Dos and Don’ts of Bend Oregon

The other day someone asked me for some quick advice about moving to Central Oregon. I came up with a quick list…

Do’s and Don’ts of Bend…

Do —

• Try all the breweries, even the ones that you haven’t heard anything about
• Bike the trails more than the roads
• Ski the mountains, especially the backwoods if you can
• Say hi to people on the street, they are not just staring at you because you look funny
• Get your business network flowing at things like PubTalk or Oregon Outdoor Alliance events
• Tell your friends to use AirBnB when traveling here (disclaimer, my family hosts an AirBnB)
• Subscribe to DD Ranch as your local CSA providing quality meats for your family (Disclaimer, I am not a vegetarian)
• Hike the mountains, and save Smith Rock for a clear day
• Shop at Market of Choice if you want quality stuff at sort of normal for Bend prices
• Go ice skating at Redmond’s awesome rink that is affordable for a whole family
• Eat at Spork for lunch and dinner
• Go to Bend Cyclerly for the free beer and the Goats
• Support local companies, all of them that you can
• Go to every parade and festival you can because, hey, why not?
• Attend something at the Deschutes County Expo Center — there is some wierd and awesome stuff out there
• Go to a rodeo, go wood cutting, go hunting, mudding, camping or anything else you never had time to do

DON’T:

• (Don’t) Say you are from California (you will no doubt get the “me too” reply)
• (Don’t) Expect there to be Uber or Lyft picking you up after your brewery tour…yet
• (Don’t) Trash talk cities like Redmond or Prineville, they are basically what Bend was 15 years ago
• (Don’t) Think that buying local is buying a Portland brand, we have our own culture here of awesome products
• (Don’t) Be shy, people here are really nice
• (Don’t) Talk about the traffic — it is boring to talk about traffic
• (Don’t) Talk about how much things are changing and how expensive it is getting — we know we know we know!!
• (Don’t) Expect there to be open camping spaces in the summer time
• (Don’t) Try to pass any taxes
• (Don’t) Forget that everyone has their own story and their own personality and that we are all equals

That is about all I could do in 15 minutes. Feel free to add your own in the comments