Something about this entire event and how it was so carefully and tastefully integrated into the living being that is the Sisters community was inspiring. It felt real. It felt natural. And it felt Oregonian. And embracing a balance between what lies in the great outdoors and what Oregonians have worked hard to create is a great example that makes this state a very special place to be indeed.

There were tents of brilliant photographs capturing details like peeling paint up close and intensified enough to be a stunning composition, glass work of all shapes and sculptures depicting whimsical characters with elongated bodies; there was handcrafted furniture that were sculptures in and of themselves and fanciful paintings of every genre and style imaginable. Jewelry, pottery and interesting techniques such as one artist’s wax tiles with sticks and seed-pods pressed into geometric designs and left in the finished product attracted quite a crowd.

I loved every minute of it! The artist in me was captivated by colors, textures and creative concepts of art. I love that art truly shows that people see the world differently, some see dark, others light, some life-like and others wildly imaginative. It’s an incredible community builder. Watching diverse groups of people gather around art to ask questions about an artist’s inspiration, style and how long they have been perfecting their craft is an incredible reflection of our natural appreciation for beauty, creativity, uniqueness and diversity.

But the best part of the whole thing? Sunday morning I received a phone call that I had won the previous day’s gift certificate to come back to the festival and pick a piece of art to my choosing. I strolled through again looking for just the right piece and came home with an adorable print of a batik, painted fabric, by contemporary American Batik artist, Lisa Telling Kattenbraker. You can find her beautiful batiks at www.lisauntitled.com. Mark your calendars for next summer as this wonderful art show will most likely be back in Bend for a third year!

Sarah McMurray is a wanderlust, a hopeful romantic, an artist, a writer and a passionate connoisseur of coffee and culture. She holds a BA from Seattle Pacific University and has been transitioning from higher education to the non-profit sector. Currently she resides in Bend, Oregon where she feels she is the luckiest girl in the world to call herself a native.

Day four of On the Road with Oregon Bounty, and I’m home, at least in a spiritual sense. I grew up here, and it’s where the seeds of my love for food were planted. On a trip earlier this summer, I stumbled upon one of my earliest Oregon Bounty memories. Driving the back roads north of Redmond, I spotted my past sprouting among the rock-lined ditches: wild asparagus. In the very same places where, 40 years ago, I rode my bike or cruised in the car with my mom in search of a late spring harvest, these succulent spears are still there for the taking.

You can also drive by but never notice another product that distiller Jim Bendis uses to craft award-winning spirits here in Central Oregon. As a runner, Jim used to trek through the high desert of Central Oregon where juniper trees are common foliage. Juniper trees produce juniper berries, the defining botanical in gin. It was during these fits of jogging that Jim asked himself an inspirational question: why couldn’t someone produce gin in a place where the spirit’s prime flavor agent grows wild? And so Bendistillery was born. The small distillery Jim started in his garage is now an industry leader in the burgeoning craft distilling industry, selling 25,000 cases last year in nearly a dozen states.

Jim is the craft distiller mentor in our Oregon Bounty “Cuisinternship” contest, which will give seven lucky people the chance to win an all-expenses paid trip to Oregon for an ultimate foodie getaway (that’s right, you could spend a week as a winemaker, chef, brewmaster, cheesemaker and chocolatier, distiller, rancher or fisherman). Check out a video about Jim and learn how to enter the contest.

Central Oregon has so many culinary gems, like the wild huckleberry ice cream at Juniper Junction near majestic Smith Rock in Terrebonne, the new Maragas Winery and Tasting Room between Redmond and Madras, or the truffled mac and cheese at Blacksmith Restaurant in Bend. Go to Travel Oregon’s new culinary travel website to plan a Central Oregon getaway.

Check back tomorrow… “On the Road” will be in Eastern Oregon to learn all about ranching. Cheers!

