All’s Well In Bend

 

Common snowball bush.

The cystoscopy went fine, in fact the test is a breeze. Not something I’d want to do every day, but really not uncomfortable in the least. The anticipation was much worse than the actual procedure itself, and it only took a few minutes. So my bladder (a place no camera should have to go) is healthy.

But, that still doesn’t rule out something going on in the kidneys, so I had a CT urogram this afternoon. Except for the IV and the dye injection, which caused a very disconcerting warm sensation, there was nothing to it either. But since it’s Friday afternoon I won’t hear from the doctor about the results until next week. No big deal, I will enjoy the weekend and will deal with whatever news I get. I’m confident it’s nothing.

We did get to go mountain biking on the Phil’s trail system just west of town. There are many miles of trails of varying difficulty, easy to get lost on when you’re new. But it seemed like every time we stopped to check the map some nice biker would go by and stop to ask if we needed help. We only did a 6 mile loop, which was plenty since there was some climbing involved. Coming back down was loads of fun, though, and the trail we returned on was one way going down so we didn’t have to worry about anyone coming towards us. I only had to stop once to let a fast guy pass me but Jim was way ahead of both of us. For an old guy he is a crazy fool on downhill runs and just loves it. I’m rather cautious, especially on a trail for the first time until I know what’s ahead. Jim just lets it rip, which is why he falls more than I do!

Art on the trail.

Last evening we went for another walk downtown and along the Deschutes River, starting at Drake Park. There are some lovely homes on the river, a great location to live but probably pretty pricey.

Then it was time to try another brewery, this time Mcmenamins Old St. Francis Pub, located in an interesting old Catholic schoolhouse in downtown Bend. Very good beer and a decent vegan hemp burger.

After leaving the imaging center late this afternoon following my CT scan we dropped off an old computer for recycling at Best Buy, then decided it was time for happy hour and another brewpub. There are 19 breweries in Bend alone, so it will take some time to check them all out!  Riverbend Brewing Company was on our way home, so that’s how we chose it. Again the beer was very good. I think Jim liked the Coconut Porter a little better at Mcmenamins last night, but the Riverbend Stout he had tonight was quite tasty. I like really hoppy IPAs and so far I don’t think I’ve ever met one I didn’t like, no matter who’s brewing it.

We have a little creek right next to where we are parked. Every day we see this family of ducks float by. Actually we aren’t sure if it’s the same family.

They spotted me outside with Sophie so they took a land detour on the other side before getting back in the water.

We hope to do some more biking and maybe hiking this weekend. More beer tasting is also a real possibility. The weather has just about been perfect here and we are glad to be back in low humidity after our time spent on the damp coast.