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!!!

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.

While passing by this sign along the roadside stating Petersen Rock Garden, got my attention so I…read morelooked it up and it seemed very interesting. The owner of the property would pick up stones from within a 85 mile radius and started making rock structures. In the museum the have a show case of many different types of rocks and crystal and gems that he found while collecting rocks for his garden and inside the museum they have a dark room with black lights that bring out the different colors of the gems and rocks. Very interesting place to relax and have a picnic and enjoying the scenery with your family.

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.

This free museum is in a former bank, and showcases Crook County history. It was bigger than I…read moreexpected, and I'm glad we took the time to stop. The museum director was manning the desk and helpfully answered our questions and gave good hiking advice.

One of Prineville 's best kept secrets…read more Outstanding curated collections of pioneer, Civil War, even Revolutionary War relics well displayed and managed. Great staff. Prineville is fortunate to have this next-level expertise.

Fun little spot with a ton of historical artifacts relating to Mt. Hood. It's not a huge museum but…read moreyou could spend a good half and hour there looking at everything on display. Their collection of vintage skis is really interesting, as is their Oregon Trail section. Worth stopping by if you like historical sites.

Good center to learn more about the NW. they offer a Steiner cabin tour each year, but for the…read moresecond year I've tried to get tickets, the website failed and no one answered the phone on the morning the tickets went on sale. Bummer for me, but I'll keep trying. Meanwhile, it's a great little museum packed with interesting local history.

Everything about the library sysyem was terrific until the planning started for the new library…read more The new library is in a word overkill and a hugh waste of taxpayers' money. And when thinking about the planning for the opening of the new library and the virtual closing of the existing downtown library the planning is in my mind nonexistent. Bend is a city of 100.000 and we virtually have no ibrary at this time. The plans for the remodeling of the existing downtown library are again a waste of $. It is in a word "perfect" as is. I would guess that if the public had any idea of how the $ were to be spent (wasted) the library bond issue would have been voted down! The plan of how to spend the bond proceeds should have been "as needed" instead of spend (blow) it all!

Human Citizens of Bend:…read more How are you so fortunate to have this amazing collection of resources? I came here to say: The staff have always been most helpful. Thank you for helping me with kindness and empathy when I needed it.

We dropped by on a hot weekday afternoon and were so glad we did…read more The museum has a mix of indoor and outdoor exhibits - we saw them all but ultimately much preferred the indoor ones (both for summer heat and curation). Highlights included a very interesting retro 80s style exhibit on volcanoes that taught us a lot about the local geography. The kids also loved the beautifully done diorama'd historical rooms although more signage explaining some of thoughtful details would have been appreciated. The current art auction was also great to puruse, some beautiful and creative works there. We went to one talk at the amphitheatre that we found surprisingly dry. The otter exhibit was also fun to see as well as learning about the awesome lampreys. We stayed about 3.5 hours and probably could've lingered longer.

A surprise hit with our family! I can't believe I almost skipped this place on our trip - don't…read moremake the same mistake! This museum is incredible. It has indoor and massive outdoor exhibits. I'd plan at least 4 hrs here but you can easily spend all day. There's interactive and interesting exhibits on volcanos, the history of central Oregon, the Native tribes, animals (all rescues and include a skunk, bobcat, porcupine, birds of prey, snakes, lizards, otters, turtles, tortoises, free roaming chickens and turkeys, and more) and a really cool raptors show - don't miss this! It's better than the bird show at Disney World. The best part are the volunteers. There's volunteers dressed in period attire, teaching kids leather art, weaving, and games kids used to play. My kids LOVED this. There's other volunteers with animal furs or shells or skeletons that kids can actually touch and learn so much about. And there's Gary, the best volunteer who just knows everything and is the most friendly and helpful person ever. Seriously, he made our whole visit so pleasant. The raptor show is an $8/person add on but so worth it. It's only once a day so get tickets early. I won't spoil it, but sit near the middle/rear near any of the stumps... Also, if you're military, admission is free between May-Sept as HDM is part of the Blue Star Museums program. Don't forget to stop by the gift shop and cafe! All money goes to helping more rescue animals!

