3.13.2022

I’m here in Bend, Oregon now, like, really here, and it’s really beautiful.

Anxious to get out and explore all of the wonder this town has to offer [and not in the shopping districts], I called upon my brother to take a couple of hours and drive us up to Mt. Bachelor because I’m still a wee-bit scared of driving in the snow, and man is the snow hittin’ hard up there!

Being the best brother in the world, of course he obliged and took my son Jake and I for a ride.

He parks at the far end of the lot so that we can scale up the wall of snow up to the tree line and hike through a foot or two of snow along the way to the lodge. A challenge, yes, but I cannot turn down any adventure from this point on.

Ron and Jake scale the snow wall with minimal struggle, I [yes, you’re getting real life here] decided to walk along the parking lot until an opportunity for a shorter wall of snow met my challenge. Luckily, about 20 feet down, there my opportunity was, waiting for me to climb it. And, up I went, onto the snow that was lined with trees at the base of the mountain.

Slowly, we dredge through the snow and near the lodge which is met with a decent incline, again, of snow which we must walk through and up to get to a warm spot that contains beer.

At the base of this tiny mountain, I step with my right foot, pick up my left foot, and down I go onto my tuckus, gracefully saying aloud, “and….. down we go!” Laughingly, my son reaches his hand down to help me up and all is fine; snow falls can’t compete with the brutal, hot concrete of Florida.

After enjoying some local brews at the lodge, my brother takes us to a couple of spots he enjoys along the way back, Lava lakes falls and Dillon falls. These spots inspired me to not only go back there and hike [more prepared] but to look for more, and boy is there more!