Bend There, Done That

As in Bend, Oregon (www.visitbend.com). For Will's birthday I planned a fabulous (if I do say so myself) weekend for him doing all the things he loves to do.  We drove down Thursday afternoon and arrived at our hotel just in time for a beer and a cyclocross movie.  I found a really cool hotel for us to stay in during our visit; it was an old Catholic school that was taken over by a PNW hotelier and made into an entertaining complex of sorts.  Each hotel he owns is different and very unique.  Ours had mosaic soaking tubs (Turkish-style), a few bars, local brewery, outdoor fire-pits, and a movie theater. 

http://www.mcmenamins.com/421-old-st-francis-school-home

Friday morning, we ate a delicious breakfast at the Victorian Cafe (http://www.victoriancafebend.com) then headed out to Phil's Trail complex to ride some of Bend's famous mountain bike trails. It was chilly in the morning but warmed up to become a nice, sunny day.  My favorite part was the 'Whoops' trail -- it's a bunch of swervy, bumps and jumps and was  lot of fun to ride. It was slightly snow-covered so a bit tricky to ride in parts.

About to ride the 'Whoops.'

The Three Sisters

After riding, we cleaned up and went out to some local breweries.  Will's favorite was the Boneyard brewery - not sure if it's because of the beer or because they gave him a hat for his birthday :)  We finished off the evening with a great brick-oven pizza dinner at Jackson's Corner, then more brew at McMineman's.

Saturday we headed out to Smith Rock to rock climb.  Our guide, Gabe, taught us how to crack climb, which was awesome.  The rock at Smith is Tuff and Basalt which makes for great climbing.  We started with a drizzly morning, but the sun came out around noon to make for a beautiful day.  An eagle also came out to visit us during our stay.  

Will 'stemming.'

Will at the top of a crack climb.

Will climbing 'Five Gallon Buckets' route.

 

There I go... up the wall.  I found a plastic pumpkin
inside one of the holes filled with Halloween candy.. I
really earned my mini Snickers!

 

Me at the top of a crack climb.

Saturday night we ate dinner at Hola! then went to a brewery or two and sat by the fire.  We relaxed in the soaking tubs at our hotel then went to bed. Sunday we went on a trail run along the Deschutes River then had another delicious brunch at a restaurant called Chow. We finished our stay by watching a Halloween cyclocross race at the Old Mill District.  It was quite entertaining to see cyclists race around a track in costumes...especially the men wearing dresses!  Bend was lovely and had a ton to do -- we really enjoyed our stay and I'm sure you would too!

 

Conquering McClellan Butte

Yesterday we went on a hike to McClellan Butte (http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/mcclellan-butte). It was a 9.0 mile round-trip hike and we gained 3,700 ft of elevation.  Needless to say, it was a steep hike up the mountain, but worth it.  This was probably my favorite hike we've gone on since we moved here.  It's very peaceful and quiet, not a lot of people use this trail, has beautiful scenery and the top has a really fun scramble.

We started the trip on a pretty flat fire road before entering the trail and as I was walking down the road, a HUGE elk with a giant rack stood about 50 feet in front of me!  It was beautiful and magical --- it looked like Santa Claus's sleigh should have been there (if there was snow).  Once it saw me, it turned and ran away, unfortunately, I didn't get a photo.  Just after that, a pretty black lab named Jackson came running out of the trail with his owners dragging behind.  He was such a sweet dog and had so much energy --- he loved being out in the woods!  Jackson accompanied us for about the first half of the hike and would run back and check on his owners every now and then (they were slower than us), making sure they were still coming.  Well, the fun ended for him when he and a little Yorkie got into a tussle.  I blame the Yorkie because it kept trying to get up in Jackson's business.  Nevertheless, I think Jackson and his owners turned around at that point.

Will playing with Jackson.

We continued up the trail, gaining elevation rather quickly until reaching the summit.  The views from the top were worth the hike up and we enjoyed a nice Class 3 scramble up to the very top.  

Overlook on the trail, Cascades.

About to climb up the Butte.

Very top --- after scrambling up.
The views were AMAZING!

Me, on the way down, acting like I'm the
giant elk we saw earlier.

Will coming down the scramble.

Random Updates

Good morning,

This post is a compilation of random photos from the past two weeks.  I realized I had a few different things to post about when downloading my photos off my phone, so here's a quick snapshot of what I've been up to post-Rainier.

Bellevue Fashion Week
A few friends from Junior League and I went to a fashion show in Bellevue.  It was really fun --- I'd never been to a 'real' fashion show before.  It featured local, independent designers and was a competition.  One of the designers included beautiful scarves, designed by one of the JLS (http://www.jrleagueseattle.org/) Northwest artists, Juan Alonso (www.juanalonso.info).  And... his designer won!

Nicole, Devon, me, Rachel.
Thanks for organizing this fun outing, Nicole!

Taking in Beautiful Seattle Scenery
We're having such a lovely October here.  It's cool in the mornings but warms up to about 65-70 degrees during the day and has been sunny for as long as I can remember.  I'm soaking as much in before the winter greyness comes :)  Here are a few photos from just around town this past week. I'm fortunate to live in such a beautiful place.

Looking out my window at work -- do you see the full moon!?

Beautiful sunset, coming home from the gym.

Walking at Discovery Park at the North Beach
one lazy weekend morning.