Little Woody is a different sort of beer festival, as compared to the much larger and popular Bend…read moreBrewfest, for instance. Featuring mostly local breweries, this festival is about beers you might not see in the brewpubs. As the name suggests, a lot of barrel-aged beers. Which means a lot of beers with high ABV (alcohol content). So, one has to be careful or one might find themselves falling down in the gutter before too long. Located on the grounds of the Deschutes Historical Museum, the festival is compact without being tight. Just about perfect in terms of size, I'd say. You can survey the options fairly quickly and then easily find a spot to enjoy your choice. Note that the vendors are almost exclusively beer & cider & whiskey - there's not a lot of 'other' booths selling various craft goods and whatnot. Also as the name implies, there's whiskey happening here, too. Those vendors - all local, I believe - were sequestered in their own larger tent. Several food trucks on site but, as I've mentioned elsewhere in my Bend festival and food truck lot reviews, I find them somewhat disappointing. Bend loves food trucks, so I would hope to see that improve in time. The good and the bad: - Easy access and check-in. Price for admission, which gains you an initial supply of beer/whiskey tokens, is quite reasonable and you can buy more tokens without hassle. - Virtually no waiting for beer. I attended Friday and Saturday and even though there were quite a few people in attendance, I don't think I waited more than once to have my glass filled. - Whiskey tent: pricey. I literally could not 'afford' a sample of many (most?) of the whiskies with the full number of tokens I received on admission. You can buy shots for less at any number of local bars. If participation in the event is meant to showcase their products, that's a big fail. - Lots of great local, unusual beers. Most were quite strong. Like the whiskey folks, some of the beer vendors were out of line with prices, though. I feel every beer/cider should have been priced at $2 (two tokens). You don't get but a taste, so the idea is for people to try stuff they might not otherwise drink. Even at $2, given the small glass, you're paying more than you would at the brewpubs themselves. - Worthy ran out of the apparently popular Betty White early on Saturday. Rather than take the sign down for that beer they chose to announce - rather brusquely - that they were out of it as you approached the booth. Other booths simply took the sign down if they ran out of a beer. - Schatz Pretzel: Love their tip jar, not so much the pretzel, which was very stale on Friday, almost inedible. At $8, that constitutes robbery. - I didn't patronize any other food trucks, although a couple were familiar. Tots, for example, is quite good. I'll be back next year.

Wow!!!!!!! Dark heavy barrel aged beers.... YUMMMMY!!!!!! There's also a tots truck and a pretzel…read moretruck with warm pretzels!!!!! With just a touch of cool fall air, the dark beers hit the spot!!!! Games.... growler fills..... specialty small batch beer. What more could you ask for????? This is the 10th anniversary of this festival. If your around Bend, come on down!

Nice little stop on our way home in the gorge. We got to see a lot of indigenous items as well as a…read morerestored airplane and huge steam engine. It's very ADA accessible, restroom, hallways, etc. No stairs on the way in. You have a nice little gift shop if you want a memento.

The Columbia Gorge museum sits riverside of the Columbia River and through the century explores the…read moreformation and living life around it. There is much history here ranging from the American Indians, settlers, European explorers, immigrants, the lifestyle and hardships endured and more here at the museum. There are many stories you can read about and information on periods during the Gorge's history. The Skamania County historical society collect, preserve and display all sorts of tools, trinkets and more from the time period all related to the Gorge and all involved. There are many generous donors as noted on many of the displays which is cool. In the yard, there are old vehicles and construction equipment of the early days showing how supplies and timber were moved. They are worn and rusted but adds to its historical significance. The museum is about 3 floors, the 2nd floor is small, but packed with information about the nature around the gorge. There are theaters that show short features of the environment about the gorge. Depending on how deep your fascination for this goes, you could spend about 2 hours here a bit more if you read and examine all the displays. This museum is a perfect field trip for a school or parents looking to educate their youngsters about the history of the area. Even then, if you enjoy Pacific Northwest history, definitely add this to your list of museums to visit.