La Quinta Inn And Suites Bend

We drive alongside the Clackamas River, so beautiful we run out of adjectives as we point out to each other the views we want to share. Driving up towards the Cascades we see Mt. Hood in the distance, alone and majestic. At 4800 feet we drive through Santiam Pass and start the long road down, final destination Bend. We set up camp in Tumalo State Park. It is the weekend, there are so many people in the state parks we pass, we decide to stay two nights right here.

We decided to spend the night in Bend and found a place to stay online before we left our Hampton Inn. Stopped by Costco (again!) to gas up before we left town, then took highway 84 West past the Columbia River, Mt. Hood, and a huge re-planted forest from the Patterson exit. On 97 South we were on the Scenic Byway Journey Through Time. We passed the Moro State High Football Champs notice, then in Grass Valley (a tiny ...

We stopped in La Pine and walked.<br><br>We stopped in the Volcanic Monument.<br><br>We walked on the Lava Fields.<br><br>We drove through Bend, Redmond &amp; Madras.<br><br>Past Warm Springs, the car overheated and we pulled over.<br><br>We waited for the car to cool down.<br><br>We, slowly, drove up the mountain to Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood.<br>

We went to the Crook County Museum.<br><br>We drove north into the Ochoco's.<br><br>We went to the Painted Hills, John Day Fossil Beds.<br><br>We drove through Mitchell and failed to find food.<br><br>We drove through Dayville and failed to find food.<br><br>We had food in Mt. Vernon.<br><br>We drove down the S. Fork of the John Day river and slept near Izee.

We drove to Bend.<br><br>We drove up Pilot Butte.<br><br>We walked around Drake Park and Bend downtown.<br><br>We went to a comic shop.<br><br>We had tea at Townshend's.<br><br>We met my old friends and walked to Old Mill district.<br><br>We ate American Chinese food.<br><br>We watched a cinema.<br><br>We drove back to Prineville.

We had a couple family dinner's.<br><br>We walked around Prineville.<br><br>We went to the court-house.<br><br>We went to the round-up at the park.<br><br>We sat in the yard and watched 4th of July fireworks.<br><br>We drove up to the Prineville Reservoir and watched deer.<br><br>We traveled to Bend intermittently.<br>

... marked, though, by the peaks as we traveled out of Washington and through central Oregon ... Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helen, Mt. Hood, Mt. Belknap and Three Sisters. The volcanic topography is so different from what we are used to seeing and the peaks helped us navigate our way through the countryside. We broke out over the Columbia River near The Dalles, always a breathtaking view and ran alongside it (on plateaus then at river's edge and back up ...

... cool, but not quite as impressive as I'd remembered it from when I was a kid. I'm not sure if the casts just seemed bigger back then because I was smaller, or if they might have been broken down over time. But either way, it was a nice little walk through the area. Our first stop when we got to Bend was the Deschutes Brewery Pub. There are quite a few beers that they make that are only available at ther pub, so of course we both tried one- Green Lakes Organic Ale for Silas and Dominic ...

Well, we have made it back home safely; driving back from Portland lets us realize that we live in another beautiful part of the world. All in all, it was a wonderful vacation and we are already planning the next one... Thanks for your interest in our travels - i will let you all know when i get the pictures uploaded. Thanks ...