Day 8, Sept. 20th: Moving day

Overcast morning in Newberg. Lana on conference calls for work from 07:30 to 09:10. Hmmm, this is her vacation? We need to be to the Portland airport to return our rental car by around 11:00 so we are within the 24 hour time to avoid paying another day. We are only about 30 minutes drive to our downtown Portland hotel: The Portland Marriott City Center. The idea is to drop our bags/luggage at the hotel and then drive to the airport to return our vehicle. There is no way we want to lug around our stuff on public transport from the airport.


Traffic isn't too bad driving north and then into downtown. Lana has Ambassador Elite status with the Marriott so they are willing to take our bags early as the room is not ready at 10:15 am. Back in the car and then heading to the airport. Our timing over the bridge wasn't good as we needed to stop for quite a while for the bridge span to open for a vessel. We topped up our tank at a 7-11 near the airport and then into Avis. The handoff to the attendant was pretty quick. Into the terminal and then a walk to the Max train line. This train takes you downtown and the fee for the two tickets totalled $3.75 so pretty cheap. My senior ticket was 1/2 of Lana's cost! About a 40 minute ride to our stop downtown. Much cheaper than taking a taxi or other transportation.



OBSERVATION: All Oregon gas stations have gas jockeys by law. They take your credit card and fill it up.

Portland's red line train into downtown Portland.

The stop is very close to our hotel. Easy walk and check in to our room. We will be using Lana's Google Maps to navigate. We are both hungry so off to one of our favourite sandwich places in downtown Portland: Lardo. We were first hooked by their porchetta sandwiches. Unfortunately, they no longer carry those sandwiches - or at least not today. No problem as all their sandwiches are top notch. The bill totals $36 inclusive of my Dirty Pretty Lardo lager beer and a macaroni salad. Very delicious and we found a small table despite the fact the place was super busy when we entered at 12:30 pm. No wifi. Place is very noisy and the stereo fairly loud. 

Chicharrones (salt & vinegar) - crispy pork rind

Petey Pablo smoked pork shoulder, ham, pepper jack cheese, NC mustard sauce, pickles,

Duke’s mayo...

Korean Pork Shoulder house kimchi, chili mayo, cilantro, lime...

Our favourite Portland donut joint is Blue Star Donuts located a short walk from Lardo. We dramatically prefer this to the more famous Voodoo Donuts located near Chinatown. We get in line and can peruse our choices as they are placed behind the glass. Each donut is $3.25 so not cheap, but they are filling and elevate the sugar meter! Finally made it to the front of the line and found a spot against the window to enjoy our bounty and people watch.

Online pic of the interior of Blue Star Donuts. 

Lana's order.

Randy's order - I love Horchata. 

Our two donuts artfully positioned by our head photographer - Lana. 

Our next stop is Powell's City of Books not too far from the donut joint. We love this gigantic bookstore with new and used books across all genres. I have a list of books that I add to over the year and then check prices with Amazon before visiting Powell's. Lana is more impulsive with her book purchases. I do buy three books and the rest of the books I will eventually order from Amazon. We spent more than 90 minutes browsing and checking the computer for their titles and then where they are hiding. 

Online pic of Powell's Books. 

Kind of a lazy day in Portland. We returned to our room and were figuring out our dinner destination. We were hoping for a decent walk to our dinner to get in our 10,000 steps for the day. Lana sources a Korean place across the river and an estimated walk of around 25 minutes. Perfect. We are not very hungry as lunch and the donuts pretty much filled us up! Revelry will be our dinner tonight. It is around 25 minutes walk to the restaurant, but it is a beautiful warmish night. There are a lot of street people in this part of downtown. We enjoyed our walk to and from the restaurant and both of us are in excess of 10,000 steps. 

Interesting place that has a DJ on a regular basis and shares the space with Evo. High ceiling, gritty interior and definitely a hipster hangout. Some great choices on the Korean menu. Plus, extensive beer and cocktails choices. We loved our two dishes and I enjoyed the Korean beer that paired well with our dishes. We will return as everything was good inclusive of food, service, ambience etc. Total price was $45. 

Online pic of the interior. 

Korean fried chicken with peanut brittle. My Korean beer and Lana's non-alcoholic combo of Passion Fruit syrup and club soda. Fried chicken had sweet and spicy taste. 

