The BEST 4 Days in Bend, Oregon! (FOOD, Snowshoeing, Tumalo Falls, Newberry Volcano, & Smith Rock)

We have made it to one of our favorite cities in the Pacific Northwest, Bend, Oregon. Bend is located in central Oregon and is a year-round outdoor playground with the Deschutes River right in town, the epic Cascade Range to the west, tons of hiking trails, lakes, skiing, water activities, and so much more. We first visited Bend back in September of 2018 and instantly loved it. In fact, it was here in Bend while on a hike to a spot called No Name Lake where we decided to pursue van life and travel full-time, so this place is a special place for us. And we are extremely excited to be partnering with Visit Bend to explore the city and the surrounding area over the next four days. We're here in mid-April, which is the shoulder season, so not everything is open and accessible, but there are still tons to do. So, a little bit of history about Bend. Back in the early 1900s, Bend was a logging town with two main logging corporations dominating the area, and the Old Mill area where we're walking now is where most of these operations existed. You can still see some of the smokestacks and old buildings, which is a really awesome way to keep that history alive. Today, it's a retail area right along the Deschutes River with a really nice walking path to enjoy. Even though Bend isn't on the coast, you can still catch some waves. Should I go hop in the lineup? We adventured into downtown Bend, which has that charming small town feel we absolutely love. And for lunch, we came to the spot called Wild Rose, which is a northern Thai restaurant that has come extremely highly recommended from basically everyone we know who's ever been here. So, I got their Khao Soi, which is my favorite Thai dish. It's a yellow coconut curry with egg noodles and crispy egg noodles on top, all kinds of other delicious goodies inside. We had heard that Wild Rose's Khao Soi is about as good as it gets with Khao Soi being outside of Thailand, so we knew we had to get it. This Khao Soi is the best one I've ever had. It's sweet, it's creamy, it's got a little spice in there, and then the textural elements. You've got the noodles here, and then the crispy noodles give it a little bit of a texture change. And Asian foods and Thai foods, they kind of have that fifth flavor element of umami, so it's kind of hard to describe and pinpoint what all these flavors are. But there's just so much in there, and it is so hearty, so delicious. It makes me happy. So we're here for lunch, and we hear that dinner gets pretty crazy here, and you have to have a reservation. But lunch is super chill so far, and they have a lunch menu. So I got their house curry off the lunch menu, which today was a red curry with chicken. It's quite a bit smaller than Adam's dinner size, but it's also like a really good price. I think this is just $10 for this and rice. That is so good. I cannot tell you what it tastes like besides so much flavor, and it's like Adam's just creamy. The perfect spice level. We got spice level three. It's not bad at all. Yeah, this is delicious. Y'all, the weirdest thing happened. We were just walking around, and we got a little turned around and lost, so we just went to the first place we could find, and it happened to be a gelato shop. What are the odds? Okay, just kidding. Y'all know us. We came here on purpose. We came to Bonta Natural Artisan Gelato, which Bonta means goodness in Italian, and after having a couple little bites of this, that is an accurate name. So this one here is the coffee break, and as you can see, there are massive pieces of donut in here. Oh my goodness. And then I got also the classic stracciatella. I love these huge pieces of donut. That is such a cool touch. Oh yeah, the texture on that is amazing. Cinnamon-y, a little bit of coffee flavor. Awesome. Oh man, this just tastes so high quality. So good. Just look at how thick and creamy this gelato is. As you can tell, I'm like halfway through it because I couldn't wait to eat it, but I got peanut butter and Theo chocolate, I believe, and then the dulce de leche with sea salt, and this dulce de leche one has such a unique flavor to it. It is just incredible, and the other one's delicious too. They're both so good, and the best part is they go so well together, so I can just mix them, and oh yeah. This is insane gelato. Bend is located close to quite a few volcanoes. In fact, there's a volcano right in town that you can drive or walk up to called Pilot Butte, which is a cinder cone that last erupted 250,000 years ago, and to see more of the area's volcanic history, we're heading a little bit south of town to the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. The Newberry volcano is an active shield volcano which last erupted about 1,300 years ago and is the largest volcano in the Cascade Range. When you include all of its lava flow, it covers an area of about 1,200 square miles, which is about the same size as Rhode Island, and on top of that, it is considered one of the highest threat volcanoes in the United States. Most of the park is still closed for the winter, but we're walking on the Trail of Molten Land, which is a one-mile paved trail that takes you through all of this lava, and it feels like we're walking on another planet right now. And funny enough, from 1964 to 1966, astronauts trained here to walk on the moon. So we're basically walking in the footsteps of astronauts, which is crazy cool. Oh wow. I was not expecting a view like this. Wow. There's lava for miles. So all of this lava that we've been walking through and that you can see off in the distance comes from this guy right behind me, Lava Butte, which last erupted 7,000 years ago, and it's where we're headed next. Normally, you can drive to the top of Lava Butte, but it's closed because it's winter. Also, our van is too long to drive on this road, so we're hiking up instead, and it is getting steep. This wind is insane. Besides the crazy wind and amazing views up here, there's also a fire lookout, the Lava Butte Fire Lookout, which