Just a few years ago, 4-day weekends were the like gold. They were the next best thing to a vacation and rarely happened outside of Thanksgiving. You could always count on Thursday and Friday off at “Turkey Time,” but any other extra-long weekends were at the mercy of the day of the week when the holiday actually fell. My wife is enjoying a 4-day weekend, while retirement for me has made it just another string of glorious days. In fact, I’m in the midst of a 691-day weekend that hopefully will continue for many more years.

We’re in Bend, Oregon, home of Mt. Bachelor that rises out of the surrounding high desert to 9,068 feet. Bend itself is at 3,623 feet with a population of 91,000. I have been here on several occasions to ski, but it has been at least 25 years ago, and my wife wanted to see the resort community that she’d heard so much about. She was having some regrets as we got into snow yesterday afternoon on the twisting mountain pass leading into the area. This morning the sidewalks were covered in ice, making my morning run (day 3,617) a bit treacherous. A few hours later, we were able to walk the dogs in a light rain, until she fell on an icy patch. I don’t think Bend is what she dreamed it would be? 

The dogs and I are cozy in our hotel room, while my wife needed to get her “Black Friday” fix. There are a number of unique shops in the downtown square, and it may help her forget about her sore knee from the fall. I got a few more clues on my Ancestry.com family tree, so I’ll spend some time in Banister World, eat some turkey leftovers, and watch some college ball. I’m feeling good about sports after the Bears beat the Lions yesterday to go an impressive 8-3. They became the first NFL team to win two games in 4 1/2 days, despite the injury to quarterback Mitch Trubisky. Oregon and Oregon State will battle in the gridiron version of the Civil War, and alma-mater Indiana plays U.C. Davis in basketball today. It’s “Sports Friday” for me, during day two of my wife’s 4-day weekend in chilly Bend.