• BULGOGI SHORT RIB RICE BOWL 

  creamed spinach, pine nut, grilled kimchi, cured yolk

We have a room on the 19th floor with impressive views. Very comfortable and we are hoping for a good sleep tonight. Our Air Canada flight leaves at 15:00 and we plan to leave the hotel around 12 noon by hopping on the train to the airport. We will get a free breakfast buffet downstairs and in no rush to get ready for our trip. This is our last full day of our vacation. It has been another enjoyable 'hiking' holiday in a part of Oregon we have never explored. Our walk tonight to the restaurant was our 'urban hike'.    ;-)

Day 7 Sept. 19th: Keep this a secret!

For Randy, the usual breakfast of sliced banana and watermelon with blueberries in a bowl. The best treat over the last couple of days is augmenting that with an ocean roll from the bakery in Bend. Lana doing SAP work when I wake up. Our Airbnb is very large with a huge bathroom and bedroom. Great kitchen and then the living room with a pool table and seating area/tv. Patio out back overlooking the river below. Very quiet last night.


Our plan is to hike Miller Woods Loop Hike near the town of McMinnville. The forecast is for a temperature around 15 degrees Celsius and overcast skies. I spent some time yesterday trying to find a suitable hike that was a good distance and not too far from where we are staying. That was almost impossible as many of the local hikes are very short and the better hikes are quite a distance from Newberg. I did find the hike above and at 4.7 advertised miles, 560 feet elevation gain and described as 'moderate' this fit the bill. Plus, it is close to McMinnville which is a hot spot for Willamette Valley wineries.


Lana does a great job of finding the trailhead on Google Maps so we are confident in finding the place. A red flag was the directions to find the hike and the hike itself are very confusing or overly-complicated. As we drive southbound the clouds thin out and it is quite sunny when we arrive successfully at the trailhead! What great weather and unexpected. On with the hiking boots and the confusion begins. We arrive at the gravel parking lot around 09:50 and there are only two other cars.

Laminated map provided for loan purposes at the trailhead. We want to follow the yellow-outlined trail as it is the longer 'loop' trail.

Signage at the beginning of the hike. This map is not helpful. Note on the upper left under Please--the second item is that firearms are not allowed. I believe that the USA is the only country in the world where hikers have to be reminded not to bring their firearms! Pause for thought as to why you would bring your guns for a hike in the woods? Do you believe there are fellow citizens waiting in the woods to blast you?

Gigantic Oak tree near the start of the trail. Many acorns lying around the base of the tree. 

We are lost at the start of our hike as we cannot figure out where this loop hike begins and the written directions from a webpage are not helping. There is a sign with a yellow arrow, but this goes nowhere and in fact just makes it more confusing. Lana says "we can still see our car in the parking lot and we have been lost for the last 20 minutes--too funny!!" We see the pond and finally decide to head in that direction and then head into the pasture. Lana spots a yellow arrow sign and then into the woods we head and find another yellow sign so we are on the loop trail. We carry the laminated trail map to attempt to figure out where we are on the loop hike. Phew, all good once on the trail. In fact, we meet up with two other hikers and they are both veterans of this hike. All good!

Follow the yellow sign!

Randy on the smooth and soft dirt trail through the woods. 

This laminated trail map was pretty good except for the starting point. Once you have found the actual trail it is easy to NOT get lost. 

We are at the summit of the trail (highest point) and now we continue the loop trail to its conclusion near the large pond. 

Check out this very cool tree completely covered by moss!

We love mushrooms!

The underneath of this mushroom is even more interesting! Lana took this photo  :)

It is a good hike and a fantastic day weather wise. Lots of sun and warm weather. Trail very easy to navigate and not too difficult an ascent or descent. We finish at the pond and then back up to the parking lot. Off with the hiking boots and then figure out where we would like to go for lunch in the nearby town of McMinnville. Lana accessed Google and we decided on ethnic food that we don't have much of in Vancouver. We are at the parking lot just before 12 Noon. 

Strava app map of our Miller Woods Loop hike. Notice the bottom part in the middle with lots of bolded squiggles - that is where we were walking around lost trying to find the start of the trail! Many switchbacks on this trail. The ascents are pretty gradual and similar to the descents. This Trail is good for families. No dogs or horses allowed! Yeh!

