Bend Fourth of July trip: Part 2

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Day 4 (Tuesday, 7/5):

We drove along the Cascade highway towards Mt. Bachelor and stopped at Cultus Lake.  This highway passes so many lakes-Devils Lake, Elk Lake, and Cultus Lake, just to name a few.  There are tons of outdoor activities along this scenic byway like camping, hiking, boating, and mountain biking.  We really had a hankering (for lack of a better term) to rent a pontoon boat on one of the bigger lakes to picnic, swim, and hang out.  We ended up at Cultus Lake as one of the few lakes that allow motor boating.  When we got out there, it felt freezing, probably in the high 60s with a strong wind off the lake.  We rented the boat anyways and went out on the water wrapped up in our towels.  Luckily, on the far side of the lake, there was a calm beach situated perfectly without much wind.  The water was really cold, so we didn't swim, but we did picnic, play in the sand, and lay in the sun.  It had me missing the warm North Carolina lakes in the summer, but it was still fun.

It takes him a lot of concentration to do that thumbs up.

Day 5 (Wednesday, 7/6):

Bryce went fly fishing in the morning on his own.  I took the kids to a park down the street then we ate lunch and did rest time at the house.

After Bryce got back that afternoon, we headed to Tumalo State Park because we had a campsite reserved.  The camp ground is just 15 minutes away from our friend's house.  I had no idea how the kids would do camping.  Our kids don't have a history of being great sleepers, even at home.  They sleep, but often wake up (maybe that's normal, though, for *most* toddlers...but of course, you hear the stories of toddlers sleeping through all night, every night...).

Anyways, we headed to camp with the kids for the first time.  The campsite was so nice!  We definitely lucked out.  We were right on the river.  We got there around 4pm to set up camp, play, and Bryce even fished for about an hour.  They also had nice bathrooms with flush toilets and sinks and a play ground.

Watching Daddy fish...

 It surprisingly went really really well.  It didn't get much below the high 40s at night, so everyone was snug.  Carter didn't even stay in his sleeping bag, but was fine, only waking up once (normal for him even at home).  Looking back at the pictures, I'm cringing thinking about mosquitos, but I'm serious, I don't remember any of us getting even one bite.  And I'm the one to remember those things because I'm usually the one to get bitten first and the most.

The next morning, we took our time getting up and packing up.  But we were out by 8am since our kids ARE always good at waking up around 6am.  We even dropped by Tumalo Falls to take a look.  We didn't do the hike, but just walked up to the view point.  It was really crowded.

Day 6 (Thursday, 7/7):

This was my favorite day.  I've been wanting to go paddle boarding ever since I heard of it.  I'd never been until this day.  And we happened to have two very little kids with us...but that didn't stop us!  We did quite a bit of research on where to go, what kind to get, we almost did one kayak and one paddle board.  We showed up to rent and without cross bars on our car, they turned us down for the regular paddle boards.  We were disappointed and thought that was it for our hope of paddle boarding.  But then we heard about the inflatable paddle boards, which happen to be just as good for beginners and super easy to transport, blow up, and deflate.  So we went with those and drove to a couple beautiful lakes.  First, we went to Hosmer Lake.  We hoped to go to Sparks lake because I saw amazing paddle boarding pictures, but it was closed for construction and significantly dried out.  Hosmer was gorgeous and had a great view of the mountains.  There were quite a few kayakers, but the water was clear, we saw tons of fish, and had a picnic out on one of the shores.  It took a lot of fear facing for me with the cold water, barefoot, two little kids, food, and our phones on these two paddle boards.  But after 5 minutes, your body kind of gets used to the balancing and just goes.  I started off on my knees thinking that I wouldn't be brave enough to stand, but it was fine.  The kids were surprisingly still (thank goodness!).

After Hosmer Lake, we stopped by Devils Lake on the way back towards town.  It is a gorgeous turquoise clear lake right off the road.

Day 7 (Friday, 7/8):

We drove home!  Happy (and tired) after such a fun week!  If you ever find yourself in Oregon, I highly suggest doing a few days in the Bend area.  It's so beautiful with lots to do.  This is a great website, too.