is one of three fire lookouts in the Deschutes National Forest. And this one here is one of the busiest in the Pacific Northwest. In an average year, they report over 125 first reports of fires. So this bottom section of the fire lookout, the door, I don't know, I just turned the handle and you can just come in, but there's no lock on it anyways. But man, this gives us a nice break from the wind and we can enjoy these views. Yeah, it's getting rough out there. It's a strong enough wind that it was pushing us over. It was intense. All right, and now it's raining. So we're going to book it back down. Well, that was fun. While here in Bend, we're staying at a spot called The Camp, which is an urban RV park right in town. It was built in 1950 and then won in a poker tournament in 1969 and held by that owner until a few years ago when they passed away. The new owners have totally revamped it. And even though RV parks aren't allowed in city limits anymore, this one is grandfathered in because of its history. It's a super cool spot with tiny cottages, vintage trailers, and RV spots, plus the essentials like laundry, restrooms, and showers, as well as a common area with a fire pit and two grills, which we're hoping to use one night while we're here, but maybe on a night that it's not raining. We bought these snowshoes a couple of weeks ago thinking we would have a couple of times to use them by now, but we just haven't had the chance. So today is finally the day. We are on the trail and we are officially snowshoeing. And a few important things to know about snowshoeing here in Bend is that between November 1st and May 1st, you need a snow park permit to park at any of the trailheads. These vary in cost depending on how many days you need one for. And also during this timeframe, dogs are not allowed. There are a bunch of different routes you can do in this area. And originally we wanted to do this one called Tumalo Mountain, which has amazing views of the mountains here, but it looks to be a really cloudy day and we didn't think that the views would actually be there. So we went to the Swampy Lakes Snow Park instead. We're hiking the Swampy Lakes Loop, which has a pretty cool feature along the way. It is a winter wonderland out here. Our whole goal with our journey to Alaska was to see as much different scenery as we could, which is why we didn't go up the coast the entire way. And this is really the first time we're seeing snow this year. We got lucky coming here that they got kind of blanketed with snow and we were able to come out here in snowshoe because it is so fun and it's peaceful and magical. We made it! One unique and fun feature at some of these snow parks out here is they have warming huts, which is basically a shelter here with a wood-burning stove inside so you can go inside, warm up a little bit. And it looks like we got here perfect timing because it's starting to snow on us a little bit. Alright, first things first in the warming hut, naturally, got to get the fire started. This is the best thing ever. This feels so good. So we brought some backpacking meals so we could have a warm lunch while we're hanging out in the warming hut. And why not use this free water out here, this snow right here. It's so cold. We have a warming hut. We are walking in a snow globe right now. This is so gorgeous. Now that the warmth from the warming hut has worn off, it's time to go get warm again with some coffee. We came to Spoken Mood, which is one of the coolest coffee shops here in Bend. It's a coffee shop plus motorcycle shop. It has food trucks outside, sometimes has live music, and just overall has the coolest vibe. They also serve beer here and one thing to know about Bend is they have an amazing beer scene. They even have an ale trail to enjoy. We don't drink so we're gonna stick with the coffee, but thankfully Bend has tons of delicious coffee shops to enjoy also. I got a dirty chai and it just smells like spicy heaven. Oh, oh yes. That is so good. All right, we're back at the camp. We're grilling up some steak and veggies. Got a little nice little fire going here. Just chilling and grilling. These flames are very ferocious, but cannot think of a better way to end this super fun, but also very very chilly day. If I'm missing an eyebrow tomorrow you'll know what happens. I'm gonna get you. I know, I'm scared. We're starting our morning here in Bend with what we hear is an iconic Bend treat, an ocean roll from Sparrow Bakery. An ocean roll is made with croissant dough and vanilla, sugar, and cardamom. Kind of looks like a cinnamon roll, but deceptively is not, but it looks so delicious. Look at all the spices in there. I'm guessing that's the cardamom. That's gonna be tasty. This just looks so fluffy and mmm. This ocean roll is dynamite. It's not overly sweet, but you get the definite taste of vanilla and the cardamom in there, and then the texture of this croissant here is just, oh man, it's just got a little bit of a chew to it. You can just smell the spices. It is the perfect amount of sweetness, but on the bottom here you have all this kind of caramelized sugar, so it gives it a nice crunch and also just like that sweet flavor. The flavor is just unlike anything that I've ever tried. My favorite part is all that cardamom in there. Just gives it a little spicy flavor, but the best part is that very centerpiece. It is just so gooey and fluffy and, oh man, all the spices. Everything's just concentrated in there. All right, let's go hiking. We've headed about 40 minutes north of Bend to Smith Rock State Park, which is known for its insanely striking rock walls and spires, which are made up of volcanic ash from volcanic activity millions of years ago and shaped over time by the crooked river below. This park is very famous for rock climbing, but we're gonna stick to the trails instead, and we're going to hike the Misery Ridge Trail plus Summit Trail loop, which is about six miles. All right, we're about to head up all these switchbacks here. I'm pretty sure this is why they call it Misery Ridge. Are you in misery yet? There