We walked 5 minutes from our hotel room and grabbed some breakfast and coffee downtown. Another 5 minute walk and we were out of downtown and to Drake Park. The first picture is of Mirror Pond, which is essentially a slightly dammed portion of the Deschutes River than runs through town. The park has a similar feel to Manito Park in Spokane with the pond and the large trees.
After working midday we walked over to the Old Mill District for a late lunch. Overall we logged six miles of walking today since we also walked around the paths that loop around the Deschutes. The Old Mill District is also new with lots of higher end shops. From the name you can probably tell that they redid the old industrial area centered around the old logging mill. REI now occupies the building and some of the features from the Old Mill still remain inside.
The area is growing a lot for obvious reasons. Other than the ocean, you can do just about anything outdoorsy in Bend. This includes tubing and paddle boarding and other fun things along the river. My initial impressions are that it's a lot like the nicer parts of Colorado, but with more options. The people are very active (we see lots of joggers and cyclists) and seem very happy. The weirdos seem to have stayed in Portland so far, and it still has somewhat of a small town friendly vibe. The downtown is small and nice, but also with some cool shops and restaurants worth visiting.
You can probably tell that it's sunny and pretty as well from the pictures. These pictures are also shots of some of the more lush areas around downtown. As soon as you head into the mountains you get forests of Ponderosa Pines just like around Colorado Springs and it's more dry. On the easy side of town it's very dry. Sitting at 3,600 feet the air feels like Colorado, light and cool, and the sun is a little more intense than at sea level. It really does feel like a combination of the Northwest and Colorado.
