This may have been my favorite drive of the trip, as we ignored Mapquest entirely and chose the longer route to Bend, part of which I believe is an Oregon scenic byway. The route wound through several national forests and long stretches of open countryside. It seemed like we barely saw another car until we got within an hour or so of Bend. This made for an amazing driving atmosphere. We had no idea how long it would take - I still don't know how long we drove, but I think it was the longest stretch - and we spent the entire time engrossed in conversation, without any music or distractions. The tone of the road trip had been pretty well set by that point: spending the morning wrapping up whatever we felt that we needed to do before leaving our destination (strolling, hiking, eating, exploring), setting a leisurely pace and bothering only with the loosest timelines, hitting the road sometime between late morning and late afternoon, and arriving at our next stop by evening. We had also eased deep into our comfort levels with each other by this point and, day by day, covered each possible topic of conversation about one another's lives in depth - past, present, future, both the mundane and the significant.
Bend was in many ways just how I'd imagined it: a relaxed, lovely little town with so much natural beauty it would be impossible to experience it in the short time we were there. Of all the places we visited, I was so, so glad to have the advantage of staying with hosts who knew and loved Bend and could share stories of their adventures there, since we didn't have the time to try out the biking, river running, hiking, camping, and daytripping they told us about. But what an incredible place to live, surrounded by so many options! I feel lucky to live in Utah for similar reasons...but Bend had such a laid-back, friendly vibe that is hard to replicate in a larger city (too much anonymity), impossible to find in most suburbs (too much isolation), and, I'd imagine, rare in smaller towns and rural areas as well. If anything, I would have expected to see more of an au naturale, eco-groovy, hippie-dippy type of aesthetic going on in Bend. It was charming to me the way they seem to have that mixed with a sort of old-fashioned American family-friendly energy - the nuclear family, the strollers, the Costcos and Targets just on the fringes of town. Like a jeans-and-tshirt but ready-to-whip-out-the-gore-tex-at-any-moment type of town, if you know what I mean.
Leaving all sweeping generalizations aside, our very specific experience in Bend was thanks to two wonderful Couchsurfing friends, Jodell and Eric. Jodell was gracious enough to host us at her condo with very little notice and spend time showing us around. She and Eric both were so friendly, easygoing, and eager to share travel stories and experiences with us as well as all the little local tidbits about their city and state. We happened to be in town for the Bite of Bend festival, so it was great to see so many Bendians (?Bendites? Bendonians?) out and about. The four of us went out to a delicious Sunday brunch at Mother's Juice Cafe and lucked out with two-for-one coupons and gorgeous outdoor-eating weather on their patio. The city was easily compact enough to walk everywhere, so we were able to take in the views from Drake Park along the Deschutes River on the way to breakfast and stroll through all of the quaint downtown (and the Bite of Bend) on the way home. Our local Bendonian (I like this one the best) hosts hooked us up with way more than a couch - a really genuine glimpse into their community, lots of great conversation, tips for spots to check out on the rest of our trip, and a reference to a friend in Portland - that I feel so grateful for.
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