Bend: My Future Home?

The Lonely Planet says "Everyone wants to move to Bend", and for once it's right.  This place is amazing - we meant to stay just two nights, have been here for three, and would have stayed even longer if the whole town wasn't booked up this weekend for their Summerfest.  We have loved it here, and not just because one of their key attractions is the Bend Ale Trail (visit 10 breweries walking distance from downtown, collect stamps, and get a free silipint (an indestructible silicone pint glass)).

Warning: this post will feature a lot of breweries.  Deschutes, whose beer we have loved for a long time, was the first.

The Deschutes River.  Even midweek there are loads of people floating down it on tubes, paddleboarding up it in bikinis, and meandering around in canoes and kayaks - perfect with the hot, sunny weather we've been having.  On our agenda if we could have stayed for another day.

Chad contemplates the task ahead: 10 breweries, 3 days.  Can it be done?

Sunset along the Deschutes.  The river cuts through the middle of Bend, and has lovely parks and running trails on both sides.

Beer and yoga.  The perfect combination?

One of two beer cycles we saw in our travels.  The other has stools and a multi-tap bar with driver/bartender.

Goodlife Brewing gets the McFrothy seal of approval.

As does Cascade Lakes, our fourth stop on Day 2.  This is just some of the tasty food we sampled along the way - everywhere we ate we had great food for cheap.  [Note from Chad: Happy Hours are outlawed in BC, in a misguided prohibition-era dose of government paternalism.  In Oregon, they simply allowed us to eat well for cheap without heading to a grocery store.]

The Old Mill District has been redone with a big shopping area and lots of brick buildings.  The three smoke stacks used to be part of a pulp (?) mill, but now sit atop the REI building where Chad, at long last, got his new sales-tax-free Osprey backpack after 19 years enduring his old, cheap, cramp-inducing pack!

More Deschutes River - it's just so damn nice to look at.

The effects of too much beer?  [Note from Chad: no, this is simply how I look after my first taste of coffee in the morning.]

A Bend mailbox.

Boneyard Brewing - reminiscent of Hess Brewing in San Diego (which lives on as one of our favourites, and is similarly situated in an office park-like building).  We arrived 1 minute before closing - just enough to have a quick taste and get our Ale Trail stamp. 

Our final stop on the Bend Ale Trail, at Silver Moon Brewing.  Apparently, it can be done!

[Note from Chad: And lo, they beheld in the East their reward for such perseverance - an excellent IPA.]