BECK in Bend!

In Bend, there is one major music venue in the town, which is an outdoor amphitheatre that sits next to the Deschutes river on a grass-covered hill. To kick off the music season, the first three days they hosted the Shins, Tenacious D and Beck. The first night we missed out on an awesome Shins concert, but the next night for Tenacious D ( Jack Black and Kyle Gass's comedic SpinalTap type band!) We watched from a bridge over the Deschutes for a while. I WOULD ADVISE KIDS UNDER 16 TO WEAR SOUND PROOF HEADPHONES AND WEAR SOMETHING TO BLOCK YOUR EYES WITH TOO! Before we head to every place on trip, I go online to check if there are any bands playing there and when I found out that Beck was playing, we immediately bought tickets. The reason we bought them is because he is my favorite band and my family all likes his music too! He was touring with his original band from the late 90's, so there was awesome energy! I'm sorry Uncle Scott, but Beck beat the MGMT concert by a little bit....What a show! They played all of his classics including: Loser, Where It's At and E-Pro. Another cool thing about the amphitheater, is that there are great food stands from local supporting restaurants that served awesome food. For those who don't know who Beck is, I STRONGLY encourage you to see him! Jack

Ski & Bike Memorial Day weekend

Hank and I finished off the ski season with a fantastic day of fresh snow on the mountain while it was  65 degrees and sunny back in town.  Bend was buzzing as skiing, snowboarding, kayaking and biking were all in full swing the same day! We rented mountain bikes and hit the trails Sunday, awesome experience on the Bend trail system. Heading to the Beck concert tonight in the park, great weekend!

Another GREAT day with our friends at The Family Kitchen

What an special place!  We feel blessed to have had the opportunity to meet and work with these remarkable people.

Summit baseball rally SHATTERS our truck!

When we arrived at the Summit Storm high school baseball playoff game, we pulled up into a parking spot right up against the fence so we could watch inside the car because it was about 55 degrees. G, my dad, and I jumped out and ran down the parking lot to get a better view of the batter. One of the first pitches we saw, was a foul ball over the fence, "It's heading toward our car!" We all laughed and kept on watching the game as the batter struck out. Jack was running over to us yelling, "That was our car that it hit and the windshield cracked." We looked at him and said, "Are you kidding me?" He told us to follow him, I ran in front of him and sprinted to the windshield, there was a big crack running down the middle. "Uh oh" I whispered to myself, my dad and Grant came next and had the same expression on their faces. Soon we just had to let it go and watch the game for a little. I looked at the scoreboard and it was already the bottom of the 7th, the last inning and number one seeded Summit high school was losing 6 to 1. My dad said, "You want to hit the road?"  "Not really its only a 5 run game and last inning there was bases loaded so why not just stay in case of a rally?"  "Sounds like a plan," he answered. The come back started out with a bunch of hits and they scored 2 runs which made the score 6-3. The next guy struck out and there was 1 out, the next batter came into the plate with a man on 2nd and 3rd. First pitch ball, second pitch strike, third pitch strike, fourth pitch, 3 RUN HOMERUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "Its going into to extras!" Everybody cheered. By then it was getting late and our family had to leave. When we got home we checked the score and Summit ended up winning on a walk off homerun in the 9th, what a game!  hank

Imelda Marcos or Tobias Trio?

Seriously??  Just starting to think about packing up the Beast and driving to Washington and realizing that I will have to dedicate an entire duffel to sneakers...and this pile doesn't even include the ONE shoe Jack has lost (?) or what is currently on their feet!!!

Neighborhood Impact

We are so lucky to have met Josh Hart - a wonderful man who has hooked up with fantastic volunteering opportunities while we've been in Bend.  Our most recent trip was to a private, non-profit called Neighborhood Impact; which is a food bank that serves over 19,000 people a month in three counties throughout Central Oregon.  After a very successful food drive, NI needed a bunch of help sorting the 16,000 pounds of food that needed to make its way to the smaller organizations in the nearby towns...so off we went!  The boys learned a lot about small donations actually make a difference and how desperately they are needed. On top of that, they had a blast transferring the donations from the huge boxes they were stored in, into the more manageable sized boxes that would ship out.  After about 1/2 hour of packing, I was horrified to see that Hank and Grant had packed according to what they would like to receive - boxes filled exclusively with the likes of Lucky Charms, Instant Jello, Oreo Cookies and Nerds.  Thankfully I was relieved of the potential diabetic disaster that my family was creating after finding out that the boxes wouldn't be given directly to the families, but sorted onto shelves at the individual destinations. Thanks, Josh!

Pole, Peddle, Paddle

The town was rockin' yesterday for the annual Pole, Peddle, Paddle, where over 3500 racers made their way from the top of Mt. Bachelor to the Les Schwab Amphitheater in the center of town. It is Bend's most talked about event, so we decided...when in Rome.
Jack started our team on the downhill race course (on his tele-skis...which are great for transitioning into after running 200 feet up-hill to the start of the race) and finished at the base of the mountain where he tagged Grant, who was poised and ready for his 5 mile skate ski.  Although not a big fan of Nordic skiing, Grant made it happen by racing comfortably in his pj bottoms. He finished his race and I started the 22 mile bike ride from Mt. Bachelor into the town of Bend. It was pretty exhilarating racing down 2500 feet of elevation - such a change in both weather and speed!  Jay took it from there, running 5 miles to the Deschutes River and then he and Jack jumped in a double kayak and paddled 1 1/2 miles, both with and against the current.  Finally, Hank took us home with a 1/2 mile sprint to the finish.
It was such a well done festival/event...very inspiring as competitor's ages ranged from 86 to 10 in the Individual category. Of course there were the hard-core athletes, including a few Olympians; but thanks to the "Best Dressed" category,  it was also extremely laid-back as most others were traveling in full-out costumes.  Our favorite was the Dumb and Dumber team, clad in baby blue and peach tuxes and a working light blue moped! The guy in the speedo was pretty funny, as well.  Best of all, the event finished with a huge party. The Amphitheater was packed with about 5,000 people who were drinking local brew out of their own mugs, eating great food and listening to live music.  It may be worth a trip back next year to do it again!  Julie

The Family Kitchen

Our crew had a fantastic experience today, sharing the morning with a truly inspirational group. The Family Kitchen is a non-profit in Bend that provides over 4000 meals a month to those in need.  We were invited to help serve lunch to a group of over 100 people from the area this morning. The Family Kitchen mission is to provide those in need with a healthy meal 6 times a week. They do it in a quiet setting that allows those participating to have a dignified and friendly experience. Our new friend Cindy runs a tight ship, making sure everyone leaves full and with a smile. Her team is remarkable focusing on the details that go into each meal, everyone is treated with respect. The community that we were privileged to spend time with, were so appreciative of everything that was provided. We look forward to spending more time in the Kitchen before we leave Bend.  Jay

Come as you are....everyone is welcome in the family kitchen!

Tumalo Falls

Took a trip to Tumalo Falls today, 100 foot waterfall and pretty sure we saw a "double rainbow...."

Memorable Mother's Day

The kids even wore their "church shirts" to breakfast in my honor.

Great kayak sculpture at one of the many town parks along the river.

Spent a great day on the festive Deschuttes River, where we went running, paddle boarding and enjoyed the gorgeous weather.  It was a nice not having the choice of a house project such as mulching the trees or planting spring flower pots...my desirable Mother's Day pastimes.  Instead I celebrated with a great brunch at my favorite place in Bend, an active afternoon outside, a gourmet Jay-cooked meal, and a kid's special dessert creation...all at our cute, little rental house.  The only thing missing was my Mom!!