When you first walk in, the wall behind the register captures you with it’s poetic description of coffee: ” Inspirer of men of letters. Delicious libation which we pour on the alter of friendship. …A restorative sparkling wit.” It’s a community gathering house, full of people talking about life, tasting good coffee and enjoying the art. Since college intentional community has been a passion of mine and coming into Lone Pine to meet friends, discuss life’s ups and downs and our dreams for the future reminds me that life is rich and beautiful like a good cup of coffee. The foamy cup of decadence on the table in front of me is just that, rich and beautiful. A well-brewed cup of coffee that steams from the cup, warming you from the inside out and invoking meaningful conversation between friends, or bringing together new friends to savors life together. Lone Pine serves the famous ocean roll from Sparrow Bakery, my number two favorite place in Bend, a deliciously savory and sweet roll with hints of cardamom.

Sparrow Bakery is tucked away by an industrial part of town on SE Scott Street, a tiny hole in the wall bakery with a giant grape vine growing over the little herb garden along the stone wall near the entrance. Known for sea salt bagels and lox, which I highly recommend, Sparrow’s treats are delightful for the palate. It also has one of my favorite patios in town. I take a good book, usually a travel essay on a far away exotic place, sip on a cup of tea, eat a bagel with lox and capers and people watch. The crowd of locals always has the inside scoop on the best hikes, food and happenings in Bend. And if you get there around 10 o’clock in the morning, fresh baguettes are just coming out of the oven which smell heavenly! Coffee, food and good company at either place, a perfect way to spend my staycation.

Sarah McMurray is a wanderlust, a hopeful romantic, an artist, a writer and a passionate connoisseur of coffee and culture. She holds a BA from Seattle Pacific University and has been transitioning from higher education to the non-profit sector. Currently she resides in Bend, Oregon where she feels she is the luckiest girl in the world to call herself a native.

Oregon’s rivers fascinate us! They offer cool, restful moments along their shady shorelines and that’s the basis for this week’s Grant’s Getaways.

This week, I travel to Central Oregon to visit a river that has earned protection and is prized for it’s fishing, camping and unique outdoor adventures. Plus, you can watch the Metolius River come to life!

Early morning light, when the air is cool and clear, high cascade peaks like Mt Jefferson are a marvel. That’s especially true near Camp Sherman where the Metolius River bubbles from the ground to curl and wind along an 8600-acre river corridor.

It is so special a place that it’s been protected as one of America’s Wild and Scenic Rivers since 1988.

In nearby Sisters, Oregon, the folks who live and work in Central Oregon like it that way. That includes Jeff Perin, local fishing guide and owner of The Fly Fishers Place. Perin is often found creating hand tied imitations of nature’s creations and said “artistry and utility go hand in hand” for one of the hottest recreation activities around: Jeff often goes to the Metolius River near Wizard Falls, a rough and tumble stretch broken by moments of calm water. Perin has cast into the Metolius for more than 26 seasons and he loves to cast flies to tempt wild trout to bite.

It is so special a place that the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has operated the nearby Wizard Falls Hatchery since 1947. More than four million baby trout are raised at Wizard Falls Hatchery for release into scores of lakes and ponds across Oregon.

Visitors come from all over the state too and stroll the 35-acre hatchery grounds that are more akin to a park land than a fish hatchery.

Nearby campgrounds make the living easy too. There are ten U.S. Forest Service Campgrounds along the Metolius River that offer a place to stay and relax. There are no hook ups, phones or TV at these campgrounds, it’s self-contained camping without fancy conveniences.

The Metolius River may runs through the heart of Central Oregon, but it also builds lasting outdoor memories in the hearts of the people who visit each year.

Central Oregon’s Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway is a path once taken, you’ll never want to leave, but —you might try a summer detour! We did just that at Sparks Lake, 25 miles west of Bend and we found adventure on the water with Wanderlust Tours.

We joined an enthusiastic group of folks who were sporting PFD’s and – with paddles in hand – each was eager and ready to go aboard canoes to see the lake from a different point of view.

At 5400 feet in elevation, Sparks Lake is perfectly suited to a canoe adventure with awesome views of South Sister, Broken Top and Mount Bachelor. Sparks Lake was formed more than ten thousand years ago when lava blocked the Deschutes River. In fact, a narrow channel — defined by volcanic rock shorelines — connects two halves of Sparks Lake. The lake covers approximately 400 acres and it is no more than ten feet deep. We paddled, we smiled and we laughed as we toured the lake as a slight breeze eased our down wind paddle. After an hour or two, we arrived at a sprawling sandy beach.

