Another weekend trip to our favorite destination- Bend! We loaded up after work on Friday and used our time machine to turn our 8 hour drive into an hour flight. The flight down was clear and the mountains were all out! We get to fly by Mt. Rainer, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Jefferson. We often vary our final destination between KBDN and KRDM for various reasons, but it generally depends on the weather forecast for when we depart for which we choose. Both airports are equal distance from our usual rendezvous point with family. We check the basics and call Leading Edge to secure a last minute reservation. Leading Edge is our choice of FBOs at KRDM, and we always have great service. Since the main terminal is near by, it is never an issue calling for a last minute rental car. Our flights are so dependent on weather we are never able to book things far in advance, especially in the fall, winter, and early spring. We wanted a 4 wheel drive with hopes of doing some off-roading.
Upon our arrival car is waiting. The Little Dude always loves Leading Edge’s fresh popcorn and makes a quick b-line from the plane to the popcorn machine. A quick unload and we’re on the road before dark. We also got lucky- this weekend isn’t so popular with tourist so we get a room at the Oxford Downtown Bend. Our plans for this trip include walking places more often. The room at the Oxford is great. We’re fine with a king bed because our little dude seems to end up in our bed anyways. But our room has a wall to wall sofa that is very wide. So we request some extra pillows and blankets and make it his bed. We have learned that more and more rooms have good sofa beds and this has been really beneficial with kid in tow because we don’t have to bring our Guava travel crib. We try to minimize our BSE (Baby Support Gear) when flying, and have really made a concerted effort to pack as little as possible. For road trips we throw anything and everything in the car and go, but with the plane we have that pesky weight and space issue. Since The Little Dude is 3.5, he is potty trained, can sleep anywhere and eats normal food. Therefore we don’t have to pack like we did in days past.
After we get settled, we meet family for dinner at Pizza Mondo downtown which is always a great bet ad the food is alway super-delicious. We don’t use a lot of Trip Advisor on our Bend trips because my husband grew up there.
The next day we are excited to learn about the Bend Fall Festival which made for such a perfect time to have booked a downtown hotel. They close the main road (NW Wall) to cars. We hit the market just before it opens since we’re never seem to sleep past 8, find breakfast and meet Gramie! La Magie Bakery is close by so we get an excellent meal and roam the Festival. They also have a kid’s area with huge bouncing items, so Fun. We drop the Little Dude off with Grammies for a sleep over and mama and papa have a day and date-night- yum sushi at 5 Fusion!
We spend the next day exploring Camp Sherman, about an hour North of Bend past the quaint town of Sisters. There are tons of places with small cabins that are normally popular in the summer, but deserted on a Sunday night! We Stayed at the Lake Creek Lodge and has a nice 2-room cabin (and nearly the whole resort) all to ourselves. The fun must end so the next morning it was back to the airport to load up and head home. After the preflight activities are complete, we call ground and taxi to runway 11 and off we go. Back to home base in a speedy hour and home in time for dinner.