Stats for our morning hike:

• Average pace 13 min 19 seconds per km (pretty fast)
• Distance 7.70 kms
• Hiking time 1 hour 43 minutes
• Elevation gain 226 metres
• 11,505 steps

OK, our secret for a foodie destination is Pura Vida Cucina in McMinnville. This is the restaurant that Lana found using Google and is advertised as Latin American cuisine - yeh! This restaurant was fantastic so we wish to keep it a secret! Nope, Randy gives it a 5 star review on Trip Advisor although its average is already 4.7 stars. In addition to the plates below, we ordered a Dispensadas (draft beer) done German dunkel style - as good as Deutschland! Lana ordered a freshly squeezed Passion Fruit juice non-alcoholic drink with club soda. As well, the dips were so good we ordered some chips to finish the sauce off. The lunch bill came to $40. We left with smiles and contented stomachs.  

Online picture of the interior of Pura Vida Cucina. Pretty casual, but clean and tidy. The server and service was spot on. Zero complaints from me which says a lot.    ;-)

Order of Empanadas - braised pork, two corn pastries, peanut romesco, cabbage, beans, chipotle aioli and cotija cheese. Absolutely everything about this dish was excellent. Meat was flavourful, the pastries home-made and light, beans delicious and even the greens below the empanadas. 

Order of Costillas - guava chipotle, bbq spare ribs, cabbage & cole slaw and cilantro. Wow, another home run! The meat was perfect and the bbq sauce was tasty and not over-powering. Even the cole slaw was exceptional!

Order of Croquetas - crispy fired fritters, ham & chicken, cotija cheese and peanut romesco sauce. This is an appies dish and we finished off most of them before we remembered to take a picture! That is how good they were.  

Order of Taco - after we finished our three dishes we decided to order another dish to confirm just how good this place was. Yup, the taco consisted of crispy pork belly and the meat was done perfectly and very tasty. Perfect ending to our lunch. 

Practically across the street from the restaurant was Willamette Vineyards Tasting Room. Yes, lets do a wine tasting before we head home. This is a street front wine tasting which for us Canadians just does not occur. There was nobody inside when we showed up so that was good as we have the hostess' attention. The winery sources all their grapes from grape growers in the Willamette Valley. 

Storefront picture (from the Internet) 

We chose the Reserve Tasting Flight as we wanted to focus on red wines. All the wines were pretty good, but we decided to purchase the Cuvée and the Tempranillo. These bottles can age for at least five years. They are both drinkable right now though. As well, they are 2016 vintage which according to the hostess was an excellent year. No taxes in Oregon. We continue to be disappointed by the expensive prices for all their wines and the tasting fees. 

About a 30 minute drive home to Newberg. Lana was very tired so she took the opportunity to have a  good nap. Randy checks on wineries for tastings this afternoon. I follow a wine newsletter called "Wine Folly" and they had visited the Willamette Valley recently and completed a great article. I chose two of the wineries they visited and ironically both are located close to McMinnville. Once Lana has woken up, we are back in the car travelling south for the two wine tastings and then dinner.

Our first stop is Stoller Estate located in Dayton. They have LEED Gold Certification which is the first of its kind in the winemaking world and an international symbol for sustainability achievement. As we drive and see the winery perched on the hill with many cars parked it is already very impressive and intimidating. Very classy place. 

Online pic of the Stoller Estate's award winning tasting room. On the bottom right is the edge of their tasting bar where we were standing. We arrived just before 16:30 and they closed at 17:00. It was busy and we needed to wait for a place at the bar. 

The menu for our $20 wine tasting. Brad was our host. We purchased a bottle of each of the Pinot Noirs. They were delicious, but different. Hard to decide between the two. We have six wine skins available for wine purchases and are now up to five bottles.




Hmmm, Randy looks like he has had too much wine! Nope, but I did enjoy every glass (small pours).  The cool thing was Brad did a blind pouring of both bottles of Pinot Noir and we both guessed the bottles! Fun to do a tasting side by side for comparison. Also, an advantage to figuring out if you want to purchase.




Lana took this picture of the vineyard that is on the hill above the winery. Most of their Pinot Noir grapes come from these vineyards. Check out the blue sky and the mountains in the background! A beautiful day in the Willamette Valley!