The site offered plenty of elbowroom for a shore side lunch and a cold brew to go with the expansive view of the lake and the surrounding mountains.

My dining companion and I choose seats at the bar. We are here on a mission: To try the delicious food and libation everyone has been raving about during happy hour. We settle in facing an ornately carved mirrored bar and the friendly bartender recommends pomegranate mojitos. Instantly refreshing on a squelching summer’s evening. We order a lineup of delicacies and our conversation flows easily through the summer’s great hangouts downtown: McMenamins Old St. Francis School, home of O’Kanes the little bar in the back of the parking lot with a fantastic outdoor patio and multiple fire pits, and the glamorous bathhouse soaking pool, the new gallery above the Bond Street Market, and the vibrant photography showcased in Lone Pine Coffee in the alley off of Minnesota Ave. This is what summertime is all about in Bend. Gorgeous outdoor locations for picnics, live music in the parks, the various Farmers Markets (my favorite is at the Hospital on Friday afternoons from 2-6, but there are others as well: Wednesdays in Drake Park from 3-7, and the newest one at Northwest Crossings neighborhood Park on Saturdays) and of course the new restaurants that seem to be popping up all over just waiting to be tried.

Our food comes and smells divine! We ordered a variety of couscous, baba ganoush, pita and hummus, domas and cheese. Savory meets crisp, minty fresh tastes in every bite. I melt. I’m a sucker for exploring and Bend and my current moment of lively conversation, good company and the perfect happy hour have me swooning. Yes, this may very well be my new favorite restaurant in Bend. Delicious. We’re tempted by the dessert sampler, but instead opt for a walk downtown through the summer energy of the crowd lingering at outdoor seating at various restaurants, and watch the sunset over the mountains from Drake Park. Bend truly is a treasure with something for everyone.

Sarah McMurray is a wanderlust, a hopeful romantic, an artist, a writer and a passionate connoisseur of coffee and culture. She holds a BA from Seattle Pacific University and has been transitioning from higher education to the non-profit sector. Currently she resides in Bend, Oregon where she feels she is the luckiest girl in the world to call herself a native.

We put our air mattress into the river just above the Bill Healy Memorial Bridge at Farewell Bend Park and enjoyed a glorious hour-long float down to the river exit at the spillway. Floating is the new hip thing in Bend, and what better way to spend a hot, lazy summer afternoon than with feet dipped in the cool water, sunshine on your skin and bumping into the hundreds of other people with the same idea. Well, maybe not hundreds but enough to look like a constant flow of colorful plastic blow-up swans, seahorses, rafts and air mattress parading through the afternoon.

The little beaches along the river were covered in bikini-baring girls, tanned guys, and splashing kids along the river. Bend certainly has changed since my childhood, but still holds the essence of family outdoor fun. Giggling kids reminded me why I moved back to Bend, the natural beauty and opportunities for outdoor recreation abound. And of course, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, an afternoon float trip also has the perk of a free Summer Sunday Concert as you float past the Les Schwab Amphitheater from 2:30-4:30pm. Coming up on July 19th is a hip hop concert, urban dwellers can feel right at home with the music and enjoy stunning views of the mountains on the horizon.

After a smooth float through the Old Mill District, you can either walk back to the amphitheater for the free concert, or enjoy some food and drinks at one of the restaurants’ patios across the river. If you prefer more floating, get out of the river at the designated exit, walk further down the left side of the river and get back in on the other side of the bridge and keep floating all the way down to Drake Park. Thursdays starting at 5pm Munchin’ Music in Drake Park is a perfect stopping point for the longer float trip. Enjoy some food, booths of all sorts of arts and crafts and people watching while you take in this free concert. Summers in Bend are a great opportunity to be outside, hang out with family and friends and join the community for music in the park, or an afternoon on the river. Just make sure to pack the sunscreen and prepare to come face to face with a goose on the river.

Sarah McMurray is a wanderlust, a hopeful romantic, an artist, a writer and a passionate connoisseur of coffee and culture. She holds a BA from Seattle Pacific University and has been transitioning from higher education to the non-profit sector. Currently she resides in Bend, Oregon where she feels she is the luckiest girl in the world to call herself a native.

