Bend, OR

Comfy, funky and a bit like hanging out in your bohemian aunt’s uptown loft, Townshend’s is a spot of hip and cozy sophistication in downtown Bend. The décor, a cushy mix of candy-colored couches, dark wood and brick, is as inviting as the spicy aroma that clouds your head as you walk into the Bond Street shop. The loose-leaf menu is a 12-page tea volume, with 84 varieties of green, white, black, oolong, chai, rooibos, máte, and herbal teas. All loose-leaf teas are available hot or iced in 3 different sizes, including a pot to share among friends. Townshend’s also serves tea lattes and bubble tea, a sweet creamy tea with tapioca balls that you suck up through a special wide straw.

The Deschutes River Trails offer pristine river views and nicely cleared paths, perfect for an impromptu (and undemanding) romp around Bend’s beloved waters.

This past weekend downtown Bend transformed into a culinary dreamland (more than it is already) as dozens of local restaurants showcased their cuisine at the 6th annual Bite of Bend. Walking down Bond Street was like a gastronomic world tour: where else can you down a plate of Pad Thai with a slice of brick-oven pizza and wash it all down with a local microbrew that came from a barrel-shaped cart? In addition to hundreds of food choices, the two-day event featured live entertainment, a kid’s play area with all manner of inflatable bounce houses and slides, and an Iron Chef-type competition for local chefs.

Located 20 miles west of Bend, the town of Sisters, Oregon, is Bend’s distinctively western neighbor. Every building on the little downtown stretch has an old-town western façade, and when driving through town I almost expect a band of cowboys and Indians to come charging out of the saloon and have a confrontation at the intersection of Main and Spruce. This past weekend, part of my vision came true (sans Indian altercation) as cowboys and cowgirls took the town by storm at the 68th Annual Sisters Rodeo. My friends and I went on Friday night, the opening night of the three-day event, and enjoyed some good old fashioned steer roping, barrel racing and fried food consumption.

A shady oasis just a stone’s throw away from downtown Bend, Drake Park is a slice of European charm in the middle of Central Oregon. The buzz of activity, long winding paths, and 13 acres of grassy grounds overlooking Mirror Pond remind me of some of my favorite parks I visited in Europe. This past Saturday afternoon Drake Park was alive with picnickers, bicyclers riding cruisers instead of mountain bikes (a rarity for Central Oregon), and kayakers floating through Mirror Pond’s calm waters.

I have always been fascinated by the steep canyons & largess in which Columbia River resides; the barge boats that pass through occasionally and the wheel house boat , where as a kid I was intrigued by the fact that the large wheel on the back of a boat propelled this boat forward; the myriad waterfalls and extravagant views that I see in the 14 miles that I normally travel.Columbia River itself is a 1200 mile river spanning 7 states (not including Canada) from Canada to Oregon and is the largest in the Pacific Northwest and flows into our Pacific Ocean. The majority of the Oregon part of the river is nestled within a deep canyon providing extravagant & exceptional panoramic views.

This past weekend I went to another of my pirate gatherings as I do each year and it was at a place I didn’t know that existed, a place called Horning’s Hideout. What a cool place. Over 100 acres, some treed, some grassed with a 2 streams, a 5 acre stocked fishing pond and a separate breeding ground to keep the fish continually stocked. Three separate playgrounds for all the kids, an island in the middle of the lake, all kinds of wildlife and about 100 colored & albino peacocks & peahens. This area is absolutely stunning and no one knows where you are and would ever even know this place existed if the owners didn’t allow public use.

Florence seems to be my own central point of my coastal trips as it is always the 1st coastal town I come to. Maybe because Florence is the central location for Hwy 101 on the Oregon coast. I go to Florence mainly for 3 reasons, to travel to other destinations on 101, to visit the casino once a year and to hit the sand as often as possible as Florence has probably the biggest area of dunes in which to play on as well as long beaches in which to walk or ride horses.

Down on the bay front of Old Newport are the docks which house mainly commercial fishing vessels. These vessels are what bring the fresh seafood to Newport. During the day, wandering among these ships, which seem bigger than life due to its size is one thing but at night it is a totally different world and atmosphere. I found this out quite by accident. While in town I chose to have dinner on the bay front and when I was done I wasn’t ready to move on down the coast to my next destination and so I wandered and somehow or another I wandered among the docks, past these ships that seemed so quiet when just an hour before they were full of life.

Across the way from Cooks Chasm is the Heceta Head lighthouse. The lighthouse some of you may remember, was in the middle of a controversial subject of demolition not to long back. So far Heceta, built in 1894 still stands and still shines as one of the Oregon Coasts brightest and farthest reaching lights out upon the sea.