Summer Rendezvous in Bend, Oregon
25 Alumni Enjoy Central Oregon Scenery, Cuisine and Company, July 12-15, 2007
Note: The following account is by Hans van den Houten, one of the organizers of the Bend Rendezvous. Comments from participants have already started coming in. (See the bottom of the article.) If other participants would like to add anecdotes, photos or accounts, please let us know.
Stephen Ambrose’s wonderful account of the Lewis and Clark Expedition that opened up the route to Oregon is titled Undaunted Courage. The same words might apply to the participants in the CAA’s Summer Rendezvous in Bend, who covered many miles and battled delays, crowded airports and long drives to find the High Desert Country of Central Oregon.
The ample rewards, however, began our very first night, July 12, 2007, with dinner at the Merenda restaurant, as we got to know each other over delicious food and glorious Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir wines from Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Some downed the local beer from Bend micro-breweries to counter the near hundred degree heat of the day. Although the temperature was hot, the humidity was low, and evening temperatures were in the fifties – really ideal summer weather.
Ready and equipped, seven golfers in the group met the next morning – Friday the 13th – at the Bend Golf & Country Club, the oldest in the area. The course is laid out amidst Ponderosa pines, sage brush and juniper that emit their fragrances all around. While Peter Holzer, Tim McGinnis, Sandor von Balluseck and Stephen Mueller tried desperately to tie the course record, the threesome following them – Robert Hess, Cécile von Balluseck and Hans van den Houten – quickly became known as the crew who broke all records, with 76 and better, albeit for only the first nine holes!
While the golfers were on the green, Tom Lynch braved the Big Eddy rapids of the Deschutes River. Journalists, ready to record an unexpected swim, were disappointed as this intrepid Irish explorer stayed dry inside the rubber boat! Meanwhile, Joe and Maureen McGinity and Marian van den Houten took to the calmer waters of the Deschutes; they canoed and kayaked their way around the lava fields surrounding areas of the river, riveted by the views and spectacular birds of prey, as well as by the beauty and serenity of the gently flowing river itself. Other folk shopped Bend’s historic downtown and the newly developed “Old Mill District.”
Everyone gathered that evening at the High Desert Museum, where we were welcomed by Museum Director Forrest Rodgers and Susanne Orton, Director of Development, as well as by a peregrine falcon with a broken wing, a one-eyed owl, a blind raven and a cute badger (along with their volunteer handlers). All the animals are given refuge and rehab at the museum as part of its nature program and given the chance to live out their lives in peace, while educating the public.
A retired history teacher, Eric, brought to life the history of the settling of the High Desert, guiding us through a remarkable series of exhibits and enthralling us with tales of the region. Just as we were feeling for the trials and tribulations of those early 19th century pioneers who carved out a living in the arid High Desert of Oregon, we took our seats in one of the exhibition areas for a splendid dinner with great Oregon wines.
On Saturday, July 14, 17 of the participants left early to reach the Cove Palisades Marina at Lake Billy Chinook. It took many by surprise to drive on a relatively flat plateau and then all of a sudden reach the edge of a canyon – the eastern part of the Crooked River. A steep descent brought us to the Marina, where Sandor and Hans signed away their respective lives to comply with the rules and regulations as captains on the patio boats.
What a terrific day we had, enjoying the splendors of the rock formations towering high above the waters on either side of the confluence of the Metolius, Deschutes and Crooked Rivers, held back by a dam on the northern end. Taking our time boating around this wonderland, cooled by the breezes and not feeling the impact of near hundred degree heat, we stopped for a delightful lunch at an island, where several of the group used the cool waters for a refreshing swim. This visit highlighted again the variety of natural beauty in Oregon: here a rough canyon, seemingly unperturbed by human hands, there the majesty of Mt. Jefferson.
Another treat of the weekend awaited us that evening at the McGinnis Ranch. How is it possible that Martha McGinnis managed to get Tim to use his hair clippers to trim the lawn! (It seemed impossible that it was cut otherwise!) Such detailed gardening highlighted floral beauty against the otherwise gray and more monotone colors of the high desert. The backdrop of the Three Sisters, dormant volcanoes that are part of the Cascade Mountain range and only miles away from the ranch, provided a nearly unreal setting for cocktails on the lawn and dinner in a tent adorned with flowers.
