Central Oregon-La Pine and Bend

I decided that I am just going to write about the places that I visit, whether they be local, or not. As a reference for myself and for others, so I can keep track of what I like and don't like. Last weekend I went camping at La Pine State Park. I've camped there before. It's a nice campground, near the Deschutes River. For as busy as it is, it's rather quiet and the views of the stars are amazing at night. A word to the wise-it gets very hot during the day, but surprisingly cold at night. Make sure and bring warm clothes and a warm sleeping bag!
On our way home we stopped in Bend and went to the "Old Mill District". I had never been in that part of town, but it's a newer shopping area, and it's situated right on the Deschutes River. It was a gorgeous day, as it usually is in Bend in summer, and there were many people floating down the river enjoying it. This area has all your typical stores like the Gap, and your typical restaurants like Red Robin, but it also has a really cool REI in an old converted mill with all the original brick and rafters etc. Every Sunday during the summer they have a free concert series at the amphitheatre. I was pretty impressed with what we saw. We saw a raggae band, that was pretty good and I was surprised how many people were out enjoying the free concert with their families-lots of kids and dogs! The amphitheatre is a good set up-the grass is perfectly maintained and there is plenty of room to bring blankets and chairs.
Apparently I have never seen the cool side of Bend, because we also drove through downtown Bend which has narrow streets with quaint restaurants and shops and looked like a lot of fun. Unfortunately we didn't have time to stop.
The other nice part of the trip was the drive over. I am used to taking Highway 26 over Mt. Hood to get to Bend and for the first time drove over the Santiam Pass taking the route past Detroit Lake and through Sisters. We ate a great little Italian place in Sisters called "Papandreas". They had huge, and very delicious calzones. The drive was gorgeous though, Detroit Lake is really pretty and there was water almost the entire drive to look at in the form of lakes or rivers. Seeing the mountains in Central Oregon up close is beautiful and the scenery around Sisters is unparalleled. It's about a 3 hour drive or so any way around it from the Portland area, but it is well worth the drive, and it's a fun place to go to. :)