A Day in Bend:

Yesterday, Cary and I put the dogs outside and left for Bend around 10:30. We stopped by the car wash and then headed to the feed store for chemicals for the washplant pond.

After that, we went to Anthony's and met our friend/salesman Lewis for lunch. I had a shrimp pasta dish. They have this tasty dip for your french bread there: roasted garlic mixed with oil and pepper. That was good! We had a nice visit and then Lewis gave us these really cool camo jackets ... lightweight and lined in fleece, we really like them. Maybe I'll show you a picture of those later.

After saying farewell to Lewis, we headed downtown and walked around, going into some of the little shops along the way. I enjoyed the antique store and found some really neat canisters with chickens painted on that I swear used to be Grandma Johnson's. But, I didn't buy them. Yet. They were $49.00, and I am on unemployment.

There are several stores going under. It made me sad to think that they would soon be gone and I haven't even stepped foot inside them yet.
This economy is really, really bad around here. Bend has the 5th highest level of unemployment in the nation, and don't think that it is any better in La Pine.

Done with downtown, we went to the Old Mill District and meandered through that cool outdoor mall. The pictures below are from there. First we went to the fancy art gallery and met a nice sales guy named Chris. He talked to us about the art and told us about the gallery. The art there was very expensive and had artists from around the world. I'm talking $3,000 and more here. Chris said that this gallery was really kind of a chain, and that the Hawaii and San Francisco stores were carrying the Bend store during this slow period. A few of the artists had put their work on sale for a few weeks; 10-30% off, because nobody in Bend was buying.

We stopped in the Oregon Store and visited with a couple of ladies and their dog. Everything was Duck related in there. Pretty neat, but we didn't buy anything. Then we checked out REI, which has the smokestacks built in them.

After we went there, we stopped by to see our friend Linda and had some ice tea. From there it was to Walmart, were we bought 10 movies at $5.00 each and a box of fiberfill for me, because I am going to start making my dolls again and some pillows too. (The La Pine Grange Hall is starting a Farmer's Market, and I might give myself a chance at selling some of my gifts of comfort and joy there pretty soon.)

Then we came home and watched movies. The end. It was a really nice day, all in all.

Old Mill District:

Ice sculptures melting ....