Those of us “bitten by the bug” invariably come to realize that one of the most rewarding benefits of geocaching is discovering new and interesting places the search takes us. If not for geocaching, we would never find some of these places. Here is an example:

Recently, a buddy and I took a whirlwind geocaching road trip from the coast to Central Oregon, looping south to the Klamath Basin and back – in two days!

We began looking for caches in the vicinity of Trail Bridge Reservoir along the McKenzie Pass-Santiam Pass Scenic Byway. We found two caches in that quiet and serene spot. One had been placed there a few days prior and we were hoping to be the first finders – but alas, we were a day late! There were no fishermen about that morning, which made for an easier hunt. If not for geocaching we would not have known there was an access trailhead nearby to a rugged section of the McKenzie River Trail.

Later, we explored the Sisters area to look for a couple of caches in the surrounding pine forests. What a contrast to the thick, green coastal forests we left just five hours ago! One cache was placed by a forest fire fighter and had a Smokey Bear theme to it – an appropriate cache, since we are both foresters.

Over the course of the next few hours our geocaching hunts brought us to a quaint old German cemetery, the spectacular Crooked River Gorge, the Badlands OHV trails and the volcano-marred landscape of the Newberry Crater National Monument. If not for geocaching we would never have enjoyed the breath-taking views of this unique landscape from the top of a cinder cone!

Day two began early as we headed south to the Klamath Falls region. Along the way, we took a short diversion west to find a cache at Diamond Lake. There we were treated to a gorgeous view of Mt. Bailey with lingering clouds on its snow-covered peak – and nearly carried away by mosquitoes!

By early afternoon, we found caches at a wonderful viewpoint overlooking a crystal clear spring with pastoral views of snowy peaks like Mt. McLoughlin. Also in the area was the Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge famous for its diverse population of birds and an old logging museum at Collier State Park. If not for geocaching we would never have walked down to the headwaters of Spring Creek and seen that gorgeous blue-green water bubbling out of the ground.

The final leg of our geocaching spree brought us to the heavily timbered Lake of the Woods along Highway 140, in addition to the crossing of the Pacific Crest Trail and ending with a few quick caches in the Medford valley near the unique Table Rock mesa butte formations.

While this particular excursion allowed us to explore a large area of terrain over a short period of time, geocachers can also discover new and interesting places without leaving their hometown. In fact, many have found after geocaching a while, that they didn’t know their local area as well as they thought. I have lived in the Coos Bay area for over thirty years, but had never explored the nearby coastal dunes, until I became a geocacher. But that’s another story…..watch for it!

Mike Davidson is a career forester and an outdoor enthusiast who uses the high-tech treasure hunting game of geocaching to lead him to the great variety of outdoor experiences in Oregon. Keep up with his latest hiking and geocaching excursions on his Geocaching Oregon blog. You can also follow him on Twitter.

Resident artists work in the space, creating beautiful paintings, fiber arts, sculptures, mixed media projects and photographs. Last weekend I went to their art sale, colorful works covered every inch of space showcasing the creations of the local artists. It was a great opportunity to support local, buy affordable art to decorate my home and meet some of the artists! PoetHouse also gives back to the community through multiple events such as a free “Kids Art and Dance Day”, also last weekend, where youth were invited to paint, learn hip hop, jazz and contemporary dance moves and practice kid yoga and do other art projects. It also offers workshops and classes throughout the year for artists, and art lovers alike.

Also, the first Friday of every month all year, PoetHouse opens its doors for the First Friday Art Walk in Bend. The artists put on a professional gallery show open to the community, usually 5pm to 10pm. It’s a great place to stop by, watch the artists work, get inspired by the creative process and support a local non-profit that has been a great resource to the community.

Sarah McMurray is a wanderlust, a hopeful romantic, an artist, a writer and a passionate connoisseur of coffee and culture. She holds a BA from Seattle Pacific University and has been transitioning from higher education to the non-profit sector. Currently she resides in Bend, Oregon where she feels she is the luckiest girl in the world to call herself a native.