Our next stop is R. Stuart & Company located in downtown McMinnville not too far from the wine tasting we tried earlier today. We learned that the locals pronounce Willamette Valley as "Williamette Valley" so they add in an i which doesn't make sense given Americans have a tendency to eliminate letters in words and not add letters. Like the other wineries their Pinot Noir begins at $50. This winery sources all their grapes - they do not have their own vineyard. The owners have established good relationships with the grape farmers. 

We are sitting at the counter. The place is very busy although it wasn't so busy during the day. Lots of background noise from the larger groups that are seated. This place pours much more wine than the winery we just visited. We decide to purchase the expensive Autograph Pinot Noir - a blend of eight different vineyards. Music playing in the background. Another example of having a store front for your winery. The building is over 100 years old. 

Our wine tasting flight.

We have noticed that none of the wine tastings had a spittle jar! We have been to wineries and wine tasting in Canada, USA, Germany, France, Portugal, Italy and Spain and every winery had a spittle jar. Just an observation.

We walk down the main drag to La Rambla for our dinner. Highly recommended and highly rated. We love Spanish tapas so we chose this place for our dinner tonight. We decided to sit at the bar. We arrived around 18:10 and it was reasonably busy. The menu is pretty good. It was pretty dark. While the server showed up quickly, the service of food was very slow. The salad came promptly, but after that it was a long wait for our two dishes. We ordered a roasted beet and arugula salad, grilled spanish octopus and a coffee-dusted flat iron steak. The food wasn't bad, but nothing was memorable. We decided to not order any drinks. More than enough wine drank today! 

Online pic of the interior. 

Back to our place by the river. Over 15,000 steps today. Lana very eager to redeem her billiards lose the night before and is busy practising while Randy updates the blog. We have our re-match and Lana wins the series. Our very first date was playing pool downtown and Lana beat me very badly. A memorable day in the Willamette Valley with hiking, wine tasting and an excellent meal. Tomorrow we drive to Portland, drop the rental car at the airport and then check in to our downtown hotel. That will be our last full day of vacation.

Day 6, Sept. 18th: Wine Country?

Our last morning in Bend. Lana has an important work call from 07:30 to 08:00 so we set our departure time for around 09:00.


We drive to Newberg located in the famous Willamette Valley for wine tastings and maybe some hiking if the weather accommodates. Uneventful checkout around 09:00 and on the road with arrival in Newberg around 12 Noon, so three (3) hours of driving. Traffic was pretty decent for most of the trip. Mostly on Highway 22 West. The first part of the trip was a copy of our day one hike and then much of the scenery was similar to the interior of British Columbia. There was both rain and sun during the three hours. Car operated very well in the slippery conditions and really good at passing where necessary. No speeding tickets, yet! There was one highway patrol on the side of the road, but he didn't pull me over despite the fact I was speeding.


Why are we heading to Newberg? Great location in the heart of the Willamette Valley and famous as a premiere wine growing region for Pinot Noir and some white varietals. We both love Pinot Noir so excited about trying their variation of this grape that requires a lot of care. If you watched the movie Sideways, you might have been convinced to give this grape a try. This was a super informative and funny movie for anyone who is interested in wine and relationships.

Google Maps. We took the quicker and more southern route. 

We arrived at our Newberg Airbnb prior to check-in time scheduled for 15:00. We are about three hours early. Our Airbnb place is actually a separate building located pretty close to the host's home. The lock combo number does not work though. Mariso provides her master number and the door opens. The place has not been cleaned as yet given we are early. We drop our stuff in the kitchen area and then check online for recommended lunch places in Newberg (population about 25,000). We are both pretty hungry, but check the menus to ensure we make a good choice. Weather here is overcast, but not raining and maybe the sun is trying to come out?

Online picture of our Airbnb back deck overlooking the river. 

We decide to try Newbergundian Bistro located in the heart of Newberg. Excellent ratings and a lunch menu that meets both our needs. Finding parking was a challenge. Upon entering the place is very busy. We elect to take two seats at the bar which looks onto the chef and sous chef workstations. Great opportunity to speak with both during our lunch. We didn't take any pictures of our food, but the food was pretty good. Randy ordered the Fish & Chips and Lana ordered the Arancini. Randy had a glass of dry Riesling wine from an Oregon winemaker. Lana drank a Ginger beer.

