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| Peregrine Falcon Choosing which places of interest to visit during our short stay in Bend was a bit of a challenge. First stop was The High Desert Museum. The museum is large enough that you cannot experience everything in one day. Raptors in Flight was our favorite. We walked to the exhibit area arriving near the end of the group. Location is everything. There were a few bench seats available so we sat there instead of on the ground. What we did not realize is that our seats were in front of one of the five or so "ghost"* trees where a handler puts food treats for the birds to encourage them to fly. Raptors would fly straight toward us. A few times, the leather strips attached to a raptor's leg, called bewits, would tickle Rich's hair. Close and exciting. The raptors are all rescue birds. We loved it! |
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Rich being goofy at the museum. There are seventeen miles of old lava flows in Bend. Astronauts have been known to visit and practice walking on the very rocky ground as seen in the background of the photo. |
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| Paintbrush Lava Cast Forest, beautiful and stark, surprised us with a few blooming plants, butterflies, birds and chipmunks. |
The last lava flow at Lava Cast Forest was about 1300 years ago. Slowly, plants and trees are returning. Beautiful twisted downed trees show the creative resiliency of nature. Twisting allows the trees to retain water more efficiently.
The High Desert Museum and Lava Cast Forest were the two new places we visited.
We had an exciting moment while kayaking the Little Deschutes River. Not paying enough attention the kayak was heading toward a dead very dense bush. Not thinking we both leaned away from the bush and tipped the kayak over. Fortunately, the Little Deschutes isn't very deep, three to four feet, and is slow moving. We managed to get back in the kayak without tipping over again. It was an exciting kayaking experience.
The Big Flow, one mile of obsidian, and Lava River Cave, a mile long lava tube, are two places we have visited before and absolutely love. Lava River Cave at about 45 degrees in temperature was the perfect place to spend a 95 degree afternoon.
As our time in Bend comes to a close, we reflect on the many wonders of the earth and the stark beauty of the area.
* ghost tree. My maternal grandmother called a standing dead tree, gray with no bark, a ghost tree.
