July 17, 2014 - Bend, Oregon (Goody's, Deschutes Brewery, Bendistillery & Bend Econo Lodge)

We were up and out of the hotel around 6:30 am.













Roger doesn't do well with heights so when we stopped at  a turnout to admire the view.  He was hesitant to get to close to the edge.











This is about how close he would go.  I have to admit I was really surprised that there was not some kind of railing because it goes straight down.










Even the trees are hanging on for dear life.













Since Roger couldn't get his coffee there until 7 we stopped at Annie's and thought we would get breakfast.  When we walked in we found out that their cook had not shown up so they would not be serving breakfast for at least a half hour but luckily they had coffee.  We sat at a table and Roger had his two cups of coffee and still breakfast would not be served for at least 15 minutes so when we went to pay for the coffee she said that it was on the house.  It also paid to be early as when we entered the park there was no one to collect the $10 and we couldn't figure out where else to pay.


From the Visitor Center which was also closed until 9 you could just see Crater Lake through the trees.











This is the view of the lake from the look out by the Visitor Center.













We drove on to the next look out.  Can you see the building at the top of the hill?












I zoomed my camera so that we could see it.  Can you imagine the views from up there?












Roger admiring the view.














The haze made it hard to capture the beauty of the lake.













The moon was still up.

Of course we had to take a selfie.














We only drove part way around the crater and then headed out 138 to meet up with highway 97.  It seemed like you road was going on forever.

So we can now say we have driven the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway.

















When we arrived in Bend, Oregon we grabbed some tourist pamphlets and found a chocolate factory with a tour.  It didn't take me long to punch in their info into the gps and low and behold it was just around the corner.









They had a very small museum.  Yes this picture shows everything in their museum.

Isn't that the truth.























Ribbon candy maker































I can't believe she didn't lick her fingers.















We started the Candyland walk.

Chocolate dipped Oreo's and creamy green stuff that I can only guess is mint.












Tough job.  She has to cut the fudge.










































Yummy things come in gold boxes.














Roger is admiring the fine art work.

Follow the ice-cream train.

I want one of these ice-cream makers.  It makes a batch in 10 minutes.












But they saved the best for last.















I have never seen chocolate covered potato chips.

Instead of a piece of chocolate we decided to get ice-cream.













Mint chip and cookies and cream is what we decided on.  I have to say that it was not worth going to as far as we were concerned.












So of course were did we head to.......Costco.  We did something that we very rarely do.  We did not buy anything.  I know hard to believe.  We also learned something that liquor other than beer and wine is not sold in any Costco in Oregon.  It isn't sold in any store other than a liquor store.







Earlier we had made reservations online for a tour at Deschutes Brewery.

This is where they keep the hops.  He passed a pitcher of them around and let you take one to smell and taste it.  The door to the left is where the employees can come after work and try one of the beers that they are making.

They ordered and had these shipped from Germany.






















































They have a taste testing room where employees are asked to come in for 15 minutes a couple of times a week to blindly look and taste different beers.  They have to rate them on different things and tell what flavors are in the beer.












































How many men does it take to paint a wall? At a brewery it must take three.  One to paint, one to hold the ladder and one to watch.

It was interesting watching the bottling process.

They give you a card that allows you to have four beer samples from what they have on tap.  Poor Roger had to drink mine too.  

After checking into our hotel we drove out to the Bendistillery.  Which was a ways out of town.

Luckily we shared the tasting.  I can't imagine downing all of these by myself.  We only finished one of the shots and that was the Crater Lake Hazelnut Espresso Vodka.

Of course we had to buy a bottle or two.

The view from their parking lot was breathtaking.

Oregon has a few fires burning.

So for dinner we walked to the Platypus Pub












So what does Bend, Oregon do with old churches? They make a pub and beer making supply store out of them.











We stayed at the Econo Lodge, which we had booked on Priceline.  The room was clean and had a refrigerator and a microwave. The bed was very soft and I wasn't to sure about it but I actually had a good nights sleep. I would only want the top floor as the floors had some squeaky places.  They offered breakfast but there wasn't much there.