Online pic of The Newbergundian Bistro. Pretty humble exterior. 

View from our seats at the counter. We will choose to sit at the chef's counter as it overlooks the kitchen The two chefs worked very quickly and with lots of skill. Our food took quite long to show up though. 

While at the restaurant we used Lana's iPhone to check on highly rated and local wineries so we could do a wine tasting before we headed back to our Airbnb. Some of the wineries I checked were not open, but ArborBrook Vineyards was open and highly rated. This will be our first wine tasting in the Willamette Valley. 

Vineyard along the road towards the winery. As you can see the grapes have been harvested. 

These vines are loaded with Pinot Noir grapes just waiting to be picked. 

ArborBrook Vineyards wine tasting building. Kind of looks like a barn or old farmhouse. 

Informative placement after entrance to the wine tasting room. Always good to know the terroir as it is very instrumental in determining the actual taste of the wines.

Our wine tasting sitting at an old oak wine barrel. Sandy was our pourer/wine hostess and very friendly/personable. 

Lana sampling a Pinot Noir. 

For wine tasting at ArborBrook you have three wine flights to choose from. We select the cheapest being the ArborBrook Flight at $15 for which you get three white wines and three Pinot Noir to taste. In addition, Sandy pours a 2016 Vintners Select Estate Pinot Noir and a 2015 Sydney Semillon Late Harvest Klipsun Vineyards sweeter wine. We buy the bottle of Late Harvest as it is the best of the bunch and we love the sweeter wines. Great interaction with our hostess Sandy. We had a very enjoyable time and discovered that that the wine prices so far seem to be pretty high! We are hoping this is an aberration? Even worse when you factor the exchange rate. We did enjoy the white and reds (Pinot Noir) but the prices were pretty high. After that much wine tasting, Randy gives the car keys to Lana to drive home. 

We return to our Airbnb and the cleaners are just finishing. Lana has more SAP work to complete before she needs to leave for her spa treatment at Moonstone Massage scheduled for 17:15. Unfortunate that works gets in the way of her vacation time, but it is what it is. I made contact with a Portland wine merchant who may have some Ulli Stein German Riesling for our purchase, but they have not arranged for the Ohne we are wanting. They will order the wine and hope to have it for some time on Friday afternoon. 

Lana returns with the car just in time for our dinner reservation for 19:15. She has a big spa smile on her face. Another memorable spa treatment and some information on local wineries to try tomorrow. We have reservations at Subterra in Newberg. A little tricky to find the entrance, but parking right outside the restaurant. Not super busy and the acoustics appear to favour the louder customers around us. We enjoy an excellent meal and a superb server. The restaurant is located in what was probably a wine cellar. Pretty extensive wine menu. We ordered the three-course menu choice:

Pork with Leek and Mustard (GF)  
Tender Carlton Farm’s Pork Shoulder, Seasoned and Roasted, and Finished in a White Wine, Dijon Mustard, Caper, and Leek Cream Sauce, with Roasted Garlic Parsnip and Potato Puree, and Seasonal Vegetable

Also, a small plate: 

Smoked Duck Breast with Cranberry Mostarda and Pear  

The meal was awesome. Everything tasted fantastic. We would recommend this restaurant for certain. Our best restaurant meal so far on our brief trip. 

Online pic of the interior of Subterra.

The reason for our title was that to this point it has not appeared that we are in 'wine country'. Very few vineyards to be seen. The wineries we have seen from the road are very few and some don't appear to have their own vineyards. Perhaps, we are just not in a central location for the Willamette Valley?


We finished our day by playing pool on the pool table in our Airbnb suite. Pretty cool! Randy beat Lana 2 games to 1 which may be a first!

Day 5: Sept. 17th; Mushrooms & Lava Tubes a Two Hike day

The weather doesn't look too bad this morning despite the forecast of rain. Our goal is to complete two hikes and minimize our time outdoors given the forecast. We take some extra clothes for after our first hike as we know it will get wet. Our first hike of the day will be Tumalo Falls to Upper Falls trail. The information indicates "an easy 3.8 mile in-and-out hike with 680 feet of elevation gain." There are three waterfalls along Tumalo Creek. Relatively easy to find as you head west on Skyliners Road and exit left at gravel road 4603 and continue for 2.4 miles on one of the roughest gravel roads I have ever encountered.


