We rolled into Bend after the beautiful drive up the 97 from Klamath Falls. We wound through valleys and the Fremont-Winema and Deschutes National Forests. The road varied between 2 and 4 lanes, and there were trees, trucks, and trailers. Several of the little towns were clusters of mobile homes comprising housing areas and small businesses. We listen to an application called Autio that uses our location to describe some of the parks and the history of the areas we drive through. There are over 10,000 stories, and we learned a lot of interesting facts.

The main reason for the visit was to spend time with the Barab Family. Caryn and Clint have known each other since birth, and we enjoy seeing them as our travels cross and as we get together for events. They split their time between Eugene and Bend, and since Clint had never been to Bend, we made this a “must-stop” destination. We were fortunate as both of their adult children were in town. We also got to spend time with Beckham, their first grandchild. We went to their house after work the first night and played for a bit. We then hit a food truck park for some great eats. Clint and I got sloppy Joe sliders, and we shared a lot of Mac and cheese with Beckham. We’d brought him a tie-dyed shirt (something we often give to little ones), and he had happily put it on before we left the house. A band started playing at the truck park, and Beckham was one to dance. He is a future Dead Head in the making as he feels the music and dances with abandon. At one point, one of the musicians played the trumpet, and his 3.5-year-old hands went to his mouth and mimicked the trumpet-playing motion. It was very clever and sweet. We will enjoy watching him grow up.

South of Bend, a volcanic caldera erupted thousands of years ago and was made a national park. It is called Lava Land, and as you drive past it, you see piles and piles of lava rocks that look like lava dunes. We went to that park on Friday when we finished working for the day. We used our National Park Pass for admission and were able to drive to the top of the crater. We walked the rim trail, and in addition to scenic views of the crater, we had amazing views of Mt. Bachelor and the Sisters Mountains, which still had snow at the top.

After Lava Land on Friday, we went to the Barab’s for dinner. Doug grilled some amazing kabobs, and we brought the dogs. They have an 11-year-old labradoodle named Remy, who was unsure about Dani and Denzel’s tag teaming. Throw a 3-year-old boy into the mix, and watch what happens. Even better, their son showed up with his extremely sweet 6-month-old Labrador puppy named Birdie, and there was just enough chaos to be entertaining. Needless to say, all dogs slept well.

On Saturday, Caryn and her son and daughter-in-law played golf. Clint, Doug, and I went to Smith Rock State Park. As we approached the park, huge rock faces appeared to grow out of the ground. But when we got into the park itself, a deep canyon with a flowing river dropped hundreds of feet below us. We chose a hiking path opposite the rock walls that seemed less traveled. As we walked along, our eyes focused on the various climbers affixed to the steep walls. Smith Mountain is well known for its varying degrees of difficulty in the rock climbing community. We were amazed at the beauty of the rock and the fearlessness of the climbers. Heights and slippery rocks are not our cup of tea, but it was very cool to see. We wandered close to a golden eagle nesting space but did not see any. After making our way along the trails, we found ourselves in a section of the park called the bivouac area. We said bivouac as many times as possible the rest of the day.

We met Caryn and the others at Deschutes Brewery for a light lunch and beer sampling. Then, we walked through downtown and one of the parks along the Deschutes. A Juneteenth celebration was going on, and we listened to some musicians as we strolled. We returned to the RV to freshen up and grab the pups, and then we were back at the Barab’s for another great evening.

We left fairly early the next morning, and we think we will be back in Bend next summer.

-Cheryl