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.