We can still get in half a day's work at our home office. It is the kind of jump-start to a morning that is the luxury of living here. While I do the usual doctoring of my coffee, I look around. The only fat in the entire shop is found in the pastries tucked behind glass. Calf muscles twitch and pairs of Nikes, Tevas and hiking boots move through the coffee line in an unchoreographed warm-up.
Bodies stretch and flex and eyes blink from the already bright sunshine.
The surrounding mountains, lakes, rivers and cliffs have created the stage for outdoor enthusiasts worthy of an Oscar for set design. And the locals' passion for partaking is as focused as Tom Hanks' Forest Gump running across America. This passion for participation is driven by bodies toned and taut from either working out at places like the Athletic Club of Bend or simply working. Unlike their city counterparts, who are ready to conquer the Stairmaster and corporate structure, they are tuned to conquer the great outdoors. The implements are skis for snow and asphalt, bicycles, climbing ropes and crampons, kayaks and canoes.