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As the premier bike rental company in the area, Wheel Fun Rentals offers the ultimate in fun for the entire family, from toddlers to grandparents.

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36 Hours in Bend, Ore. (and Environs)

This small, woodsy city is the perfect base for family fun, with enough hiking, fishing, biking, doughnut-eating and parental beer-sipping to keep everybody happy. Once called Quelah, the Beautiful Valley, by Native Americans, central Oregon is home to the world’s last Blockbuster video store and it’s known for its proliferation of cannabis dispensaries and craft breweries. But drinking, smoking and renting videos aren’t the key attractions here. With all the opportunities to hike, bike, kayak, fish and daydream in the unspoiled nature that surrounds Bend, the place is a natural for family fun. 

Saturday 7 a.m. Ocean rolls

Get to the Sparrow Bakery’s original location off the Bend Parkway early, before a line forms for ocean rolls ($4.50), Bend’s must-eat pastry. Made with hand-folded croissant dough and layered with sugar, vanilla and cardamom, it’s dense, rich and sensationally good. Sparrow’s treats are on sale at several other places in Bend, so if you’d rather enjoy your ocean roll with a view of the river, go to Looney Bean Coffee, and pair your roll with the Dirty Hippy, a chai tea latte with shots of espresso. If pastries aren’t your thing, get a mouth-watering, organic, free-range breakfast burrito ($6) and a dragon fruit smoothie ($5 to $8) from a drive-through (Life & Time:Free Range Fast Food). Then work off your breakfast on a Zagster bike share bike ($1.50 per 30 minutes, adult size only), or rent bikes of all sizes, as well as child trailers and buggies at Wheel Fun Rentals. Take a spin along the (partially) paved Deschutes River Trail or through the Drake Park Historic District to see some lovely homes, including the G.P. Putnam House at 606 ….

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Written by:  Dave Seminara