DAY 2


We camped the night at Sundance Meadows RV Park, in Bend, Oregon, right on the edge of a small three acre lake. The morning was cold and crisp, but the sky was clear and sunny so I took the dogs out for a brisk walk. As I walked up a small knoll in the park I was treated to a magnificent view of the Three Sisters Mountains, and off in the distance I could see Mt. Hood. We were going to stay here for the day so I had plenty of time of a leisure breakfast of fried potatoes and onions, and scrambled eggs.
Our Arizona friends Don and Virginia have a son that lives in the nearby town of Sisters, so we gave them a call to tell them what a beautiful day it was, and also find what their sons address was. Turns out that he didn’t know we were going to be in the area so it was a complete surprise for him. He worked at a nearby Toyota dealership so we dropped in and had a good chat with him, looked at a new Toyota, and then went on to check out the town.
Bend is a town of about 81,000 and is a hub for all kinds of sports, such as winter skiing, hiking, biking, rafting and a host of other activities. It is also a college town housing the Oregon State University. Our main destination here was to visit with our friend June who used to be our neighbor in Arizona but moved to Bend four years ago. She also met one of the locals and decided to marry him. Good choice.
We gave June a call to let her know we were in town. I had previously notified her that we would be in the area some time in October but there had been no definite time schedule. There was no answer to the call so we decided to drop by the house just in case she was out in the yard. As we approached the house it appeared as empty as a tomb; with no car in the driveway and the drapes pulled. We pulled into the driveway to knock on the door when Thom, her husband came bounding out the door. “I thought I recognized that truck” he said. After a warm greeting he told us that June was having lunch with one of her friends just about a block away.
We were up to a little lunch so we all hoped in the truck and drove over to the restaurant. When June saw us she jumped up and gave us all a great big hug, except for her husband of course. Good friendships just seem to get better and better. It had been a year since we had last seen June, but her warm greeting made us feel as though we lived just down the street from her. I think that is one of the real pluses of traveling; getting to renew old friendships. So often we have a good friend that moves away and slowly over the years the friendship just fades away into fond memories. I’m glad we got to visit with Thom and June. We are refreshed now and ready to continue on our trip home.