Pregnant in Beer Mecca - Bend in a different light

We love Bend, Oregon. There are so many fun things to do and see, and so many adventures to be had: The Bend Ale Trail, a tour of microbreweries and tastings, long hikes, rafting, stand up paddle, and kitschy shopping downtown. Most of the time when we go to Bend, we spend our time on long hikes during the day, and enjoying the beers we found in the evenings. We typically schedule 1 raft trip, stay up late, sleep in, and start all over again.

So this year, we headed off for Bend, full of excitement, but things would be different: I was 30 weeks pregnant! No beer, no risky rafting or stand up paddle, and no long hikes, unless there happened to be a bathroom in the middle of the trail in the wilderness! A few weeks beforehand, I panicked - how were we going to have any fun?! But I did a little research, and kept an open mind once we got there. What follows is a list for pregnant women (and their support systems) of things to do, what to bring, and how we had a great vacation exploring things we might not otherwise have discovered.

What to Bring

1.  Sunblock. Lots of sunblock. I don't know about other pregnant women, but I seem to burn in about 30 seconds in my pregnant skin. I put on SPF 55 every time we went out, and still got a bit pink on one of the days. But overall, I thought I did a pretty good job not adding to my discomfort by avoiding sunburned skin.

2. Bug Spray. This was a lesson to me. I did NOT bring bug spray, and wished so badly that I had. We found a hiking spot along the Deschutes with a bathroom at the trailhead, and I was really excited to hit the trail. Rob started getting a couple of mosquito bites, but we didn't think much of it. As soon as we hit the trail, we literally got swarmed! None of us were exempt, but as a pregnant woman, the mosquitoes came to me like moths to a flame. I ended up with more mosquito bites than I could count, one tick bite, and we actually ran out of the trail, slapping our arms, legs, and faces, and hid in the car for 20 minutes while we waited for my dad to get back from his mountain bike ride. Although the area is not notorious for mosquitoes, let this be a lesson: be prepared with the bug spray!

3. Hand Sanitizer. After all, you'll be using every bathroom you encounter, and there's no guarantee of the condition of said bathrooms. I felt at least a little bit better that I had some control of my cleanliness. Plus it smelled nice, which most of those bathrooms do not.

4. Several pairs of shoes, socks, and clothes. Although I did do all my hiking in my tennis shoes, it was really refreshing to take them off in the car and slip into sandals. I also liked being able to dress pretty if I wanted, or lounge in comfy clothes if I needed to. I found myself showering and changing clothes often on this vacation, and was glad I brought the clothes and shoes I did. We also had a washing machine, which is not something you can bring with you, but something to keep in mind when booking. We did laundry almost daily.

5. Your partner, or some other form of support. Rob saved our vacation. He patiently waited while I stopped at literally every bathroom, carried water for us both, took photos, let me sleep when I needed to, and supported me when I had meltdowns (there were several). I know that even though the baby is in my body, he is totally affected by the changes I need: I can't taste beers with him, I don't have the energy to go out or stay out late, I don't have stamina to get out into the wilderness like we used to, and I need to eat, like, all. the. time. If Rob hadn't have been there with me on our vacation, I would not have enjoyed it the way I did. My family, who were also there, was also wonderful.

What to Do 

1.  Enjoy the public parks. Bend has a great public park system, and most of them center around the river. We stayed near Drake Park, which is downtown, but Riverbend and Farewell Bend parks, near the Old Mill District connect to one another, and are very nice, beautiful, and peaceful walking areas. Most of the paths in Bend's parks are paved, and the parks are very safe. They also have restrooms which are both clean and conveniently placed. Farewell Bend park extends the path, although not paved, along the river and feels more "hike-ish" but still accessible, and gentle.

Here we are at Farewell Bend park. On the other side of the river is Riverbend park, and off to the left of the photo is the path that goes further along the river than the paved part goes.

2. Buy state and national park passes. We bought the state pass and my sister bought the national park pass. They hang in your car, so you can share, which we did. Between us I think the passes paid for themselves by the end of the week. We visited Smith Rocks State Park, Sparks Lake, Tumalo Falls, and the Lava River Caves. I recommend all of these places. Each has ample restroom availability, and plenty of beautiful scenery. I'll go into each of them briefly:

• Smith Rocks State Park

Go in the morning. We went in the afternoon, and it was really beautiful, and definitely less crowded, but that's because it was scorching hot. Our dog got overheated, it was that hot! Also, best views of rock climbers are apparently in the morning, since the sun isn't on the rocks. Wear hiking shoes or other shoes with good grip, if you can. I wore my running shoes, which have great support, but felt very unstable on the way down into the canyon. Another plus: this photo was taken at a picnic bench just off the parking lot, so if you don't feel like walking down or exerting yourself too much, there are lots of great views and photo-ops without really going very far.

