We Arrive in Oregon!

 

Greetings from Oregon!

To begin our 2025 travels, we (Lynnae and Denis) left Tampa on an uneventful flight to Bend, Oregon on June 3. I won't trouble you with all the details of getting our truck and trailer out of storage and dealing with some upgrades and repairs to those vehicles. Suffice it to say that it took nearly two weeks to get those things handled, and we had a fine time living with our son Jeff and daughter-in-law Katie, and exploring their beautiful neighborhood and the pleasant little city of  Bend. Our son's neighborhood is about 25 years old but incorporates very enlightened planning: native pine and juniper trees are thickly-scattered among the houses, utilities are buried, each row of houses is backed by an alley for hiding garages and garbage cans, the houses are all craftsman-style bungalows, the landscaping is predominately native plants and rocks, and parks are abundant.

 Walking through these streets in the  temperate Oregon climate is a joy.

Once we got all our machinery running well, we moved to  our first campground at Tumalo
State Park, just outside of Bend.  We did our final food stocking and deep trailer cleaning and finally breathed deeply. The campground is lovely and the Deschutes River is just across the road.  We hiked several miles down the river one day and had a nice Fathers Day with Mexican food and a card game.

Deschutes River near Tumalo SP

The intrepid hiker

Our second home

The local joke is you can't live in Bend unless you drive a Subaru Crosstrek with at bike rack, a kayak carrier and at least two dogs. We spent a few hours exploring downtown Bend (did I mention that it's a lovely city?), and prepared to head south for a few weeks of exploring more of the high desert east of the Cascades and the Crater Lake area.  I'll report on those next installment!

The Deschutes River runs through the heart of Bend with the Cascade Range in the distance

Bend in a nutshell 😀