Day 7: Fathers' Day in Bend - June 21

Despite being surrounded by really great bakeries and other good foodie options, some traditions are too sacred to change, like that of an apple fritter for Jim every Fathers’ Day and birthday.  Jim and the girls were quick to note a place called Dough Nut near our apartment.  Luckily, they make an apple fritter…and a salted caramel donut, and a chai donut, and a peanut-butter-frosted jelly doughnut, and a cinnamon twist.   To make it feel a little better, I insisted we stop at the Produce Stand across the street from Dough Nut for some fresh fruit and at Mothers’ Juice a few doors down for some great juice to put together a true Fathers’ Day breakfast-in-bed feast.

Today we had reserved a white-water rafting trip on the Deschutes River but had some time after our breakfast gluttony before we needed to meet at the rafting company headquarters.  Bend has so many parks along the river right in the middle of the city and they are all so inviting, full of people mostly engaging in water sports – kayaking, paddle boarding, floating, etc.   We decided to spend our time hanging out on the grass of Riverbend Park across the river from the Old Mill district. 

We threw the Frisbee (got to 75 consecutive throws before dropping it…), kicked the soccer ball, and played some cards.  In the middle of our card game, we were hit with a few rain drops and started hearing distant thunder, and then the lightning came  (I know lightening comes first, but that’s not the way we saw it).  We were concerned our rafting would be cancelled but they assured us the weather was very likely to pass and we should show up as planned. 

After checking in with Sun Country Tours, we took a school bus 6 miles up the road to the put in place and by then, thankfully, the rain had completely passed.  We did the Big Eddy Thriller – a 3-mile section of the river that has 5 class III rapids in short succession and a few class I and II to round it out.  This is the first time I’ve been on a white water trip where they take you out of the boat before the major rapids to walk you down the path to look at the water and talk about the route and what sort of paddling we’ll be doing.  Our six-person boat was rounded out by the grandpa/grandson combo of Hunter and Kairo (not paddling).   We listened well to our guide Matt Getz as he led us safely through the wettest route possible.   We all, but especially Rachel sitting in the front, were soaked through and through, by the end.  The water was super cold and the whole experience was indeed thrilling.

After getting off the water there was still time to catch the second half of the free concert (the first in the Sunday summer series) at the Les Schwab Amphitheater – a local band called Broken Down Guitars performed, walk through the Old Mill District (just a really nice outdoor shopping mall it turns out), and head back downtown for some Sunday night pizza and more card playing at Pizza Mondo before saying goodbye to Jim at the airport until next weekend. 

When I got home from dropping Jim off, the girls and I hiked up to the Overturf Butte Overlook – the trailhead just across the street from our apartment.  It is very cool that though this is a neighborhood full of beautiful homes they have left the portion with the highest elevation undeveloped as a huge off-leash area for dogs and the best view of the sunset from the very top.

Bend is a beautiful place – I can see why everyone we meets asks when we’ll be making the move up – seems that is the common story – one visit and you’re hooked.