Way back in August…
Let’s just go ahead and stare straight at the elephant in the room – the sad fact that this little blog has been neglected for the past month. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t feel like sitting down and staring at a screen. Sometimes I wish I could write everything down on actual paper (the way I like writing best) and little elves would transfer it to ye olde blog without me ever having to interact with the electronic glow of the computer screen. Alas, those elves have never appeared and I have bits of life I want to share with ya’ll so here we are… better late than never, right?
When I last left you, Andrew’s parents were visiting with us. We asked them where they would like to hike and they opted for Alder Springs. So, we headed over the river and through the woods to the border of the high desert. It was a hot day and I tell you, crossing the creek felt gooood – frigidly cold but so good.
Our turnaround point was just as peaceful as I remember it. I still expected to look up and see the silhouette of a cowboy on the ridge line.
After finishing up our sweaty hike, we headed into Bend to pay a visit to Worthy Brewing.
This my friends was the Rhubarbarella Berliner Weisse, a sour ale. The small glass contained strawberry syrup (made from strawberries from their own gardens) to sweeten it to taste.
It was so delicious! Refreshing and such a great mix of sweet and sour – probably a good thing they only made a small batch of this – otherwise, we might have to move to Bend.
I can’t emphasize enough how impressed I was with the service of this place. Despite it being packed to the gills with people, we were seated relatively quickly and our food was served in no time flat. Everything we ordered was excellent from the warm beet salad to the pear and hazelnut pizza. Andrew gave two thumbs up to the fish tacos as well.
If you happen to be in Bend and want some delicious food, speedy service and quality craft beer with just the right casual ambiance, I highly recommend Worthy Brewing. I seriously wish they had a location in Corvallis.
At the end of Michel and David’s visit with us, we also checked out Rogue Farm in Independence. This is one of two farms managed by Rogue where they grow multiple ingredients for their beer, ranging from hops to hazelnuts to pumpkins. They were in the process of harvesting their hops but we were still able to see some in all their glory.
Before we knew it, Michel and David were boarding a plane back home. Family visits are always too short and the whole good-bye thing is vastly overrated. On our drive home, we decided to meander for a bit and do a little exploring to cheer ourselves up. We saw a sign for a dahlia festival so stopped to check it out. Fields of every kind of dahlia you can imagine greeted us. So beautiful! It was hard not to take a photo of every single type of bloom but really who needs 300 photos of dahlias sitting on their computer, collecting virtual dust? Not this girl. So, I settle for, ohhh, 85 instead.
It was a nice little festival with free admission, several food vendors and live music. There was also an indoor area filled with floral displays. A well-meaning gentleman informed us that it was the best part of the festival so we should see it. We headed down a ramp into a basement-like space and I kid you not, entered a funeral home. Flower arrangements covered every surface and the smell overpowered us…. so overwhelmingly sweet and …. funeral-y. Andrew and I both got the creeps and turned right around and ran outside to take in big gulps of fresh air. I’m sure we looked like lunatics but I don’t care. Displays of arranged flowers are decidedly not for us.
We also paid a visit to a Basil Festival that consisted of some bunches of overpriced basil for sale, a bit of artwork on display and a women knitting angora scarves and talking to her pet bunny, all with the background of somber music. Andrew and I made up 66% of the crowd there. The absence of photos of this fascinating event will indicate to you how interesting we found it.
After spending an obligatory 45 seconds walking around and making sure we hadn’t overlooked the actual festival happening somewhere in the back, we got back in the car and did a little more exploring. We saw a sign for a ferry and followed our curiosity to find this:
This is the Canby Ferry, a tiny vessel that has room to transport 6 cars across the Willamette River. It’s actually guided by an underwater cable and costs $4 for a passenger car.
You never know what you’ll come across when you meander off the beaten path.
I still have bits & pieces of summer to share with you and yes, I know it’s October and time for pumpkin everything but hopefully you’ll indulge me for another belated post tomorrow. See you then!
