Bend, OR

Three times this summer, you can get your French fix at Pomegranate Home and Garden’s French Flea Market, an event where local artists and antique dealers peddle unique and beautiful wares in the shop’s charming courtyard. Located on the outskirts of the Shopko Shopping Center, Pomegranate Home and Garden is Bend’s purveyor of shabby chic home wares, letterpress stationary, fancy French soaps, and treasures for the garden.

I headed over to the second summer flea market a couple Saturdays ago where a dozen vendors were selling furniture, art, French knick knacks like signs that say “bain” and “chambre,” Eiffel Tower inspired jewelry, vintage clothing, antique buttons and more. I enjoyed milling about the grounds, looking at trinkets and exploring Pomegranate’s pleasant shop, which is housed in an old wood-shingled split level building. A separate shed-like structure accommodates the garden part of the home and garden shop.

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.

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.

Stand along the high wild edged coastline and feel the wind, the sea breeze and watch the sun set or rise amongst this craggy face of the cliff that hosts Cape Perpetua. Wander among the 2700 acre forest that is denser than the Amazon Jungle, see the meat eating plants throughout this same forest and no they do not eat us humans. Take the little ones up to visit the giant spruce tree that is at least 30 feet thick and is written as 185 feet tall.

As soon as I moved to Bend a few weeks ago, I started hearing rumblings about Bend’s annual Pole, Pedal, Paddle, a six-part race in which participants ski (Alpine and Nordic), bike, run, kayak, and sprint their way from Mount Bachelor to the Les Schwab Amphitheater. Tongue twisting title aside, the Pole, Pedal, Paddle celebrates the essence of Bend: serious outdoor sport that takes full advantage of Bend‘s mountains, rivers, and trails. Plus, the entire population of Bend seems to show up, either to compete or cheer on the thousand or so participants. The sextuple-threat contest attracts everyone from elite athletes, to teams of friends or coworkers, who divide up the legs of the competition and often dress up in costume.

Never having been to a waxworks museum but always wanting to go I decided it was time to wander amongst the dead, regaled in the historical form and see how they spoke to me.

Recreated in waxy life forms and reminiscent of the past were several very lifelike characters, some I knew and some I was being introduced to. Of course the ever famous Dracula was the first one to see. There were displays that reminded me of the prohibition, back alley bar fights amongst gangsters. Maybe these folks should have paid their dues in the business.

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.

The OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center gives a different meaning to dealing with science. The center has a different approach to help visitors better understand the why’s of the actions that are taken when it comes to marine science. The way the different sciences are explained and shown are easy to understand, even for the younger children. While most children would not understand the complexity of sciences the Marine center has interactive displays with easy to understand interpretive signs