Oregon Trip

Bend Oregon

I love going new places, seeing new landscapes, finding the best boutique stores and eating at yummy local cafes. Bend was full of all that and more. Chad and I have been hoping all summer that we would be able to visit Beau, Krista and the kids and we were so excited it all came together for us. First off, it does take 10 hours from Logan no matter how fast or slow you drive (we tried both ways). Once you hit the Oregon border the speed limit is 55.Seriously.. 55. Sooo slow! Especially in the dark. Chad is a great travel buddy, because he drives and I sleep. It works well for us. So when we FINALLY made it to this cute little town late in the night with a couple wrong turns later, it was so great to have Beau and Krista greet us with big smiles and hugs.

I want to make a quilt just like this!

Kyle and Sammi at Powell's candy shop. AKA Kid Heaven

I really really wanted this bag!

First day of our trip Beau and the kids showed us the ropes in down town Bend that is lined with fun stores on either side. We found some great antique stores, and cool shops with organic EVERYTHING; those were cool too. Of course, it doesn't matter what store I walk into, I can always find something that I can't live without. But, I did use self-control and told myself to scope out all the stores before I started buying, so I didn't miss out on the 'best' finds... Sometimes I have to trick myself. We ate at this fabulous little "Spanish" (really, it was Mexican) restaurant that had excellent tacos and guacamole. It's funny, on a couple occasions I wondered if anyone ever works in Bend; there's people everywhere, always. But, that made it much more fun, the town was so alive. We packed our bikes with us so we could go on lots of rides, which makes my baby very happy. It's so fun biking with Chad and I'm glad we both like to do it. That night ended perfectly with a great ride in the wilderness.

Incidences that happened in Bend:
So Chad was trying to keep things really exciting for us in Bend and had quite the good and bad luck stream his way.

First night: We're following behind Beau in our car, Beau's bike is falling of the back of his car (bungy-cords don't always get the job done), we pull over so he can maneuver his bike back on the vehicle, I'm laughing way hard and tell Chad to stop so I can take a picture. An Angry (fat) Oregon man behind us doesn't like this and is freaking out in his car. Chad gives him a little toot from the horn. Angry (fat) Oregon man goes irate and proceeds to slam on his breaks, gets out of his 1990 BMW, throws his sun glasses, starts unbuttoning his lovely colored shirt and wants to kill Chad. Oh, I think I forgot a dozen Mother-eff'ers and that "He was waiting for this Sh*t allll day". My humble husband took this so gracefully and calmly told the man, "he doesn't want any trouble." It was a good thing Beau was there to save my dear Chad (not that he couldn't have kicked some serious A) but I'm pretty sure Chad would've gotten hit and he's way too handsome for a black eye. Finally, the Angry (fat) Oregon man calmed down and asked Chad, "are you going to apologize"? Thoughtfully Chad said he was sorry (I don't know where he comes from) and walked away to help Beau with his bicycle. Way crazy huh! haha, it's funny now... not at the time. 
We were talking about it later that night, and Chad just kept saying, " I really feel bad for that guy... He has to be very unhappy". I was just glad Chad was protected, and we learned to never honk at anyone in Oregon. Ever.

Last Day in Bend:
There's a great big river in Bend, Deschutes to be exact. It's so beautiful and is decorated with all sorts of people enjoying the warm sunny weather, being transported either by kayak (our choice), air-mattress, tubes, or all sorts of other fun stuff. I was seriously being the biggest baby at first, and if Chad flexed a muscle I started screaming like we were going to tip over and die. Luckily neither of them happened. We paddled up the river first, which is some serious work, but the way back way nice and relaxing. I loved it! It was for sure a highlight of our trip. When we finished the tour of the river, Chad jumped in the freezing cold river to swim around a little and the saddest thing happened. Although, we didn't know it at the time, his wedding ring fell off his finger and was now at home in the cold fast moving current. We were both really sad when Chad realized it was no longer on his finger, and didn't know what to do. After discussing the matter, we made it back to Krista's and then decided we should go back and look for it, just to ease the heart-ache. I knew there wasn't a chance that we would find the ring, so I just casually looked around the grassy area where Chad jumped in while he looked also. But low-and-behold Chad spotted that lovely wedding ring of his, IN THE RIVER, waiting for us right by a rock. I could not believe my eyes when Chad pointed at it and said "there it is". I do not know how his ring didn't get washed away in the current, but it was just snuggled next to the rock waiting for someone to grab it. After our two not so fun incident's I knew we were being watched over and I thanked my Heavenly Father for all that he blesses us with. In my eyes these are small miracles. 

Miss Allie Rae

Playing on the tramp with the girls. Love these girls.

 This was the prettiest bike ride. The scenery just kept getting better and better. The best part of it was the trail was right along side the river. The worst part was I got eaten alive by mosquitoes!  Krista and Beau came with us and we ended it with a fabulous lunch at 10 Barrel Brewery Pub ranking in at the best burger everrrr. Oregon loves to brew.

I got really dirty.

Houses that we liked in Bend

For brunch we ate the most amazing "Ocean Roll" if you don't know what they are, you'll just have to go to Bend and find out for yourself! Plus its the cutest little Cafe.

The lovely Eastes Family. Thank you so much for letting us visit! We love you all!