Around the BEND

It was time to see some of the area around Bend, Oregon so we all hopped in the truck and headed out.  Our first stop was Pilot Butte.

Pilot Butte is an extinct cinder cone volcano which rises nearly 500 feet above the surrounding plains. Bend is one of four cities in the United States to have a volcano within its boundaries. The land was given to the state in 1927 in memory of Terrence Hardington Foley, by his Bend business associates. Additional tracts were purchased in 1941. A prominent topographic feature, Pilot Butte was a landmark that guided wagon train immigrants who sought a safe crossing of the Deschutes River.
I didn't get a picture of the volcano from a distance so I borrowed this one from Wikipedia -

 There are trails up but since we aren't hiking this year we drove up and then spent time enjoying the views.  I am not sure who this young lady was but I liked her pose.

Lou, Vivian and Kirby

From Pilot Butte we headed up towards Mount Bachelor.  There is a large ski resort there but it was closed for the summer.  The drive was gorgeous and our destination was water.  We stopped at each lake we could find.  We should have planned ahead and brought a picnic but we didn't think of it.

Since we didn't think to bring a picnic we sort of stumbled upon Cascade Lakes Brewing and had a great lunch there - with a brew of course!

What a fun day it was!