(4 of 5)
BEST AMENITIES: Downhill skiing at Telluride and Aspen, cross-country skiing, hiking, mountain biking, white-water rafting
NEAREST MAJOR MEDICAL CENTER: 75-bed Montrose Memorial Hospital; a larger facility is an hour away in Grand Junction
BEST PLACE TO STAY: Lathrop House, a Victorian bed-and-breakfast two blocks from the historic downtown
BLUE SKY AND SNOW IN BEND
Look at it today," says Dave Tilley, 80, pointing to the blue sky. "There's not a cloud, and it's been like that for about two or three weeks." This observation would be remarkable in most of western Oregon, where much of the year it is overcast, gray and drizzly. But Tilley lives in Bend, which is protected by the Cascade Mountain range. The high-desert climate, with an annual average of 263 clear or partly cloudy days, is only one reason vacationers and retirees put this central Oregon town on their itinerary.
Bend's center is Drake Park, a greensward surrounded by early 20th century wooden buildings and boasting a lake with ducks and swans. Home prices average around $136,500 in Bend, or $226,000 on rural acreage. For a small town, Bend has an excellent hospital facility in the 181-bed St. Charles Medical Center. With comprehensive cardiac and oncology units, it's the largest and most comprehensive Oregon hospital east of the Cascade Mountains.
The low-key town is growing at a rapid pace. The population is 50,000, compared with 20,000 a decade ago, and more than 110,000 people live in surrounding Deschutes County, up from 75,000 in 1990. Still, there's plenty of wilderness. Rhoda and Charles Ryan moved to the area 25 years ago from Eugene and built a ski lodge that they converted year by year to a permanent home. Deer stroll in the yard, and the Ryans have a spectacular view of snowcapped mountains.
If summer is for golfing--there are 20 courses nearby--winter is for skiing, either cross country or alpine, on Mount Bachelor's 3,683 acres of slopes accessible by lifts. (Snow Country magazine ranks Mount Bachelor Ski Resort as one of the U.S.'s top five ski areas.) Fly fisherfolk have more than 500 miles of streams and rivers, and there are mountain peaks and lava fields for camping, hiking, rock climbing and biking. Tilley is right to call it "an outdoor playground for all ages.'' --By Emily Mitchell. Reported by Todd Murphy/Portland
BEND, ORE.
BEST AMENITIES: Fishing, skiing, hiking, mountain climbing and rock climbing; 33 city parks; Cascade Music Festival in late summer
NEAREST MAJOR MEDICAL CENTER: St. Charles Medical Center, with 181 beds and 200 physicians representing 40 specialties
BEST PLACES TO STAY: Juniper Acres Bed and Breakfast has mountain views; Cricketwood Country B. & B. is on 10 parklike acres
ECCENTRICITY IS O.K. IN ARCATA
Retirement meccas are seldom described as funky. But Arcata, Calif., is not your typical retirement spot. Just north of Eureka, three miles off the Pacific Coast, this decidedly offbeat town has begun luring retirees to the giant redwood forests of Northern California.