This summer marked our 5th wedding anniversary. Yup. Five years. Sometimes it feels like we just started dating. And other days it feels like an eternity has already happened. And on our anniversary we didn't do anything. Even go out to dinner. We shoulda, coulda, woulda, but didn't. Because the following week we had planned a trip to Bend. And if you haven't been to Bend, now is a great time to put it on your
"Places To Go" list and make it happen! Bend is such a beautiful and
vibrant place. For Adam and I, Bend has the best of Oregon combined with the best of Wyoming.
And Bend always has something going on, which makes me want to be there
all the time...maybe someday, but that's not in the cards for a while.
So, we went to Bend to specifically to take part in their ale trail. Which meant a ton of eating out and drinking beer. The Bend Ale Trail consists of 13 breweries. Which we did in FOUR days. The Bend Ale Trail can be completed any time of the year. You just go, get your paper passport (either at a brewery or the Bend Visitors Center) or you could do it virtually on your smartphone (which is what we did, all you have to do is download their app) and then begin. Now, for the record, I don't really like beer. I mean, I have one now and again, but only very specific kinds. And on this trip I drank a LOT of beer that I didn't like, but luckily I only drank about two ounces of each beer and Adam drank the rest (about half). And I discovered a few beers that I really do like and Adam and I had a ton of fun doing this!
Note: If you really don't like beer at all, then the ale trail is probably not for you, but at almost every place we ate delicious food, so I would recommend stopping at these places at least for a bite to eat!
So, this is all about days one and two of our trip. And the good things we ate/drank, where we stayed, and other things we did on our trip.
DAY ONE:
8am- Finished packing the car, woke Moira up (this girl can sleep until 11am) and boogied outta here (Bend is about a 3-hour drive from us).
8:45am- Pulled through a drive-thru to get "breakfast"or something like that. Shared some with Moira because she was awake still.
10:45am- Had to pull over on the side of the road because my sweet girl got car sick (Probably a combination of the earlier "breakfast" and maybe the fact that I was totally prone to it my entire childhood and I still get nauseous in the car).
11:30am- Arrived in Sisters, Oregon at the Bend Ale Trail stop#1 for us- Three Creeks Brewing
Here Adam and I shared the TCBC Burger (which was HUGE) and a taster tray and Moira gobbled up chicken and french fries. So yummy, but I am definitely glad we shared because I wouldn't have been able to demolish that burger by myself. My favorite brew was the Knotty Blonde.
1pm- Arrived in Bend, Oregon at stop#2 for us- Silver Moon Brewing
Here we just had a taster of their beers. Still sooo full from lunch. My favorite beer was the Mango Daze ISA. It really did taste like mango. Yum!
1:30pm- Stop#3 for us on the Bend Ale Trail- Boneyard Beer
Here they only do beer, no food. We tried all four brews they had on tap and my favorite by far was a special they had called Funky Bunch. Simply indescribable. And we picked up a bottle of something for Sadie-pup, Dog Grog.
3pm- Pulled into Tumalo State Park to set up our campsite. Such a wonderful campground. This place will definitely be where we stay while in Bend, weather permitting of course. Dog and kid friendly. We chilled out here for the evening because it was hot and we were already tired from the drive, setting up camp, and herding Moira and Sadie-pup around.
DAY TWO:
8am- Got up, got ready, and had an amazing breakfast at The Victorian Cafe. I didn't take any pics (because we were incredibly hungry), but Moira had blueberry cornmeal pancakes, I had a creole hash with lobster, shrimp, and crawfish, Adam had biscuits and gravy. And they were all huge plates. Adam and I could've easily shared a dish and been plenty full. And some anonymous, generous person paid for our breakfast that morning. Such an awesome experience. And a HUGE THANK YOU to whoever that person was. We'll never forget it.
10am- Headed to downtown Bend and took a walk in Drake Park to see the ducks and geese (and walk off our full bellies).
11:30am- Stop #4 for us on the Bend Ale Trail- Bend Brewing Company
Still totally full from breakfast, we ordered just an appetizer of chips and salsa. Aaaaand a taster tray of their beer. Which is FIFTY ounces (this may have been a tad early in the day for that much beer and considering we were still totally stuffed). Their taster tray consists of ten five ounce tasters, all of their beers they have on tap. When we order the taster, the waitress says "Well, that's fifty ounces totally. Are you sure you want it?". I said "YES! It's not a problem!". My favorite brew was the Ching Ching (until this trip I never really cared for too many beers, but learned I LOVE a good sour beer!).
12pm- We chugged through our beer (because we had to leave the dog in the car and it was getting HOT, so we wanted to get her out as soon as possible) and headed back to the campsite. We gathered up our swim stuffs and headed down to the river and had a blast with the girls. Ok, Moira had a great time, Sadie-pup HATES the water.
5pm- Stop#5 for us was 10 Barrel Brewing
By now we were ready for some good food and more brews! The three of us shared their pulled pork sandwich with fries and Adam and I shared their 10 beer taster. Our fave of course was the swill, but that was their seasonal. There were definitely some others we enjoyed too :)
6pm- In 10 Barrel's parking lot they were hosting their First Annual IPA Fest, which we decided to attend promptly after finishing our snack and taster tray. We tried IPAs from Seattle, San Diego, Portland, and of course, Bend. Then we voted. Bend won, but I found that I enjoyed a couple of IPAs from San Diego the best.
