Stephen and I lean toward the spontaneous adventures. Though we use our synced Google calendars extensively to manage appointments and activities, we always find ourselves going on day trips or overnight trips without intense planning ahead of time. Sure, things have not always worked out perfectly, but at least we’re going with the flow and enjoying it!

A couple of weeks ago the kids and I tagged along on one of Stephen’s work trips to Bend. GreenLoop has its main office in Phoenix, its secondary office in Bend, and an office rental space {on an as-needed basis} here in Portland/Beaverton. Since Stephen needed to train a new employee in Bend, he rented an Airbnb condo and took us with him.

As soon as we reached Bend, about 3 1/2 hours southeast of Portland, it was sunset. We grabbed a pizza and drove up to the top of Pilot Butte to watch the show.

The butte is an extinct cinder cone, and the view of the city and surrounding mountain peaks was gorgeous! We could see at least six or seven snow capped peaks.

The condo we stayed in had a loft that Silas immediately swooned for. There was a pool, hot tub, and playground at the resort that was right outside our front door. We made our own lunches in the kitchenette, played board games, watched TV, swam, and explored the area while Stephen was at work each day.

I especially wanted to hike the Lava River Cave, but the parking lot was completely full the first day. We kept circling through the lot at different times of the day, but nothing opened up for us, so we hiked to a nearby waterfall and threw rocks in the river instead.

The next morning I was prepared. After dropping off Stephen at the office, we were the first in line outside the cave’s entrance. We brought our headlamps, flashlight, and jackets. We walked down several flights of stairs and along several metal walkways to enter the cave.

Once inside, there weren’t many formations as it was basically a cylindrical tube underground. The cave was formed when a volcanic lava flow cooled and hardened at the surface, while the hot lava underneath kept on flowing, leaving a cave in its wake.

The path was generally smooth with only a few narrow places. We hiked about two miles round trip, in and out the same way. If Brynn could do it, almost anyone could.

We ate out every night, waded in the Deschutes River,

and spent the better part of a day investigating the High Desert Museum. GreenLoop handles the museum’s IT services and is a sponsor. Silas was excited to see Daddy’s work logo painted on the exhibit wall.

The kids also had a blast painting, watering the garden, doing the laundry, and sweeping up at the pioneer homestead.

It was an unexpected, but fun family getaway.