more photos from Bend

Some photos and stories from Bend that didn't fit into previous posts. The house had two bedrooms on the second floor, with a balcony overlooking the great room. Jasper loved to follow the kids up the back staircase upstairs but then could never figure out (or remember) how to get back down. He would run frantically back and forth along the railing, looking down at us helplessly, until one of the kids went up to rescue him. Too funny.

Ah, the father/son chess match... before the carnage began.

The house had two games that were new to us and fun: Llamanoes, a take on dominoes, and a guessing/trivia game called Wits and Wagers.

 

Sebastian brought his Xbox along and in the evenings, played on the big tv screen. I don't think he preferred it to the privacy of playing in his own room (where he is able to yell and laugh loudly with his friends).

We saw llamas and alpacas - whole herds of them, on farms devoted to them - while driving around.

Sebastian got this photo of me riding along the Bend riverbank, with the old mill in front of me.

On our way home, we stopped by Suttle Lake to check out the historic lodge and walk around the lake (about 3 miles). But the weather had other plans: it was gusting cold wind across the lake and started snowing/raining/hailing as we got out of the car. So we stayed close to the lodge instead, getting lunch and throwing the ball into the water for Jasper to fetch. We hadn't been there before and the food was good and the lake beautiful, so we may return in nicer weather to paddle out on the lake.

happy birthday to me!

Our whole week in Bend felt a bit like a birthday celebration for me -- restaurant takeout and outdoor adventures every day! -- so my actual day was a bit less celebratory than usual. But we had berry baked oatmeal for breakfast, I climbed at PG with Adrienne and ran in Forest Park in the afternoon, enjoyed salmon, sourdough, and salad for dinner, and devoured an amazing chocolate stout cake. I video-chatted with both my parents and Carl and Kim, and that too was sweet. Liesl drew a picture and wrote two poems, and Seb offered to put together a video montage. A happy day.

The trilliums have appeared in Forest Park! There were hundreds on my run today. Yay for spring!!

 

Benham Falls and Phil's trails

It was cold and sunny again on Tuesday, and we headed back outside for more adventures in this gorgeous place. Steve and I ran together on the Deschutes River trail in the early morning (freezing cold!) -- we started at a different trailhead, and felt like mountain goats as we scampered along the rocky trail. And then the kids and I headed to Benham Falls on the upper Deschutes to see the waterfall and let Jasper swim a little in the river.

After lunch, we loaded the bikes onto the car and headed to Phil's trailhead, a mecca for mountain biking enthusiasts. We were a little nervous about the terrain but it turned out to be absolutely amazing, dirt trails that curved and swerved to make the riding more fun as you zipped around trees and up and down little hills. After we rode out and back on first the Cascade Crest trail and then Marvin's Garden trail, we played on the ramps near the parking lot. Sebastian said this ride was his favorite part of our whole Bend trip, so I'm really glad we made it happen.