HotelTonight – Bend, Oregon Hotels
Until recently, when I thought of Oregon, I thought of a lot of things. These included her beautiful mountains, her stunning coastline, her friendly people and, of course, the rain that dominates the climate there. I never thought much about sun or sunny days. As it turns out, I should have. I was in Portland not too long ago when a hitch in my travel schedule allowed me to spend 24 hours in this place called Bend. I had not heard of it before, but I was told at the time that I'd enjoy "getting some sun" and relaxing. Intrigued, I decided to take the short flight over there to see what all of this was about. I could fly home the next day from Bend, so why not? On my way there, I read up on what I could be encountering, and I got excited. When I got there, I realized that in my excitement I hadn't found a place to stay for the night. That wasn't an issue, though, as I travel with HotelTonight. My favorite travel app would help me find a Bend hotel room as soon as I was ready to get some sleep.
Converging Cultures
The first thing I noticed about Bend after I arrived was that it is stunningly beautiful. The second thing I noticed was that this was a city where differing cultures come together quite nicely. Bend is a mountain town, which means that there is a lot of rugged outdoor-ism there. You see people biking, hiking, carrying kayaks and the like. You also see a lot of modernity, as the city itself is relatively cosmopolitan. It's not like some of those ski resort towns you see in other parts of the world. Bend is a fully-functioning city where people live, work, play and raise families.
The Sun
Before I had gotten to Bend, I heard that there were 300 days per year of sun there. When I got there, I found out that on average, there are nearly 160 sunny days per year there and another 100-plus where at least part of the day is sunny. While that's not quite 300, it's still quite a bit more than what you'll find towards the coastline, where it basically rains all winter long. Of course, it was a bright, sunny and beautiful day when I was there, which prompted me to put on some sunscreen.
The Cuisine
Given the number of ranches in that part of Oregon and the obvious ability for people to grow their own food there, it didn't come as a surprise that locals really liked a farm-to-table place when I asked around for dinner recommendations. I gave it a try, and it turned out to be a good decision. The salad I had could have been a meal by itself, and the lamb that was slowly roasted with rosemary was as tender as it was tasty. It was a great meal.
HotelTonight – Bend Hotels Tonight
I was full, happy and very satisfied that I had gotten to see a different part of Oregon. I was also tired but had nowhere to stay. I opened the HotelTonight app on my phone and booked a Bend hotel room in seconds, so I was all set. I was looking forward to a night of deep sleep after a fun day.