We depart around 10:15 at the trailhead although some delay in completing the usual permit form and then putting $5 in the envelope (honour system). As we are leaving there is a light drizzle so not too bad. By the time we are about 1/2 way through the hike the rain becomes more strong and steady. Plus, the temperature drops with some gentle breezes.

There is a further loop trail, but we don't take it. We do decide to extend this hike so it becomes more than 8 kms. Fairly easy hike as any elevation gain is gradual and the trail itself is excellent. Very few hikers going in our direction, but many going the opposite way. Of course all these hikers are appropriately dressed with waterproof jackets, hoodies, water proof pants and excellent footwear. Randy is not dressed for this rain nor colder weather. Lana is better dressed. We both pay for the lack of preparation but at least Lana is wearing her new fleece pants purchased at REI. And she finds a pair of fleece gloves in the pocket of her rain jacket leftover from snowing last winter!!

Signage at entry to the hike. Doesn't seem to help much, but the trail is easy to follow as it parallels Tumalo Creek. 

Famous Tumalo Falls tumbles about 33 metres off the cliff into the gorge below.

Randy hiking the trail and as you can see pretty great trail being soft and minimal tree roots/rocks. 

Lana on an uphill section with a smile on her face. Very early in the climb.   ;-)

These must be the "secret falls" as these falls make four in total, yet they only talk about three falls?

The official Double Falls. 

The official Upper Falls and is the end of the hike for most people as you turn and head back to the trailhead. 

This is about 4 kms from the very start of the trail. This is another hike, but we turn around. 

Randy the poser. 

OK, for this hike most of the next pictures are of mushrooms! Randy loves the different colours, shapes and sizes. They proliferate along the trail. Probably due to the fact that a number of decades ago there was a huge fire that spread through the area. I decide to capture in film as many different mushrooms as I can document. All these mushrooms are growing right beside the trail. 

This picture is toward the end of the hike. I am absolutely totally drenched in all areas. I have a thin top underneath the blue windbreaker. On the return trip, I decide to speed along and get the car warmed up to wait for Lana. 

Tumalo Falls to Upper Falls (extended hike) stats:

• 8.43 kms
• 12,280 steps
• 1 hour and 56 minutes hiking time
• 221 metres elevation gain

Wow, once we are at the car it is turn up the heat and strip off our top clothes and replace with dry tops. That is very helpful. We are at the car around 12:30 so hungry as well. We decide to drive to our apartment and get our wet clothes off and have some lunch. On the way to the apartment we detour to a Starbucks drive-thru for two Venti Chai Latte with soy, no water, no foam and extra hot. We are not leaving the car until we get back to the apartment!

We are up to our apartment with our wet stuff, out of our clothes and Lana in the shower. Plus, she dries some of her clothes as she is way ahead of me. A nice lunch in the apartment of pork rillettes, bread, carrots and of course the Chai. I need to upload our photos and figure out directions to our second 'hiking' destination. 

Our next hike is Lava River Cave located south of Bend using Highway 97. Fairly easy to find as there are signs off the freeway and then parking is available despite the sign indicating no parking available. We think other people are figuring to be inside a cave when it is steadily raining outside in the Bend area. This 'hike' is described as "an easily accessible portal to an underground fantasyland of amazing rock formations, sparkling ceilings, strange lavacicles, a sand garden, complete blackness and an eerie silence. The two-mile return trip through this lave tube is mostly level once you get past the stairs that descend down into the cave. The tube is surprising large, with ceilings in some sections reaching 50 feet high, although in some sections, the roof does come down to the point you need to stoop." The temperature is a steady 5.5 degrees Celsius so you need to be properly dressed for the cold. You can rent flashlights for $5 each and number of visitors is limited. 

We really enjoy this 'hike'. So interesting being inside an actual lava tube. I have seen documentary films about lava tubes and we get to go inside ourselves! One of the top activities we did while in Bend. This hike took about 53 minutes and 3,500 steps. Yes, it was raining when we entered and raining when we departed although it was fairly light. 

