Great air museum at the Madras airport. Lots of air worthy WW2 aircraft and artifacts…read more Very clean and orig sized and AC on a hot day!

What a find!!!! Such history! This is worth a detour or even a special trip if you like airplanes…read moreor war history. Wow! We went on a weekday and had the whole place to ourselves. All of these planes (and there are a LOT of planes) are in flying condition and they take them out and fly them on occasion. If your schedule if flexible, give them a call to see when they will be flying and maybe you can witness that spectacle! Anyway, allow a couple of hours to go through the museum and be sure to read all the signage and displays. Wonderfully curated!!!

Beautiful museum, very informative. Learned a great deal. We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed it…read moreoutside on one of the tables.

If you are not into museums or think that they are a place to run through for entertainment, this…read moreis not the place for you. If, on the other hand, a museum is a place of learning, be prepared to spend some time in the Museum at Warm Springs. We were more than a little skeptical of the quality of the museum from the conditions in the parking lot and the building exterior. Once inside we learned that the museum is nearing the end of a long and difficult renovation. Some of the exhibit areas were still closed. The exhibits are well prepared, thought out, and filled with visual and textural information. I really enjoyed the comparisons of the three native cultures. It is interesting how their cultures have survived the upheaval of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries and the ongoing efforts to maintain and restore their cultures. We will return to the Museum at Warm Springs within the next year or two to see the finished renovation.

The Lava lands visitor center has a small gift shop, staff out front with times for a guided tour,…read morethey have souvineer penny smasher and a small museum about the volcano and fossils. It also had the trail heads for the trail of the Molten lands, the trail of the whispering pines, the roadway up to lava butte, as well as information on the lava river tunnels, and other things in this portion of the park.

Lava Lands is part of small cinder cones on the northwest side of Newberry Volcano, a massive…read moreshield volcano rises to the southeast. This region is characterized by extensive lava flows, including the 7,000-year-old flow from Lava Butte, a prominent cinder cone. How I like to see as much as possible is by mountain bike. From Lava Lands parking lot pick up the 4 mile fast flow furious fun single track for 4 miles curving through Ponderosa Pines following lava fields. Ride through the lava rock featuring panoramic views of snow capped mountains. At the end of Black Rock single track connect with the Deschutes River and ride along at least a mile to Benham Falls - so magnificent! Continue riding 5-10-XX more miles filling up your passion bucket in the natural wonders following and flowing with the Deschutes River. I fulled up my bucket for 20 miles - at time rivers flows with power and times as still as a lake. Let's go! Wherever the powerful river flows! Wherever the peaceful river goes! Many feel the pace only the river knows - as I did flow along by mountain bike!

I finally visited the Petersen Rock Garden, and it was absolutely delightful! I grew up in Eugene,…read morebut somehow never made it there before now. I have photos of my grandparents and mom there in the 1950's. I was thrilled to hear it has been acquired by folks seeking to preserve it and realize it's potential for a community space. I was surprised at how many structures there were around the entirety of the property, and the scale of many were larger than I'd imagined. You can see where part of some structures (and the water features) are obviously still undergoing or waiting for restoration, but I was actually impressed by the conditions having read of it's previous neglect and decline. I spoke at length with one of the guys who is working there, and it seems obvious that it is in good hands. I happily bought a t-shirt at their gift shop, which is located inside the old diner they have been working on restoring. He said that the museum had just finished being restored and would be opening in a couple weeks. Eventually, they envision hosting a community garden and events. I didn't even mention...they have peacocks! You can see them lounging about the property. I have a bit of a soft spot for these quirky roadside attractions like this, or the Prehistoric Gardens, or Enchanted Forest. These are little treasures built by artistic individualists simply for the love of the creative process itself. They've provided delight for generations of Oregonians, and I'm thankful to see people step up to preserve it. It's a $10 suggested donation on the honor system, but you can always donate more if you enjoy your experience! Or buy a t-shirt.

What was going to be a quick stop to check out a quirky roadside attraction turned in to a lovely…read moreafternoon at this beautiful location. We stopped here on a weekday and we're surprised at how many people were visiting. The parking area was packed but there were still some spaces for us. Once we got out and started looking around, I realized why there were so many visitors. This is a truly magical place that a lot of thought has been put into and you can wander here for hours finding new and unique things. It's very dog friendly and we brought our pup everywhere with us. We explored the grounds for over an hour and then enjoyed a picnic lunch at one of the shaded tables while we watched the peacocks wander and children play on some of the people friendly sculptures. The sculptures are unique and created with love. They are made from a wide range of different materials so there are lots of different textures and colors. And every time you think you've seen them all, you find more things to look at. I think one of my favorite things was a little shack kind of out in the very corner that has been set aside for visitors to write their dreams on... I spent a long time in there reading what people had written and imagining who they were and where they came from. It made me cry. We made sure to buy some items from the gift shop and leave more than the suggested donation, but I love that you can come here even if you don't have much and just enjoy the space without any demands on you. I highly recommend stopping by here and donating generously if the mood moves you to keep this place open and available for the world to see.

Definitely worth a visit! So much good history to read about here. If you're looking to beat the…read moresummer heat and learn a bit more about Bend this is the spot.

We decided that this week we would explore the Deschutes Historical Museum as part of our weekly…read moreexploration adventure. We were not disappointed! Parking was easy. There is a parking lot at the museum, plus there is street parking. The museum is contained in a 100+ year old schoolhouse. The small gift shop has several books that we want to add to our collection thereby ensuring that we will return multiple times. We spent about an hour and a half studying the exhibits and did not see everything. For me the most interesting part was the railroad contribution to the logging industry. Next time I want to spend more time in the bicycle exhibit. Before we left, we had an interesting conversation with the friendly and helpful museum staff. This is a great place to learn about early Bend history.

I wouldn't recommend the private planetarium experience. It felt like a waste of money...the…read moretechnology was outdated and we spent a lot of time waiting for the guide to figure things out.

We went with three generations. The children enjoyed it the most. During the day, we had an…read moreopportunity to look at the sun through a special telescope. There are also amazing views at night at the observatory. It is a fun outing that will last an hour or two. If you are only interested in night observation the observatory also has evening events. The staff and volunteers are very knowledgeable and friendly. I recommend stopping by.