Saturday in Bend

This is kind of like playing "Where in the world is Sunny". Today I am in Bend, OR. Having braved an Oregon snow storm (don't laugh Coloradoans) over the Mackenzie-Santiam Pass last night with chains on the front tires of my 4-wheel drive vehicle, I ventured out into the chilly mountain morning to snowshoe in the forests around Sun River, OR. Accompany me on this benign adventure was a new friend, Sarah, a life-time Pacific Northwest inhabitant with a taste for tri and the unknown as great as mine.
While Sarah is improving herself as a physical therapist at a conference this afternoon, I napped in a hotel bed more comfortable than mine (sad) and then relocated to a coffee shop that actually brews my new favorite jo - Stumptown. Kids, look 'em up on-line. There is only one-way to describe the mocha in front of me, and that is "ridiculously delicious". I have already mail-ordered and brewed two of their bean/roast offerings since moving to Corvallis, and will be doing so again soon.
Now, Bend....Ahh. It's feels like home, my recently vacated Boulder home. There is a unique coffee shop on every other corner (I am in Thump Coffee, right now), over-priced clothing stores selling weather and sport appropriate clothing for the region (no Forever21 or Limited around here), SUVs and Subarus rule the streets, walkers are always given the right-of-way, and the local running store, while not named after Bend, has a reputation in the region as big as any. I even just saw a guy walking around in Teva flipflops in 40 °C temps. But, those are the things that feel like home. What Bend adds: a Tea shop with >100 varieties of tea and an atmosphere to rival any bookshop, yoga studio, coffee house, or living room; a ski resort less than 15 miles away that is every bit as good as Eldora; miles and miles of forest trails over soft pine needles that I will be exploring as soon as the thaw hits the region.
So, the one thing Bend lacks for me... the friends I left behind in Boulder. So come on down, or up, or over, whichever way you hold your map. I miss you all.