You are on a sloping walkway and then see the cave entrance. Immediately, there are steel stairs which take you down into this dark abyss. Pretty exciting! You really don't know what to expect, but it is such a unique experience. Very chilly, quiet and eerie when you consider that actual lava flowed through this tunnel created by an ancient volcano. At various points your path can be soft sand, flat minerals that I have never seen before, rocks and other debris you need to navigate. Everyone has either a flashlight or a headlamp. You really need to shine the line on the floor otherwise you will trip and fall on the edges of the cave but this means you can't really see the cave around you at the same time. 

It is a gradual descent as we walk towards the end point which seems like forever. So many different rock formations both on the ceiling, the walls and the bottom surface. We are in awe of the ceilings and the glistening minerals/stones. The natural tunnel is sometimes straight, then veers and then veers again given Nature doesn't really follow a straight line. The roof in places is very short and in other places far above your head. It really is mind boggling being down here and imagining the lava flow. There are other hikers so it is not always quiet. You seem like an explorer when you are deep inside the lava tunnel! 

Eventually, we reach the end of the tunnel where only 'government' personnel are allowed to go further. There is a STOP sign at the end where we then turn around. For most of this we have been following a young couple as we can take advantage of their light ahead of us. We go faster on the return trip as we have seen everything. Funny that our flashlights will go in all sorts of directions hoping to find new sights in the roof, walls and floor. Hey, this was free except for the flashlights!

Signage at the entrance before the actual building where you purchase your flashlights. 

This sign was out front of the entrance building. 

Example of the flashlight we rent and another sign that confirms the cave regulations. 

This sign is outside of the lava tunnel. 

A sign out front of the entrance to the cave. 

Lana posing at the entrance to the lava tunnel cave. The entrance starts a long way down. 

The roof of the entrance to the cave. 

The first set of stairs at the entrance. 

Randy in the dark (as usual)!

Example of the floor in some places. 

Side wall.

Signage inside showing that at this point we are actually under Highway 97!

Example of the lava tunnel. 

Light onto the ceiling. 

Sand Gardens deep inside the lava tunnel. 

Wow, really weird horizontally-lined rock deep inside the tunnel. 

To prove we actually went to the very end of the lava tunnel. 

This is the entrance to the lava tunnel taken from inside the tunnel. 

We had some errands to complete before we returned to our apartment. First stop was to pick up our order of four (4) Ocean Rolls from Sparrow Bakery. We had phoned earlier in the afternoon to reserve the ocean rolls for pickup prior to closing at 17:00. This was another excellent decision as when we phoned they only had 10 left. It is listed as one of the signature Bend foods you need to experience. It is described as "using traditional croissant dough, add cardamom, sugar and vanilla. Roll it up, add a splash of egg wash, and bake to golden perfection." It looks like a cinnamon roll absent of the sugar. Very heavy and thick. Cost was $4.25 each and they are a load! Yummy! We ate one as dessert after our dinner tonight. By the way, Sparrow Bakery was just voted the top bakery in Bend, Oregon. 

Sparrow Bakery sign. 

The actual Ocean Roll we shared as our dessert! This was a real treat and if you are in Bend, you "gotta eat here!"

The other errand was to stop at the nearby Safeway store for groceries we can use while staying in Newberg. We bought stuff for lunches and other purposes and then as usual I (Randy) picked the wrong lineup at the checkout. At least we had a girl to do the bagging. Light rain still falling. The only disappointment was we were too late to purchase a Bend cronut! Maybe tomorrow morning...

We ate in tonight and had maybe our best dinner meal of our time in Bend. We had a ribeye steak medium rare from Trader Joe's, mashed potatoes and a salad that Lana created from miscellaneous items. Plus, paired with a bottle of 2014 Italian Chianti served in a regular glass -- no wine glasses in the Airbnb apartment. Lana fried up a steak and everything was so delicious. The wine was very good and the dessert of an ocean roll was the topper. Sorry, no picture as we ate it before we remembered to take a photo.     :(

As well, we need to do a load of laundry. The apartment's washer and dryer are huge so that was helpful. We now have everything washed and dried so ready for the remainder of the trip. Lana watching David Chang's Netflix series Ugly Delicious while relaxing on the couch. Another great day in Bend, Oregon. Temperature at 11 degrees Celsius tonight. For the day my Fitbit shows almost 22,000 steps so despite the lack of a long hike we did put in a lot of steps and some elevation. We will finish the day with another episode of Black Mirror.