Amanda and Graham's Great Pig Adventure

Wednesday 11th February

The usual overnight journey and woke up parked near the Tower Theatre, tonight’s venue. We spent the morning “in the office” sorting out things to do with English Pro Musica (our orchestra) and about Jan, Graham’s cousin who sadly died the day we flew out to Seattle. Graham is next of kin and has an LPA for her. Very difficult with an eight hour time difference.

We had a potter round the small town after lunch. It is charming! A tourist spot for all things outdoor, all year round. Lots of lovely little boutique shops, very quaint.

It is cold here as it is high, about 4,000 feet – hovering above freezing.

The theatre is small and the stage was extremely challenging. Very tight for space, so the show had to be re-blocked with stage left and right moves reversed. Daddy Pig’s costume is very large and he kept nearly knocking the flats over! A brilliant job done all round to overcome the difficulties and it was actually a great show.

We checked into a hotel after the show, and then all walked back into town for a drink. We found a great bar where we played Giant Jenga and Shuffleboard, which seems to be popular.

Thursday 12th February – Bend

A day off and a lovely sunny day today. We did the walk which most people had done yesterday, up a conical hill called Pilot Butte, which is an extinct cinder cone volcano. A bit of a trek through suburbia to get there, but that gave us the opportunity to see some birds! The view from the top of the Butte was magnificent with distant snow-capped mountains including Mount Jefferson, Mount Washington and Mount Adams which is 142 miles away.

Walked back into town for coffee, then back to the hotel along the river.

Showers and case sort-outs – we are heading to California next which will be 17 degrees, so we needed to swap clothes for the small holdall in the coach. Then back into town again for dinner (15 minutes each way) at a lovely Thai restaurant. Back to the hotel and then to the coach. We had the rooms available until midnight when the coaches leave. The coaches park in the hotel car park so we are in and out of there as much as we like too. 28,700 steps today!