We decided to stop at Bend, Oregon on our way Southwest to California and spent most of our time at the High Desert Museum followed by a scenic tour over to the West side of the Cascade Mountains and back.

High Desert Museum

Mare and Foal made from Barbed Wire!

This is a privately run non-profit, well-appointed and maintained museum covering the wildlife and history of this area. We enjoyed meeting the Birds of Prey, Otters, and Cheryl particularly enjoyed the Indian Nations of the Columbia River Plateau exhibit.

Birds of Prey

The birds of prey are not caged but are free to roam. All of them have a reason to be there, whether because of an injury or having been born in captivity. An easy source of food keeps them in the area and the demonstration we saw showed how they can be trained to show off their hunting skills.
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Otters

We found a pair of Otters living in a pool and waterfall area simulating the environment they would experience in the wild.
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From Cheryl: My Love of Indian Art

The traditional clothing and jewelry were magnificent and amazing in detail. I just loved what the art represented, both the practical and the ornate. To think of the hours spent creating these pieces is mind boggling. But then, winter was an opportunity to create and tell family stories, passing along skills and history to the next generation.
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Cascade Mountains

We took a ‘scenic tour’ in our van over the top of the Cascade Range NW of Bend via the town of Sisters to the West side of the mountains where we found Tumalo Falls. We then traveled back via the tortuous and narrow Old McKenzie Highway over the summit back to Sisters. The extent of (historically) recent volcanic remains we found as we traveled over the summit surprised us and it was interesting to see the trees and vegetation gradually reclaiming their environment.
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  • Bend, Oregon

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    Museum of the Hight Desert, Bend, Oregon

  • 2 Comments on “Bend – Oregon”

    1. Des photos dignes d’être mises dans National Geographic.
      From Cheryl: We are so happy that you love the photos as much as we are having fun taking them and producing them for the blog. You are so kind to equate them to National Geographic! I’m sure you knew people in Nice who were harmed. It was such a horrible tragedy. Why won’t it end? Some beings are just not very advanced and you have to feel pretty sorry that they are living in a mediaeval frame of mind. Hope all is well with you and Cheesecake. Hugs from us both.

    2. Hi, Colin and Cheryl, Bend is one of the places on your tour that we’ve actually visited. Sid’s son, Rick, lives in Eugene. We spent a month out there right after I retired in 2003. We took a trip to Bend and stayed at a little motel with Alpacas grazing right outside our window. Terrific view of the Three Sisters and we even saw the otters!
      From Cheryl: So glad you experienced Bend for a month. Those Sister Mountains are amazing, aren’t they? Also glad you saw Alpaca grazing (we might have seen those too) and the otters. Glad these were good memories for you.

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