The Bend, OR high desert area is beautiful with surrounding snow capped mountains, small buttes here and there and ancient lava flows in abundance. It would take years to see and do all that Bend has to offer. So....our first full day in Bend/Sunriver TT we spent resting, playing cards and doing laundry. Hey, we needed our day of rest......lol.....traveling is hard work!!
We were well rested the next day as we set out for a visit to Sisters, a town about 15 or so miles to the northwest of Bend. As we passed through Bend on our way to Sisters, we stopped at Visit Bend, a visitors info center in the old part of town. There at Visit Bend we were waylaid with a promise of a horse-drawn wagon ride that would take us around to breweries for free. We were told to be back at the Center at 1pm ready to ride. With an hour + to go before our brewery tour, we headed to nearby Deschutes Brewery for lunch and well....a brew! The wagon and horses were there as promised at 1pm and we were helped aboard by wagonmaster Ryan of Cowboy Carriage and hostess Bette, owner of The Well Traveled Fork. Ryan and Bette put together brewery wagon tours each summer that includes some of the finest suds this side of the Cascades (samples from local breweries) and tasty lunch grub put together by Chef Bette. We lucked onto a free tour that was being given on the anniversary of the first wagon brewery tour. Unfortunately the weather was not going to co-operate during our ride and we were spit on a bit before we reached our first brewery called The Boneyard. We dried off inside with beer sampling....my personal fav being Dirty Girl and we bought a growler for later. A growler is a half gallon glass container that looks like an old-fashioned jug. It’s filled right when it’s purchased with the requested beer and can be taken home for immediate or "for later" consumption. Ryan and the horses were getting wet a bit outside so after about 45 minutes of tasting we re-boarded the wagon and moseyed off to the next brewery, Silver Moon. The skies really opened up during this ride which included swinging back by the Visit Bend Center for more guests. We were drenched upon arrival at the Silver Moon and perhaps took a little bit longer than necessary at this tasting which included a few munchies. Ryan finally had to send in a messenger to tell us that it was time to go. Luckily he was dressed for bad weather and his oilskins kept him dry but the horses were getting antsy in the rain. We said goodbye to our fellow hardy beer drinkers and headed back home to dry off.