Bea is for Bend, Part 2

Dear Liza,

After we got settled into the Ed Danahy Room at the Old St. Francis School, we headed off to see Aunt Bea. She is staying at the Mt. Bachelor Assisted Living Care and it is a wonderful, bright place. Carpets keep the noise down, large windows let the sunshine in, and friendly personnel make everyone feel welcome.

Aunt Bea’s apartment is on the third floor, so she has a nice view of the surrounding hills and trees, and we had a great view of the thunder storm as it rolled by, with flashes of lightning and window rattling thunder. Aunt Bea’s cat, called KittyCat, hid under the bed for a while.

Auntie Bridgett and I went to lunch with Bea, and the dining room was full of chatting folks. One lady introduced herself as Bea’s “bad influence”. Knowing Bea, I told her, I doubt that.

During our visit in Bend, we got to have two long visits with Bea. But it’s exhausting for her, so we headed off to tour the city.

Bend, logically enough, is built at a bend in the Deschutes River. The oldest buildings date from the early 1900s and testify to a thriving business community. The O’Kane Building was built in 1916 and is still the largest commercial building in town. The circular “Bend” logo in the windows has become a symbol of the city, reproduced on stickers, magnets, tee shirts and cards.

Walking down Wall Street, we stopped for a delicious dinner at 900 Wall. Delicious fresh local vegetables (the corn on the cob was so juicy I got splashed on my glasses!) and two different local wines kept us healthy and happy.

Public art, ice cream parlors and neon lights amused us as we wandered the quiet downtown before we returned to the Old St. Francis School.

We even indulged in the soaking pool, which is the fanciest place I ever got wet. We soaked until our muscles were tapioca pudding and stumbled back to sleep for ten hours. TEN hours.

I didn’t take pictures Of the pool, but here is a photo of the postcard.