The destination of this weekend was Bend… what i now believe to be the Santa Fe of Oregon. I’ve been to Bend… uh this will be my forth visit, and i think this time i finally have a handle on the place; it’s the Santa Fe of Oregon. From what i can observe there is nothing, at least any longer, that actually produces wealth. In today’s world places that actually produce stuff are notoriously ugly and Bend is anything but ugly. Bend, like Santa Fe, is the cream floating atop the slurry that is raw milk.
The west side of Bend has exploded with houses materializing in a way that would shame the most prolific tribble. The houses are all very nice (no shit, they are nice). Most are two-story and they’ve been arrayed as to minimize their footprint on the land. This means they’re pretty close together. In fact… if every house was occupied to it’s design capacity, and everybody was home at the same time, i would argue the population density would rival that of the West Village in Manhattan (certainly most sections of Queens). Wonder what would happen if everybody flushed at the same time.
But my larger question is what the hell do all these people do? Somebody, set me straight. Point out my ignorance. I mean… yeah… there are shops (shoppes) and there is retail on top of retail, there’s Mt. Bachelor ski area, but what is the engine? Is it all retiree money and parents bankrolling their darling Muffy at the U of O? Despite the sporadic interest in solar and wind power, how is such a community sustainable?
Bottom line: why do i care? It’s there, it’s pretty, there’s a state park (nothing spectacular, but serviceable), and a river (at least in spring) runs through it.
Some photos from the weekends jaunt are here but no, i didn’t take a single picture of the houses nor the town.
Oh, i drove to Bend via the “inland route” and went parallel to Crater Lake. No kidding, a good portion of the road was still packed snow. South of La Pine the snow off the road is still about 70 inches. Amazing.
I returned via 20 through the weird western-movie-set town of Sisters up to the edge of the Cascade Range and south then west along the McKenzie river. Holy shit what a pretty drive. 126 is the route… must drive it again in summer.
Monday’s big adventure will be to find out why my miserable pittance of a salary has yet to hit my designated direct deposit institution. Oh, joy.
Lastly, tonight’s dinner:
Sauteed (hah! stewed is more like it… aluminum teflon over propane just doesn’t get hot enough) cubes of bison tri-tip in a butter, shallot, white pepper and white wine reduction combined with brown rice and black beans served on a bed of mixed field greens with a drizzle of ponzu sauce and paired with a chilled bottle of two-buck Chuck from the Trader Joe’s of Bend. Yeah, this is camping large.