Leaving Bend

We left Bend by driving North to The Dalles (how many towns can you think of that use the word "The" in the name?) on the Columbia River.

As we left, we noticed that the mountains to the west had gotten some good snow overnight. Today was nice and sunny, so you could actually see a few miles, and thus see the snow covered mountains.

Further north, the drive was through rolling farm land that is typical of eastern Oregon. Trees were nearly absent. At this road side pullout we were lucky enough to find some good bones so that my pictures had a good desert feel to them.

McMenamins

While in Bend, we stayed at this cool hotel run by McMenamins. They are a bar/restaurant chain. They brew their own beers. They host regional band tours. And they also turn old buildings into hotels. Such was the case in Bend. We stayed at the Old St. Francis School.

I was thinking this was going to be cheesy. I was quite wrong. The pictures are our room. Each room was named after someone who was associated with the school somehow (ours was The Hoaglands or something...two sisters who attended the school before it became the "old" school and was turned into a bar/hotel). It was a very neat place to stay.

[edit 06.30.07: Just noticed that the title of this post was misspelled :-)]

Slow Day in Bend

So, with our bird watching venture a bust, we ended up just laying low today. There was some exploring of Bend. There was some window shopping. There was some very light sleet and snow. There was some napping. There were very few pictures.

Middle of Nowhere

We ventured out in search of a bird watching spot that we had read about south of Bend. It is located in a small campground in the middle of Deschutes National Forest. The trip there, and our eventual discovery of the campground, have confirmed that the alternative name for this place was "The Middle of Nowhere".

Next to the campground was a park maintenance area that had been closed. If you read the description of the campground on the park web site, you will see that it is likely to be discontinued. I am thinking that might have already happened.

We did see some signs of life. There was a tent on the left side of the dirt road (opposite side from the camp ground) with lots of trash laying around it, but no sign of a human (other than the tent). In the camp ground itself there was a tent pitched next to a couple of cars (an old white van and some variety of Subaru, also old...both were full of junk). I did not stop to converse, but it had the look of a permanent residence for someone. And there was this car by the side of the road. I made a mental note to not dilly dally because it appeared likely that we would be attacked by vagabonds if we gave them any opportunity.

So, we found the campground, but there was no sign of the bird watching blinds described by our source material. I was too freaked out by the squatters to ask them for guidance. But it was a pretty place.