Bend, Redmond, and Sisters

Jill's Journal: We’ve been busy the last few days in Bend and the neighboring small towns of Redmond and Sisters. Oregon has an abundance of wonderful regions, but this one might be our favorite. Of course, I’m saying that in the middle of what has turned out to be a late but beautiful summer…I can’t guarantee I’d be so enthusiastic in the dead of winter.

This picture overlooking Bend toward the Sisters was taken from the summit of Pilot Butte, a cinder cone in Bend.

From the same spot, overlooking Bend toward Mt. Jefferson.

One of Central Oregon’s iconic names is Goody’s, a chocolate and ice cream maker. The girls and I took the factory tour.

They got to hold cocoa pods and learn how the beans inside are dried and separated into cocoa nibs and cocoa hulls. Cocoa butter and cocoa powder are byproducts. It’s the nibs that make the base of chocolate; hulls are best used as mulch.

All of Goody’s chocolate is made by hand. Chocolate makers like this lady turn out 500 pounds of chocolate a week. It’s barely a drop in the bucket compared to a giant like Hershey’s, but it’s the perfect amount to satisfy Central Oregon’s collective sweet tooth.

Goody’s ice cream is 16% cream; we were told ice cream is usually 12-13% cream. No wonder that sample they gave us was so rich and delicious! Goody’s makes 120 gallons of ice cream daily.

The cute town of Redmond held a highlight for me. I loved driving past the fields of Painted Desert Farm, a small Thoroughbred farm known throughout the industry for their unusual niche of colored Thoroughbreds. Rob joked, “Anyone can breed a fast horse, but only we breed the pretty ones.” Sorry, that probably isn’t funny to people outside of racehorses (but I thought it was hilarious!).

The highlight in Redmond for the girls was the truly bizarre Petersen Rock Garden.

In the first half of the 1900s, an immigrant named Rasmus Petersen spent 17 years creating all sorts of sculptures and structures out of rocks. There are all kinds of castles, bridges, the Statue of Liberty, an American flag, and several other things...all made out of rocks.

It was definitely an eclectic place, but very, very strange. We’d seen reviews where people raved about Petersen Rock Garden, but it left us very lukewarm. Although you don’t see it in these pictures, there was a lot of junk strewn about and the whole place was pretty unkempt. We certainly appreciated the handiwork that went into all the creations, but maybe we just don’t find enough wonder in rocks? On second thought, that could definitely be the problem. I once took a Geology class in college…it did not go well.

What had to be dozens of peacocks were strutting all around the rock garden. What beautiful birds. The colors!

Madelyn stood so patiently still in hopes they would come closer to her, as did her sisters. In fact, the peacocks came within a few feet of all of us. How different it was from the times we’ve seen them in a zoo.

Another darling, tiny town outside of Bend is Sisters. I really loved this place, which boasts just 2,038 residents. It is just adorable, with 1800s-era facades all throughout downtown. The people are friendly and the mountain views are spectacular. Tourism is clearly big here as downtown was swarming with tourists (and yes, I suppose that included us!).

First, a couple of mountain views to set the mood…this is South Sister and North Sister. I believe Middle Sister is hiding behind North Sister. All the Sisters have elevations over 10,000 feet, making them the third-, fourth-, and fifth-highest peaks in Oregon.

I have no idea what mountain this is…but it’s still awfully picturesque!

In downtown Sisters, we went to lunch at an Oregon tradition called Bronco Billy’s. The building is one of the most photographed in Central Oregon and was originally the home of Hotel Sisters, built in 1912.

The girls loved the small touches, like the pant legs and boots hanging above the saloon doors.

We got a kick out of Sisters Jail and thought it would be perfect to have our little set of sisters pose in it. Two were not amused, and were in fact offended by the humor we found in it! Our lone good sport today was Madelyn, who did her best to give me a mean jail face. However, there’s a smirk blooming under that glare.

Our most fun stop in this cute town was Sisters Drug & Gift. My lifelong dear friend Jennifer has a beloved cousin, Stefanie, who runs this store. Jennifer and I decided to surprise her.

We found Stefanie, who of course had no idea who I was and understandably must have thought it very odd for a complete stranger to hand her a phone. What she didn’t know was that Jennifer was on the line waiting to say hello. What a surprise! We had so much fun, just a complete ball.

This picture of Stefanie and her sweet daughter Emili is for Jennifer. Jennifer swears Stefanie and I met when we were both a part of her wedding 19 years ago (can it really have been 19 years?), but I don’t remember Stefanie and she doesn’t remember me. We’ve now shared enough laughs that I don’t think we’d forget each other again. Some people you just love instantly (or at least on the second go-round!). Stefanie is one of those people.

Another Three Sisters view from Sisters. They were once called Charity, Hope, and Faith, but the names didn’t stick.

And because we just can’t get enough of these spectacular mountain views, here’s one more on the way back to Bend. To the left of the Sisters is Broken Top.

And for good measure, one final shot of Mt. Jefferson too before we leave Bend tomorrow.