As we were leaving Winter Bend this was a gorgeous view of Pine Mountain. I love how the sun breaks through to illuminate the valley golden and makes the clouds glow.

Winter Bend or the Horse Ridge Rendezvous is a annual event put on by the Grizzly Mountain Longrifles, a black powder gun club. For more information check out the this video. http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/videos/view/259-Mountain-Man-Rendezvous

My ex and I have been rendevousing off and on for eighteen years. We have been off on and on due to lack of funds, raising kids and my working retail. While I was working retail as a cashier I usually worked weekends making it difficult to camp on the weekends.

We had a decent time and got to see and visit with some of our rondy friends. Unfortunately several that we had hoped to see were not present although I did get to see one good friend for a few minutes that I didn't even know was around. All in all it was a good, albeit dull rondy for my ex and I as we were exhausted by eight and that's when the visiting fun is just getting going. Evenings is when one goes "tipi creeping", going from camp to camp visiting, catching up with friends and making new ones. The boys had a great time of course and so did the dogs.

Next year will be better, we didn't know until the last minute if we were camping or visiting. Next time we will set up camp earlier and be prepared and have money to spend on trader's row. With a little planning and foresight one can have a wonderful time.