Bend and Beyond

We drove down to Bend, OR (see Sarah's pics) with the trailer last weekend to see Carrie and do a bit of exploring. We didn't end up spending much time in Bend(see Michal's photos) itself, except for breakfast on Friday morning before hitting the slopes. (We highly recommend the Ocean Roll for tasty goodness.) Michal and Carrie hit the slopes of Mt. Bachelor while I relaxed with a book in the lodge. Then we packed up and hit the road for another two hours to Umpqua National Forest, just north of Crater Lake. We went in search of hot springs, but found several other things as well: snow in the pass, an awesome campground, a fun canal and an incredible waterfall. After spending the better part of Saturday in the hot spring quest and enjoyment, we drove back towards Bend.
The combination of snow conditions (in April!) and the Beetle kept us from both the lava casts and tube, so we detoured to the High Desert Museum for a couple of hours. They had a desertarium, which made it way cooler than most natural history museums. We then spent some time on the loop around the visitor center (which was still closed for the season) of Lava Lands National Monument.
To wrap up our trip, we made one final stop on the return ride at the Crooked River Bridge not too far north of Bend. At the gorge there, three bridges cross the river: one old highway bridge that's now visitor friendly, one new highway bridge, and one railroad bridge.
Not bad for a long weekend. Thanks for hosting, Carrie!