Someday it would be nice if the majesty of the scenery
could show up in these photos! Oh and the SMELL!! |
And probably the last highlight of this stay was meeting up with Instagram friends at Bend brewery. Great people and we really enjoyed seeing them again after an initial meetup outside of Bryce. So much fun to exchange stories and share what led us to this lifestyle. And share tips!
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| One of the many brewery stops! |
Highlights: Just being settled for awhile, visiting friends and family, this area and weather was beautiful! Continue to love riding our e-bikes and this area (mostly) was great for that.
Lowlights: crowded and bike riding in Bend (at least where we went) wasn't as friendly as we'd hoped. Have to ride on the road quite a bit more than we expected (with lots of traffic) and maps and trails weren't marked as well as expected.
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| Another brewery! |
Things we're wondering: how do we handle mail now that Pat's aunt (who was doing it for us) will be moving away from the area. We have to fill out a form to allow a virtual mail place to handle our mail but the form requires you to list where you live (plus your license and one other id need to match that address). We've had at least 3 addresses within the last year PLUS we'll have the new one with the virtual address! An none of them are where we live now!
Things we're also wondering: How to get better at putting photos on our blog so they don't look stupid!!
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