Journalist By Nature: The Center of the Center

Dueling bronze elk

Occupying the center of the state in Central Oregon, Bend is an attractive destination for its year-round recreational opportunities, winter sunshine and summer dry heat. Just south of town is the High Desert Museum, a well-planned, interactive layout of dioramas, raptor demonstrations, animal art tucked in natural locations, live animal displays and, as the ads always say, much, much more! Meeting at the gate at the opening hour, our group spent four hours touring the displays and multi-sensory dioramas about life on the high desert. We explored a pioneer cabin, chatting with its period-dressed mistress, attended school in a barn and marveled at the saw mill. The 135 acres provides ample room for kids to run and explore, touch some of the displays and soak up some education about pioneer life in this area, the animals that live here and how people can help to preserve the area for future generations. All of the animals in the exhibits have been acquired due to their inability to adapt to the wild because of injuries or captivity-induced behavior. The museum began through the experiences and efforts of a high school boy who raised a wolf cub for a biology class. His enthrallment with nature and the environment was the germination of the museum concept. Bring the kids and grandparents, pack a lunch and make a day of it at the museum! You'll be glad you did.

Brasada Ranch

Driving east of the city we arrived at our next destination: Brasada Ranch, a high end resort for the horse/golf/second home set with expansive facilities catering to those interests. The equestrian center is home to shows and competitions while the resort is booked by corporate reward parties and individual travelers. Three swimming pools, a spa pool, a water slide, a golf course, horse riding trails, golf cart trails, hiking trails and 1800 acres of residential and rental properties complete the resort offerings.

Checking in to the ranch house, we discovered luxury at its ranch best: king sized beds, lavish bathrooms, separate living rooms, big screen TV's in every room, gas fireplaces in each room, balconies and all the amenities that come with upscale resorts. On a scale of one to ten, this put car camping at a minus 5. What a great solution for the slipping fetal sleeping position and vault toilets.

Not wanting to waste a minute of our expensive time we waded into one of the pools and found an artificial current pulling us around the perimeter of its random shape. The raining umbrella of pool water was a portend of real weather to come, but more about that later. The bright yellow water slide made quick work of our adult modesty as we sluiced down its careening trough, screaming like youngsters and laughing at our swimsuit disarray. As we moved on to the nearby spa pools the real rain began, light at first but later falling in giant drops from the mottled grey clouds overhead.

The Game Room at the ranch house was a great way to while away the time as we satisfied our hungries with Happy Hour fare. Friendly, helpful cowboy-clad staffers were at our beck and call, only too happy to serve our every whim. Congregating into one of the suites we laid out our snacks, drinks and movies and made plans for the evening. A downpour nixed plans for exotic s'mores round the campfire so our imaginations turned to hilarious posing in resort-provided white terry robes in the shoji screened soaking tub. No pictures are available at this time. Movies, popcorn and adult beverages made for a fine evening by the fire as we closed out our first resort day.

After a delightful breakfast the following morning on the upper patio of one suite, we rented bicycles and took off for the equestrian center to explore the facilities. Following the golf cart trails we kept ending up at tees so we chugged up the hill to the residential properties, found an actual bike trail and headed for a tour of homes. The overriding architectural style was brown siding, cement shingles and sliding barn door appointments but each home was individually landscaped and some appeared to be year-round residences. Higher and higher we peddled, finally reaching the trailhead to Spirit Rock, one of the higher points on the resort property. Leaving our bikes on the dusty, sandy trail we hoofed it to the top where a rustic bench provided a

resting spot for viewing the expansive valley below. On a clear day you would be able to marvel at the snow-topped peaks of Three Sisters, Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Washington, Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Bachelor. This trip that view was kept hidden by a cloudy front that covered the entire central Oregon area. A light sprinkle of rain signaled time to head down the hill and get set for the closing evening activities. With good friends you don't need much formal entertainment because you bring your own in the form of laughter, silliness and great conversation. So it was with us.

Roger

Checking out on the third morning we determined to explore a bit of Bend before parting ways. We went to the Old Mill area, cruised the shops and had lunch at Anthony's on the Deschutes River. While wandering the mall I encountered Roger, a retired primary grade school teacher waiting for his wife and passing the time by forming string pictures. Drawn in by his amazing skills, I struck up a conversation with him which wasn't difficult to do as he quickly took charge and began to explain how he used string forms to teach kids of all ages, languages and cultures about life principles, mythology stories and anything else he could adapt to his art. His fingers, and occasionally teeth, rapidly formed and changed pictures as he talked teaching philosophy, methodology and general entertainment theories. He was an amazing man to his wife's patient "yup, he does this all the time" comment when she emerged from a store.

Rain was a serious threat all day and the appeal of returning to car camping was diminishing with each raindrop. I had plans to venture further south, camp at Diamond Lake and explore Crater Lake. A hiking friend spontaneously offered me a bedroom at her home in Sun River for the night and I didn't have to think very long before accepting her gracious hospitality. It was a wonderful opportunity to become better acquainted and to find a newish sleeping bag at a thrift store that would save my chilly hide soon enough.