Bend, Oregon - One of My Very Favorite Places!

We next moved on to Bend, Oregon, one of my very favorite places. There are trails and beautiful homes right along the Deschutes River that flows right through town.

When we were there, they were having an event where they released 10's of thousands of rubber duckies. If you found the right one, you could win a car!

We also went to visit another McMenamins, converted from an old school into an eclectic mix of various venues.

We walked around the Old Mill District in Bend. The Old Mill is now a big REI store.

There were beautiful flowers in the Old Mill District too.

One of my favorite things to do in the area is to go to Tumalo Falls.

If you can find the secret trail, you can walk down to the base of the falls and get drenched!

We also went out to see some of the many lakes nearby. First up was Todd Lake -

Where we got a good look at Broken Top Mountain.

And then to my favorite, Sparks Lake.

The trail there is dedicated to Ray Atkenson, Oregon's late Photographer Laureate. My father knew him, so this picture is for my father.

Cute little Ground Squirrels were all over the place, and expected something in return for their cuteness, but they didn't get it from us...

We finished up at Devils Lake.

And then on another day, we walked along the Deschutes River to see some of the waterfalls there. This is Dillon Falls -

And Benham Falls, but there were others. Unfortunately, we just missed seeing kayakers going over the falls.

We also visited the town of Sisters, were I neglected to take any photos, except of this cute little deer, loading up on crabapples.