A local Western band of buckaroos welcomed us to a remarkable buffet of barbecued delights. Tim had also invited a group of locals. We got to learn more about what motivated so many to move to this fastest growing town in the United States. In turn, Tim enthralled the crowd with his introduction of the visiting Chase Alumni to his Bend “in crowd.” While the younger crowd continued to kick up their heels to the western music for quite a while, many of the CAA members sought the relief of a good night’s rest so they could be ready to tackle a last day in the High Desert.
On Sunday morning, July 15, John and Denise Ward, Jack and Susanne Benton, John and Fran Locher, and Jim and Kathie Panepinto traveled the Ponderosa pine-flanked road to Crater Lake. This natural wonder, only two hours south of Bend, enchanted the visitors by its vistas. They drove around the 32-mile caldera of this dormant volcano, the cone filled with the purest water, reflecting a deep, deep blue.
Peter Holzer took Austrian Rainer Franz, Leon Desbrow and Leon's son, Mark, on a three-hour hike to the summit of Newberry Crater close to Sunriver, just south of Bend. It appeared that the Austrian was awed by the climb (even if it wasn’t the Alps), and Peter reported that the older generation kept up just fine with Mark!
Tom Lynch, Hans and Marian enjoyed a relaxing trail ride with horses too fat to actually be allowed to walk! They soaked up the splendor of the Deschutes National Park, the smell of the forest, the views of the Big Eddy rapids and the calming noises of the local birds.
How rapidly time evaporated – and in the dry air of the High Desert, it seemed even more appropriate that time followed the moisture! Yet we were all surprised that evening that our long weekend rendezvous was coming to an end. Our final dinner, at the Deschutes Brewery, included well-lubricated tributes to a very successful event, with our sunburned faces reflecting the warmth of our days of camaraderie and fun.
We expressed regret that more alumni had not joined us for this unforgettable weekend, and we agreed – over another round of Pinot – to tell all our friends and CAA members to put Bend and the High Desert on their list of future "must do" visits.Those participating in the Bend Rendezvous were:
Jack and Susanne Benton
Leon and Evelyn Desbrow
Rainer Franz
Robert Hess
Peter and Carol Holzer
Tim and Martha McGinnis
Joe and Maureen McGinity
John and Fran Locher
Tom Lynch
Stephen and Sandra Mueller
Jim and Kathie Panepinto
Hans and Marian van den Houten
Sandor and Cécile von Balluseck
John and Denise Ward
Tony Lord and Pam Chase, having faced a dilemma between choosing a cruise to Alaska or attending the CAA Summer Rendezvous in Bend, elected to for the rugged beauty of the Alaskan coast on board Holland-America’s Oosterdam.
Nevertheless, curious to the hype and a bit regretful about losing out on
our splendid event last month, Tony and Pam visited Bend the weekend
of July 26th. A suggestion made to visit the lovely Widgie Creek Golf Club on the last day of their visit resulted in an unexpected turn of events: They left the Bend area the proud owners, subject to a September closing, of a town home overlooking the pond at the 18th green!
Bendites warned them, as they have others, that once you visit, you
may just fall in love forever with the allures of the High Desert of Central Oregon.
So once again, all of you who had planned to visit and could not
make it to this outpost in Central Oregon, visit us, but beware of the lure
of the real estate attractions, beyond the hiking, biking, kayaking, tennis
and multiple golf opportunities!
In Photo Above: Susanne Benton, Tony Lord, Marian van den Houten, Jack Benton and Pam Chase
From Jim and Kathie Panepinto: Only two hours from our descent into Newark after six glorious days in Oregon's High Desert with CAA, and we find that our trip is already documented with photos and text. Does Hans van den Houten never rest? WE were exhausted, not just from the non-stop rounds of activities which he and Marian had organized, but from the continuum of excitement and awe at the splendor of the settings for those events. We expected that Hans and Marian would have needed to relax, too. But they didn't and we were delighted to revisit those glorious days with numerous chuckles at their spirited accounting and captioned photos.