Riding and the Old St. Francis School

Brad went on a single track guided mountain bike ride near Tumalo Falls west of Bend; this is someone's video from his helmet cam - it gives you an idea of the trail. Brad says "it was so much fun! It was exhilarating!"

While he was cycling, I went to Flyspur Ranch and rode Cody, a Paint; we went on trails through the pine forest, crossed a fairly deep river, and saw two Great Horned owls.

Later we went for dinner at the Old St. Francis School, a restored 1936 Catholic school. They were celebrating Half Way to St. Patrick's Day, with Irish music (strolling fiddle players), and lamb stew.
There's so much history in the school and parish building that there's a four page walking tour handout at the entrance. There's a hotel section (stay in a classroom!), a movie theatre, a pub, restaurant and more!

Bend Oregon

From this spot it looks like there's only one smokestack!

Bend, named after what else, a bend in the river, was a mill town, and logs were floated down the river. The mill closed in 1993, and the area is now the Old Mill District, full of interesting shops, restaurants and some townhouses - right beside the Deschutes river. Our destination was REI - it's in the oldbrick building that used to be the powerhouse for the mill, and still has 3 big smokestacks on top.
There's a bridge across the river and walking/cycling paths. After lunch we went to the small downtown historic area, and explored the art galleries, shops, riverside park, the Deschute brewery, and a coffee shop called Thump. It has hundreds of flat pieces of wood hanging from the ceiling, with drawings and writing on them, and when we asked about them, one of the owners said it started out as an art installation of wish boards, as the night they opened it was an art walk night. But then it became so popular that they kept it up, so on the counter there's a supply of boards and markers so you too can make a wish, and it can hang from the ceiling.

There are so many cyclists in Bend, riding so many different kinds of bikes: cool colourful coasters, town bikes with patterned paniers, mountain bikes - you name it! It makes for good people watching, and one thing we've noticed is that not many cyclists wear helmets here, unlike at home. We ate dinner on the patio of Boken, watching the sun go down across the river. The forest fire northwest of here makes for colourful sunsets. You can see the smoke on the right of this photo; the fire is near Sisters, and the air quality there is considered hazardous; luckily the wind is blowing the smoke away from Bend.

High Desert Museum

The High Desert Museum south of Bend sits in a pine forest and has both indoor and outdoor exhibits. The birds and animals (a river otter and lynx) have been injured and cannot be released back into the wild, so now have a home at the museum. We were just in time for the raptor talk, as well as one on the river otter. We saw a Harris hawk, and a small screech owl.
While he talked, the handler fed the owl bits of quail: "his favourite!" from a leather pouch on his belt.

Outside, the thing that captivated me the most was a sculpture of a mare and foal, made entirely of barbed wire! It was hard to get a good photo of it, as the sun was right behind it, so I took many, from all directions.