are so many steps. This part of Oregon is known as the high desert because of its higher elevation, drier climate, and normally sunnier weather than other parts of the state. It is just so diverse out here. Yesterday we were basically in a snow globe in the forest, and now we're just in this desert-like landscape. This crazy rock formation right here is known as Monkey Face, and it's basically just a big rock tower that supposedly looks like a monkey face. We're debating if we think it does right now. We're not sure if this is the right angle or not, but this is a very popular climbing route. We even see a rope just dangling down, so we're hoping as we get closer to it we can see someone climbing it. All right, from this angle it is starting to look more like a monkey face to me, plus there's someone climbing it over there. How cool! We are officially on the Summit Trail, and we've actually been to Smith Rock before many years ago, and last time we did the Misery Ridge Trail plus the River Trail loop, which is about 3.5 miles and is definitely the most popular hike here in the park. We thought it would be fun to try a different trail this time. It's quite a bit longer, but we're excited to see some different views. Now that's a view! Smith Rock State Park is considered one of the seven wonders of Oregon, and we can totally understand why. This is one of my favorite state parks I've ever been to in the entire United States. All right, now back to Bend for a very unique and one-of-a-kind stop. We're at the last Blockbuster in the entire world! For those of you not familiar with Blockbuster, it is a movie rental store. It started in 1985, and over 20 years it became the largest movie rental business in the world with up to 9,000 stores at one point, but in 2010, partially due to the rise of Netflix and Redbox, they filed for bankruptcy and all their stores closed down. However, there's still one left in the entire world, and it's here in Bend, Oregon, and it's still a working Blockbuster. They have all of these movies you can rent, plus some cool memorabilia for sale. We both grew up going to Blockbuster, so this brings back so many memories. I can still hear my mom saying, hurry up, pick something already! So thanks mom for being so patient with me. At one point in my life, I could recite this whole movie from start to finish, and I know all the words to this one. Also, fun fact, we watched this movie on our first date. Let me tell you, it's kind of an awkward first date movie. We don't have a DVD player, so we can't rent a movie, but we did get some candy so that we can have a movie night back in the van back at the camp. They have free coffee here in the mornings, not a bad way to start our day. One spot we have always wanted to check out here in Bend is Tumalo Falls, and today we're finally going to make it happen. Normally in the summertime, you can just drive up to the falls and then walk to a couple overlooks, but in the we're walking 2.5 miles to the falls. All right, we have made it, and we're about to catch our first glimpse of Tumalo Falls. I can kind of see it, but I'm trying not to look. Wow! Oh, that is gorgeous! Now that's a waterfall! So this is Tumalo Falls. It's a 97 foot waterfall, and it is picture perfect. We love waterfalls any time of the year, but there's something about a snowy waterfall that's extra magical. All the icicles that are behind it are just so cool. Oh, geez! Snowball fight! For our final stop here in Bend, we're at Bo's Falafel Bar, which is a place we have been so pumped to eat at. They have falafel, as the name implies, and also shawarma, and we hear amazing bagels if you get here early enough in the morning. So we both got the Bo's Spiced Chicken Bowl, which comes with tons of chicken, greens, and rice in the bottom, and then there's like at least 15 toppings that you can add into. I don't even remember what all I got, but I just loaded it up. This looks so delicious. Look at this chicken with all these spices on here. Tender, juicy. This chicken is outstanding. It is so juicy, so tender, so much flavor on there. I got a little bit of spice, but then also like other kind of Middle Eastern spices. I love this kind of kind of food because it's almost like your own personal feast. You just have so much going on here, so many flavors. This is hitting the spot. So we actually extended how many days we were filming this video because Bo's isn't open every day, and it wasn't open the previous days. We wanted to come here so badly, and it was a thousand percent worth the wait. This is incredible. There's so much flavor. I could eat this every single meal, every single day. It's just so fresh tasting. Some veggies in there, some nice creamy sauces. Oh yeah. We also got a side of falafel because it is Bo's Falafel Bar. After all, I don't eat a ton of falafel, but these are super delicious. Crunchy on the outside, nice and tender on the inside. Tons of flavor in there. I love this place so much. A huge thank you to Visit Ben for sponsoring this video and for helping us explore this gorgeous part of Oregon. We barely scratched the surface of all there is to do here, so for more ideas, check out the Visit Ben website as well as our website where we have a guide and itinerary written based on our experience on this trip as well as on a previous trip during the summer. And before you plan to visit Ben, please read the Ben Pledge to learn how you can explore this area responsibly and respectfully. This is a very special place, so please do your part to help keep it that way. We'll put a link to the pledge below so that you can check it out and if you sign the pledge, you'll be entered to win a free trip to Ben. Holla! We are super bummed to leave Ben, but we know we will be back many more times. But for now, we're going to hit the road to check out one more spot in Oregon. You can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball. And that's the way the cookie crumbles. We're watching this is us. Bad idea. Oh no. Not a good idea. Yeah, bad idea. No snowman. Oh no, you just destroyed the snowman.