It is a beautiful clear morning in Bend, and a little cool. Today we've got two priority items on our list...ride our bicycles, and go shopping (no sales tax in Oregon!).
Bend is located in central Oregon, almost exactly in the center of the state...in an area that is high desert - the elevation in Bend is about 3,600 feet. Bend used to be called Farewell Bend because it was an easy crossing point on the Deschutes River for the early pioneers. Today, Bend has a population of 80,000, but if you include the towns and area surrounding Bend the population is closer to double that.
Bend is known as a hub for outdoor recreational activity...its location gives residents and visitors (like us) easy access to hiking, climbing, cycling and mountain biking, kayaking and rafting, skiing and snowboarding, and even spelunking (it's not often we get to use that word in a sentence!). The city of Bend is also known for a very nice little downtown with good restaurants, bars and micro-brew pubs, and galleries. We probably won't get to all of these activities and attractions in the one full day we have here, so we're thinking that we'll need to come back for more...
Our first order of business is to get those bicycles that have been on the rack at the back of the Roadtrek for two weeks off and onto the road! So we gear up and head put for a morning ride...and within a half mile we are seeing some beautiful scenery...it seems you can get a mountain view from just about anywhere in this town...
We don't know what it is about Oregon and it's endless, straight, undulating roads, but you really can't beat them for a nice ride...a little flat, a little up hill, a little downhill...repeat...and always a view of magnificent snow-capped peaks...
What luck! There's a bike race going on just up the road, so Patty takes off to check it out!
It turns out that we just happen to be in Bend on the weekend of the Cascade Cycling Classic...! We stopped to talk with one of the course officials and learned that this is the longest consecutively run elite stage race in the country, and attracts cyclists from across the country. As we ride along we get passed by a "peloton" with about 25 riders in it...the sound of their bikes cutting through the air is amazing as they fly by...
We return to our campsite, freshen up, and pack up...we will be camping in a different site (same park, different camp site) tonight so everything has to move. We figure this is the perfect transition point for shopping, so we head to (of course) REI which is located in a mall in the Old Mill District.
When we get there, it is obvious why the street is named Old Powerhouse Road...the REI store is actually located in an old powerhouse for the mills that used to be here...how cool is that?!
We infuse the local economy with a little financial stimulus (hey, without the sales tax it's like every item in 10% off!) and head back to see if our camp site is available...
The site is clear, so we move in...again, this was supposed to be an even better "river side" site, but again there is no sign of the river...we can hear it though..!
Turns out, we're going to be sharing our camp site with another couple...
As the sun sets, we make plans for tomorrow...today's bike ride was so nice, we'll take another early morning bike ride before we head out of town.
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