A Day in Bend

The economy appears to be picking up in Bend. Traffic volumes are certainly on the rise, as is construction.  Bend started off life as a mill town.  After all the trees were logged and the sawmills closed, the town fell upon very hard times.  However, the city reinvented itself as a haven for sports tourism.  There are snow sports in the winter.  Bend is a MTB mecca, as well as a golfing and fishing destination. They were not unscathed by the recent economic troubles.  This is from Wikipedia.

• Median home prices in the Bend MSA increased by over 80% in the 2001–05 period.
  In June 2006, Money magazine named the Bend MSA the fifth most overpriced real estate market in the United States. By September 2006, the Bend metro area ranked second in the list of most overpriced housing markets, and in June 2007 it was named the most overpriced housing market in America.
  The 2008–09 housing downturn had a strong effect on Bend's housing and economic situation. According to the Seattle Times, single-family home prices dropped more than 40 percent from a peak of $396,000 in May 2007 to $221,000 in March 2009.

This is our fourth year to be here in June.  During all of those years there were several failed subdivisions that were never under construction.  This year, however, there is much building going on in the area around Crown Villa.

We took today off to allow the feet to rest.  We went down to the Old Mill District to go to REI.  Did I mention there's no sales tax in Oregon?  We bought lights for when we bike through the tunnels on the Trail of the Hiawatha.  I bought a pair of Lowa boots that will probably go back.  They were on sale, and I might keep them, but I doubt it. 
Anyway.... on the way in to the shopping area, we drove by a big retaining wall made of boulders, with a grass strip at the base.  In the grass were about 6 or 7 marmots, laying on their stomachs shoveling grass into their mouths.  They were so cute it hurt me.  Traffic conditions precluded my jumping out of the truck for a picture, unfortunately. 
However, there were more marmots in the retaining wall surrounding the parking lot.  The is a young marmot.

 

This is an adult marmot.

 

They are not terribly afraid of people.

 

We shopped, had lunch, and took a brief walk along the river.  It was very pleasant.  There is much retail and many restaurants available.  After a trip to the grocery store we returned to the bus. 
This is one of the Prevosts that's making us feel poor.  He washed his RV and was in the process of drying it when we had a sudden mix of rain and hail.  It's his fault.  There's another Prevost on the other side of the Newmar that's also next to us.  We're surprised they're all not up in the Platinum sites.

 

It was a nice day.  Tomorrow we're going to go back to the Deschutes River Trail to ride.