• Sparks Lake

Sparks Lake was a very pleasant surprise. There is a paved path to a viewpoint which is very short, as you can see I was wearing sandals, and managed just fine. We thought the path looped around, and, eventually, it did... But we were glad of the detour we took. We turned a corner and found ourselves on a part of the path which winds through what I would call a "mini-canyon" of lava rock columns. The columns were only about 10 feet tall, but we were surrounded on both sides, and this part of the trail felt totally different from the terrain we had just left, and from the terrain we entered once we were out of the "canyon." It was really fun, and the whole path along Sparks Lake was pleasantly shady and quiet, despite the packed parking lot.

• Tumalo Falls

Drive up Skyliners Rd. directly from Bend, and in about 20 minutes, you'll arrive at Tumalo Falls. We thought we'd be hiking quite a bit, but this is another great spot with a lookout and a bathroom. We went on a Saturday near midday, so it was pretty busy, but we still managed several photos and great views of the falls. Since it was busy, and since we had another activity planned for the afternoon, we decided not to hike around, but there appeared to be several trails of varying difficulties in several directions.

• Lava River Caves

These were easily the coolest (literally, the caves are 42 degrees at all times!) adventure we had. First, you have to check in with one of the rangers to verify that you haven't been in any caves in California or Washington in the last 5 years, since there's a bat disease going around that they don't want spreading. You get a really awesome stamp on your arm. Then, if you didn't bring your own flashlight, you rent a lantern from the next ranger. One lantern for 2 people is doable, but we found ourselves using our phone flashlights several times. Bring a sweatshirt, since it is cold down there, but in the middle of summer for a pregnant woman, it feels AWESOME. The signs say to give an hour for cave exploring, and that's about accurate. We walked at a good clip, and it took us about an hour and 10 minutes. The exploring is really just walking about a mile into the caves, then a mile back out. There's only one way to go, and the path is quite clear, and the walking is not strenuous at all. At the risk of sounding really obvious, it's very dark, so watch your step, and hold the handrails as needed. The end of the path is anticlimactic - there's just a sign that says to turn around or risk your life and/or getting in trouble with the rangers. It's not even a cute or fun sign. Again, one mistake was that we went on a Saturday afternoon, and on our way out we encountered several large groups, which was annoying, especially because I really needed to pee at that point, and was sick of waiting for people to go past us. We also saw several people with their little ones - one toddler screamed the whole way because he was afraid of the dark, and a couple with an infant got stuck trying to do a diaper change and calm their baby in the dark, cold cave. Our thought was that we'd wait to take our kids until they could walk 2 miles independently and we could explain the darkness to them and they could verbalize their fears. But that's just us, and maybe we'll feel differently when our kids are those ages. Overall, this experience was really rewarding, and worth the drive.

In terms of buying the passes, we now have access to do lots of things around Oregon and any other drives we might venture to for the next year with our little one. She won't remember the places, but we will, and we now have some pretty accessible places to go for little money with our daughter during her first year, when we will want to go places as a family. Win-win!

3. Get a massage. I was gifted a massage while we were in Bend, and I will just give a quick shout-out to Jinsei Spa. I had an amazing prenatal massage in a very calming spa atmosphere. I had a very calming experience, the massage was great, and I highly recommend it.

4. Nap. We tried to keep up our adventure pace throughout the vacation, even though the adventures were different. Days that I napped, I slept so hard I knew I needed it. Days I didn't nap were days I really struggled to hold it together until dinner, let alone stay awake to enjoy our family time together. Some days I definitely overdid it. Napping helped to offset that. Plan time in your days to nap, that's what vacation is for!

5. Take the time to enjoy the people you're with. Rob and I had several moments where we just sat and took in the moment. Whether we were outside at a beautiful park, sitting on the couches watching TV, or roaming downtown with our dog, we made a point to appreciate what a vacation sans baby meant, even if it wasn't the same as our typical vacations. No, we weren't exploring breweries or enjoying mid-afternoon cocktails, and we weren't spending all day long outside, getting further from civilization with each step, but we also weren't chasing a little one around, waking up at 2, and 4, and 5, and 6:30 in the morning, or frantically searching for the closest store because we're out of diapers (again).

At the end of our week, we were ready to go home, which we always see as a sign of a good vacation. We enjoyed ourselves, wore ourselves out, spent time with our family, and did some new things. I hope this post can be helpful to others who might like to go to Bend, pregnant or not. I didn't know what to expect out of this vacation. But by the end of it I remembered why I live in Oregon and choose to stay in-state on vacation: we live in a beautiful place with so many things to do, it's worth sticking around, regardless of life status.