Bender

Heading out to Bend our hearts sank a little watching the gas gauge in the Truckster drop... long gone are the days of the Robot's Japanese gas mileage. Clearly, we'd planned for this, but it was still hard to watch. We rolled into the Juniper Pool Saturday afternoon to see my little sister Ruby swim at the weekend meet. Rubicon was up bright and early in the hot Bend sun, swimming her ass off against the other kids in the under-12-year-old bracket. She took several seconds off her best times in all of her events and looked pretty wiped out by the end of the day.

Rosy cheeked and sunburned, we loaded up into the Truckster and Burb and drove to the center of town where we inflated a massive 4 person inner-tube and the girls got into their kayaks. We loaded a wet bag full of beer and blatantly disregarded the open container laws that we later learned about as we floated the Deschutes River with hundreds of other party goers in boats, tubes, kayaks, and air mattresses. We could've floated that river forever, it was so relaxing and the weather perfect. 

We split with the family for the evening to catch up with friends Mitch and Lesley who live in Bend. We had hopes of getting over to the Deschutes Brewery while in town, but Mitch and Lesley had graciously invited us to a friend's house who were barbecuing that night. The only requirement the homeowner had for us to attend was that we "didn't suck." Knowing full well that we in fact do not suck, we headed to the corner of 14th and Davenport. Our hosts for the evening were Matt, the executive chef of the Deschutes Brewery and his fabulous wife Jill acting as prep chef chopping the biggest mushrooms we've ever seen. The spread for the evening was incredible... Grilled asparagus, tomatoes and hearts of palm, a napa cabbage salad, pork and lamb shanks with walnuts and roasted garlic, wild black rice, growlers full of Deschutes beer, and endless bottles of wine. The company wasn't too shabby either and we could see why they didn't want sucky people to infiltrate their close knit clan of cool people. The beer, wine, and conversation flowed well into the evening. There was even a massive dog party in the back yard that KK eventually joined and managed to keep it cool. We offered free tours of the van in exchange for letting us use their bathroom and feeding us. When it was over I hugged Jill so hard in appreciation that I hugged her full glass of red wine right out of her hand. Red wine and glass shattered all over her beautiful 1920's hardwood floors, I shouted "Mazel tov!" and quickly exited. I think, despite the wine glass incident, we might just have made some new really great friends in central Oregon. 

Afterwards we headed to Mitch and Lesley's amazing home on the other side of town. The dog party continued with their two mellow black labs Sara and Lacy. Amazingly enough, KK and these girls kicked it in the back yard with hardly a scuffle. We relaxed in their huge back yard by the fire pit drinking Tecate, PBR, and Rainier well into the night and there was some drunk talk about rock climbing the next morning. When we awoke we remembered that we needed to get back to Hillsboro and our hosts were actually heading to the Oregon coast to meet up with their families. So instead of physical exercise, we ate at a great little bagel joint downtown. Having worked in the restaurant industry in the past, Mitch and Lesley have these amazing connections... Cohen, co-owner of Rockin Dave's made us breakfast on the bagel of the week, lemon pepper and cheddar. We even had BM's with pickled green beans, carrots and onions. A bagel shop that sells local beer AND Bloody Marys!?!?! Is this town for real? 

We found it hard to leave this morning but we all needed to get on the road. So stoked this weekend in Bend finally came to fruition as it was well worth the hangover and early onset of both renal and liver failure. Good times, good food, and good people. Did we mention that our dog got along with everyone too?!?! There must be something in the water here....

Captain Kai at the helm

Happy Ceilidh

That there is an RV, Clark!

Lacy, the cuddlebunny