Bend, Oregon

 Roger has been raving about Bend, Oregon since his milestone birthday boys trip in 2019.   We planned this trip with another Michigan family since we usually host our Michigan friend's trip around 4th of July every year.  We were fortunate that this other friend planned all the activities including tubing down the lake, ATV, hiking, and white water rafting.   Here's the top restaurants (and breweries) I would recommend:

- Zydeco Kitchen and Cocktails:  best restaurant in Bend!  Not only is their menu creative, diverse and locally sourced but their wine menu was equally impressive with little to no mark-up!  We got a 2018 Quintessa for less than $200 which is a solid deal.  We basically ordered everything on their menu so that we can taste the variety and it was an excellent start to the vacation.

- Spork: it's posted as Mexican Thai but menu is more geared toward Thai with a slight Mexican twist.  Be ready to wait in long lines as it's order before you sit and it's always busy.  We kept the kids entertained while we waited in line (close to 40 minutes) and ordered everything from their special menu of the day and more.   Food was spectacular!   Best watermelon crispy rice salad and catfish curry.  Don't think I've been so full in a long time!

- Avid Cider:  I was not a big fan of cider prior to this trip and I am now a converter!  This cider brewhouse makes interesting fruit forward mix including dragonfruit, POG, watermelon, etc.  The kids were entertained with the pool table, games and popcorn.  Their tasting flight is a must if you can't decide on which cider to try.   They can also use the same tasting flight cups for the kids if you get non-alcoholic cider from their fridge.   A great way to chill and enjoy some tasty beverages!

I would highly recommend River Drifters for white water rafting (they take kids as young as 3 and their 13 mile river rafting was amazing!).  For hikes, we really enjoyed the view at Smith Rock and Boyd Cave (literally middle of nowhere with no reservation required).  If you're into some low key activity the Vector Volcano Classic Arcade in downtown Bend as a great outlet and paid by the hour for some classic arcades.   We also went to Sun Mountain Fun Center prior to boarding our flight back for some laser tag, go-cart, and arcade games.   

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