7pm- Headed over to our stop#6- Cascade Lakes Brewing
Had ONE of their taster trays (they have two) and dinner. Adam had the elk burger, I had the Beer Bratwurst Redmond Smokehouse (served with some of the best gratin potatoes I have ever had!), and Moira had chicken and apples. My favorite brew here was, surprisingly, the Monkey Face Porter! I never like dark beers, but this one was smooth and didn't have the sharp espresso flavors that are so prevalent in porters. It did have some espresso flavor, but it was way mellow (I don't like coffee at all).
8pm- Headed back to the campsite to call it a night.
That wraps up our first two days. Stay tuned for Part #2 of our trip!
Note: If you really don't like beer at all, then the ale trail is probably not for you, but at almost every place we ate delicious food, so I would recommend stopping at these places at least for a bite to eat!
So, this is all about days one and two of our trip. And the good things we ate/drank, where we stayed, and other things we did on our trip.
DAY ONE:
8am- Finished packing the car, woke Moira up (this girl can sleep until 11am) and boogied outta here (Bend is about a 3-hour drive from us).
8:45am- Pulled through a drive-thru to get "breakfast"or something like that. Shared some with Moira because she was awake still.
10:45am- Had to pull over on the side of the road because my sweet girl got car sick (Probably a combination of the earlier "breakfast" and maybe the fact that I was totally prone to it my entire childhood and I still get nauseous in the car).
11:30am- Arrived in Sisters, Oregon at the Bend Ale Trail stop#1 for us- Three Creeks Brewing
Here Adam and I shared the TCBC Burger (which was HUGE) and a taster tray and Moira gobbled up chicken and french fries. So yummy, but I am definitely glad we shared because I wouldn't have been able to demolish that burger by myself. My favorite brew was the Knotty Blonde.
1pm- Arrived in Bend, Oregon at stop#2 for us- Silver Moon Brewing
Here we just had a taster of their beers. Still sooo full from lunch. My favorite beer was the Mango Daze ISA. It really did taste like mango. Yum!
1:30pm- Stop#3 for us on the Bend Ale Trail- Boneyard Beer
Here they only do beer, no food. We tried all four brews they had on tap and my favorite by far was a special they had called Funky Bunch. Simply indescribable. And we picked up a bottle of something for Sadie-pup, Dog Grog.
3pm- Pulled into Tumalo State Park to set up our campsite. Such a wonderful campground. This place will definitely be where we stay while in Bend, weather permitting of course. Dog and kid friendly. We chilled out here for the evening because it was hot and we were already tired from the drive, setting up camp, and herding Moira and Sadie-pup around.
DAY TWO:
8am- Got up, got ready, and had an amazing breakfast at The Victorian Cafe. I didn't take any pics (because we were incredibly hungry), but Moira had blueberry cornmeal pancakes, I had a creole hash with lobster, shrimp, and crawfish, Adam had biscuits and gravy. And they were all huge plates. Adam and I could've easily shared a dish and been plenty full. And some anonymous, generous person paid for our breakfast that morning. Such an awesome experience. And a HUGE THANK YOU to whoever that person was. We'll never forget it.
10am- Headed to downtown Bend and took a walk in Drake Park to see the ducks and geese (and walk off our full bellies).
11:30am- Stop #4 for us on the Bend Ale Trail- Bend Brewing Company
Still totally full from breakfast, we ordered just an appetizer of chips and salsa. Aaaaand a taster tray of their beer. Which is FIFTY ounces (this may have been a tad early in the day for that much beer and considering we were still totally stuffed). Their taster tray consists of ten five ounce tasters, all of their beers they have on tap. When we order the taster, the waitress says "Well, that's fifty ounces totally. Are you sure you want it?". I said "YES! It's not a problem!". My favorite brew was the Ching Ching (until this trip I never really cared for too many beers, but learned I LOVE a good sour beer!).
12pm- We chugged through our beer (because we had to leave the dog in the car and it was getting HOT, so we wanted to get her out as soon as possible) and headed back to the campsite. We gathered up our swim stuffs and headed down to the river and had a blast with the girls. Ok, Moira had a great time, Sadie-pup HATES the water.
5pm- Stop#5 for us was 10 Barrel Brewing
By now we were ready for some good food and more brews! The three of us shared their pulled pork sandwich with fries and Adam and I shared their 10 beer taster. Our fave of course was the swill, but that was their seasonal. There were definitely some others we enjoyed too :)
6pm- In 10 Barrel's parking lot they were hosting their First Annual IPA Fest, which we decided to attend promptly after finishing our snack and taster tray. We tried IPAs from Seattle, San Diego, Portland, and of course, Bend. Then we voted. Bend won, but I found that I enjoyed a couple of IPAs from San Diego the best.
7pm- Headed over to our stop#6- Cascade Lakes Brewing
Had ONE of their taster trays (they have two) and dinner. Adam had the elk burger, I had the Beer Bratwurst Redmond Smokehouse (served with some of the best gratin potatoes I have ever had!), and Moira had chicken and apples. My favorite brew here was, surprisingly, the Monkey Face Porter! I never like dark beers, but this one was smooth and didn't have the sharp espresso flavors that are so prevalent in porters. It did have some espresso flavor, but it was way mellow (I don't like coffee at all).
8pm- Headed back to the campsite to call it a night.
That wraps up our first two days. Stay tuned for Part #2 of our trip!
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