Bend, Oregon

I was in Bend, Oregon last week working. Usually, a couple of us go over for a quick 2-3 day trip, but I did it myself this time, which took a whole week. The bonus was that I had time to visit my aunt Becky and her family. I've been over there a few times working, but I've always been sharing a vehicle and didn't have much free time anyway. But finally I got to see her and get a tour around Bend.

Bend is growing at a ridiculous pace. When Becky moved there 18 years ago, Bend had a population of about 10,000 people. Today the sign on the way into town says 75,000. You can't swing a cat without hitting a new development (but it's fun to try). And according to Becky, the median house price right now is in the neighborhood of $800,000. All these numbers are according to my cousin, and like me, he remembers obscure figures pretty well, so even if they are not exact, they are well in the ball park. Nobody knows quite what all these new residents do for a living. There must be a lot of retirees, since there hasn't been a corresponding increase in industry, at least not the type of jobs that by $800,000 houses.

Also, for some reason, Bend has fallen in love with traffic circles. I hate traffic circles. I think they made a lot more sense in horse and buggy times. Right now they just make it impossible to move if you are to the right of the busy road entering the circle.

Like an idiot, I took a camera, but I never had it with me with my relatives or wandering around Bend. I especially would have like to get some pictures from the top of Pilot Butte. It is either a tall hill or a small mountain right in the center of Bend and has an excellent view all the way around, including something like 8 or 10 snow-capped peaks in the Cascade Range.

I did however get some pictures on the way home.

This picture show Broken Top mountain on the left and the Three Sisters in the center and the right.



This is Mount Washington. It is about the pointiest mountain I've ever seen, other than the Matterhorn. I will admit that I didn't so much see the Matterhorn. More like the replica of the Matterhorn at Disneyland, which had a very fun roller coaster in it. Great fun for a ten year old anyway.



This is Detroit Dam, a hydroelectric project on the Santiam River. I don't know how big it is exactly, but it seems REALLY tall when you are standing on it. There was a small visitor center in that tower, but it has been "closed for security reasons". I guess the fact that fishermen can carry anything they want out onto the dam is not a security risk, but looking at maps and dioramas is.



This is Detroit Lake, enclosed by the dam. It is a popular recreation area with lots of boating and fishing. The rest of the trip back was pretty much Salem and I-5, neither of which are very photogenic.