I have an urge to name Bend, Oregon as the ‘happily ever
after town’. Though a lot of visitors from neighboring states of Washington,
California and Idaho come to Bend for holidays, it is still yet to be
discovered. It is a great vacation town with so many outdoor activities in and around Bend. My first impression was how clean and healthy the town
looked. My visit to Bend was to reunite with Dan. I had been waiting for this
day for what seemed like a really long time and so it was worth every day I
waited and every penny I spent. (I don't know why the fonts are different size. I tried to be consistent but its not working.)
(Day 1) July 4th, Thursday
Around 4:25 pm the jet landed into the city of
Bend in Oregon. For the first time I observed the range of snow peaked mountains
that was not the Himalayas. How I wished I had my camera with me then. Upon
arrival, I rushed towards Dan. It was a happy moment. The drive to his intern
house was a scenic one. The roads, yards, sidewalks, and houses seemed to be well maintained, clean and eco-friendly. We went straight to his
intern house, said ‘Hi’ to his roommates then off we went to eat a spicy and
delicious Jambalaya wrap at ‘Parilla grill’ (pronounced as ‘Pariya’). Must have been July 4th as it was
packed with young and handsome boys and girls in their bathing suits. They must
have just gotten back from tubing. We
watched the 4th of July fireworks the rest of the evening from the
baseball field in the back yard. It wasn't the best fireworks show I have seen but
laying under the blanket with the man I love definitely made it special.
(Day 2) July 5th, Friday
Coffee from the Dutch Bros and breakfast by
the riverside in Drake Park were very pleasant The agenda for the day: Shopping and
Pilot Butte. There are numerous shopping places in Bend; the Old Mill District
being one of the most popular one. After spending the entire morning there, we
stopped at Mio for sushi. The seaweed salad wasn't quite what I expected and
besides, the piece of clamp shell that was hidden in Dan’s salad and my sushi
falling apart because they didn't cut the right size, just made it worthless.
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| Pilot Butte seen from the streets of Bend. |
In the middle of the town, there is a hill
called “Pilot Butte”. Driving to the top of it reminded me somewhat of Nepal
again. The top had a spectacular 360 view of Bend with Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Broken
top, 3 sisters, Mt. Jefferson, and Mt. Hood on the background.
I took some photos that are below from the top of Pilot Butte.
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| Mt. Bachelor |
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| Mt. Jefferson |
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| Mt Hood, the tallest mountain in Oregon. |
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| One of the Three sisters |
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| One of the Three sisters |
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| One of the Three Sisters |
(Day 3) July 6th, Saturday
The entire Saturday was spent doing outdoor
activities. We started off our day with a tour of the Lava River Cave, cave
made from flowing lava. It was very dark, dusty, smelly, and cold in there. The
thought that the cave might collapse while we were still in there or lava would start pouring out were haunting me the entire time. It was bright and warm when
finally we got out. Next stop was tubing. We got into our bathing suits and headed towards the Deschutes River that flows right through the middle of Bend. The river was packed with people like us with different kinds of tubes. My tube looked like a red floating chair and I was super excited to try on my sun hat that I had bought the previous day. The water was cold but the sun was warm. It was very relaxing sitting on the tube and flowing smoothly down the river. I had a sense of luxury, though we didn't pay a penny to get on the river.
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| Kaliah (JB's girlfriend), JB (Dan's roommate), Dan and I |
After an hour and half of tubing, we were getting late for our Cycle Pub appointment. When we
got there, I was amazed at what we were going to ride for the next 2 hours. A complicated
looking round cycle? The six of us cycled and the driver lady
steered. Simple! While the five of them drank cups and cups of beer and we stopped at almost every bar in Bend, I sipped on my wine. Soon enough I could feel the
buzz. Then the driver lady starts talking to me in Nepali when I told her where
I am from. She said “Kaha jane ho? Mero baini?” It was a day
to remember. We went for a drink afterwards. Dan and I shared a piece of black forest
cake and called it a day.
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| Jennifer, our driver went to Nepal in the 90s and can say "Kaha Jane ho? Mero Baini". |
Day 4 July 7th Sunday
Today was the day for that motorcycle ride I
had been waiting for so long. All geared up and helmet on; we rode about 25 minutes with
the last 10 minutes of gravel road to the Tumalo Falls. It was a splendid site
to see the falls. You could even go behind the waterfall, like in the movies. I
need not say much about this grand waterfall in the State Park. Please look at
the pictures below. On the way back, we went on a ride down a dirt road which was pretty scary for me. 
It was also the day for our special sunset dinner at
Mt. Bachelor. As we drove closer to the foot of the mountain, I freaked out
when I saw the gigantic mountain right in front of us. We took a ski lift up
the mountain. The views were simply amazing. We watched the view in aw for a
little bit, and then it was time for our much awaited dinner. Super hungry I got some ribs
and Dan got a filet with cauliflower and tomatoes with blue cheese on the side.
It was a dinner to savor. Soon enough the sun started setting and the mountains
changed its color to orange. We took some photos and headed down the ski lift.
As it was cold, we were offered a blanket and we both cuddled up on the
short ride back to the foot of the mountain.
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| Mt. Bachelor |
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| Riding up on the ski lift of Mt. Bachelor |
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| Summit of Mt. Bachelor |
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| Spectacular view from Mt. Bachelor |
As I had enjoyed tubing on Saturday, Dan gave
up preparing for his compass teaching class and we decided to go tubing again. As
we were floating on the river, we observed the houses on the side whose
backyard reached right to the river. Some owners were sun bathing and some were letting their dogs in the river. How nice would it be to own a house like that? One
could also see the view of Mt. Bachelor from the river. After tubing, we went
for sushi at Toma. Mondays half off sushi was something Dan and his roommates did every week. The sushi and seaweed salad were far better than Mio’s. When we were done, we went for a movie. We watched World War Z and loved it. I recommend you watch it if you still haven’t. That was the
end of my last day in Bend.
Day 6, July 9th Tuesday
After a quick Dutch Bros coffee, we went to
Parilla Grill again for the last Jambalaya wrap and then headed straight for
the airport. Who knew that my flight would be delayed for 3 and half hours!
Below are some more photos from the trip. Feel free to check it out here and also in my Facebook page.
