35th high school reunion -- eagle. Why do the cute girls NOW say how much they wanted us to ask them out back in the day? Driving over Hood and back over the Old McKenzie Highway -- eagle. Still awesome after all these years. Rennie's Landing, Eugene -- par. Stopped for a pint of Ninkasi passing through, can't believe it has been 27 years since I worked there. Wow. 27. Red Martini Wine Bar & Grill -- birdie. New spot in Redmond, go slurp down a few martinis. Brickhouse -- birdie. This was the Redmond version; finally someone who knows what "rare" means in conjunction with steak. Three Peaks Brewery, Sisters -- bogey. OK beer, not so much on the post-golf nachos. Bend Brewing Company -- par. Cascade Lakes Brewing Company -- birdie. Deschutes Brewery Public House -- par. Maybe they are trying too hard now with all the beer iterations (many are), but the pub grub is still going strong. Anthony's, Bend -- bogey. Several outlets in the PNW, salmon deserves FAR less time on the grill, and no one should ever use garlic powder in their smashed potatoes ... or most anything for that matter. Good martini, small but good wine list, great setting by the Deschutes. Alpenglow Cafe -- birdie. Another one still going strong after all these years. Ranch House, Powell Butte -- birdie. The grill at Brasada Ranch nails the setting, view, vibe and chow. Redmond Airport -- eagle. A gem with great access to the outside world. Mother Nature -- too good to even tally. What a setting. And what a shock to drive down in to Sunriver on a 67 degree morn and find a course closed due to three inches of hail. Nutty doesn't describe it. (I posted a pic on FB.) And now for the IMPORTANT stuff -- golf: Brasada Ranch -- eagle. Jacobsen and co. work wicked-good with angles and the views are phenomenal. Strewn across what looks like 3 billion acres; good luck walking this one. Couple good-not-great holes on the inward side keep it from -3 status. Crosswater -- albatross. Still magic at this joint at Sunriver. You'd think flat courses only work on linksland; that's not the case. In my lifetime top 5. Tetherow -- birdie. Hard. Demanding. Nasty. And nasty, demanding and hard. Visually stunning, immense, daunting, the gifted bastard offspring of Wolf Creek and St. Andrews. And by god do exactly what the forecaddie says as to lines and breaks. For a stick, an eagle, easily. Glaze Meadow -- par. Hey, nothing wrong with par. Put this best-of-Black Butte course in most any other golf market and it moves up. Great conditioning with Mt. Washington giving you the finger most of the way around. And last but not least: Flying through SJC not LAX -- priceless.
You went to Bend and ate at Anthony's? For you isn't that almost Red Lobster? Three Peaks in Sisters was on our list for a stop on the way into Bend. Should we take it off the list or is it worth a stop?
Damn did I really write Three Peaks? It's Three Creeks. That was brain cramp not auto-correct. Anyway, no harm in stopping. The beer was fine; not like it was PBR. You think? Barrio was closed that night ... wtf? 5 Fusion was off the list because one of the princesses won't eat sushi and despite the extensive entree offerings. Zydeco was out the door and we were running on fumes. Pine Tavern no longer is locally operated. And as tasty as it sounds, one cannot live on Alpenglow's Deschutes bacon (though I'd be game to try). Anyway, our forecaddie recommended it. Come to think of it, that likely was payback for what we put that poor bastard through.
We usually stop at the quilt store in Sisters for my mom (long story). I had told Dan about Three Creeks (Ha! I just copied what you wrote because I thought I was wrong) and he wanted to stop and check it out. If it's not PBR, we're okay. I am not sure what I would have done if I were faced with 5 Fusion confusion like that. YUM!! I might just go without the group. Sounds like you had a wonderful trip to a wonderful area.
We stop at Three Creeks on our way to Sunriver. I never get to drink the beer because I'm always driving. They tell me the chocolate porter is very good. Brother John's in downtown Bend, across from the Deschutes restaurant, is very good. I heard about the hailstorm last weekend. Unbelievable for Central Oregon. The car insurance companies are going to take it in the shorts. I golfed Lost Tracks this summer. Really enjoyed it. The scenery on pretty much every golf course in the area is breathtaking. I've never seen Mt Washington so bare. Or Bachelor and The Sisters for that matter.
That is good to hear about Lost Tracks. We had so many totally conflicting reports about it but never rolled in to have a look. I've been out of Oregon for a very long time, but seeing the Cascades took me back to the summer after the non-winter of '77-'78.
Great timing Ken. I just got back from Bandon and our long time caddies there and my brother were putting together a trip itinerary that sounded a lot like your report. Couple that with our long time Corvallis buddy who has moved near Bend and, especially, your description of Redmond airport, the planning will step up. From Burbank!!!! no less. No LAX. Bandon was as enjoyable as ever but they really need to shake up the food choices. I would imagine you are as ready as I am for this weekend's games. While Viginia isn't the SEC at least fans of UCLA can make a bet. South Dakota is a glorified scrimmage. Hope nobody gets hurt.
Small world, I looks like I'm off to Bandon in several weeks ... fingers crossed. I'm going to Hawaii out of SJC so I might piggyback on that somewhat closer proximity. Will you be part of the Bend brigade??? My god, we're just a week-plus back and we're already beating around next year's return. Hopefully we get a rhythm going early, try out some of the new gadgetry, put 40 up and let the newbies play the second half with, as you note, no one getting hurt. Sparty is looming. Big game. Duh. Can't believe some of the pre-season punditry. Other than Felon State University deemed a lock, it's like Oregon sucks/Oregon is the best, OU is the best/OU sucks, Auburn is/is not a fluke. At least Notre Dame is in the crap already and hopefully Kiffin will do for Bama what he did for the Vols! Good luck to your squad!!