Yellowstone, Bend, Oregon, on top places to visit

Yellowstone National Park and Bend, Oregon, are in the New York Time's 52 places to visit in 2015. The newspaper publishes the list annually. The No. 1 spot went to Milan, Italy.

Yellowstone was No. 4 and Bend,No. 30.

Yellowstone National Park

the newspaper selected Yellowstone because of the $70 million program to update existing accommodations and add anew lodging  around the Canyon Lake visitor center.

Yellowstone's Grand Canyon

The Times frequently uses high-end lodging as a reason to visit a place. I would disagree with this, especially at Yellowstone. People visit Yellowstone to experience the wilderness, to see wild animals and outstanding physical features such as geysers (think Old Faithful) and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. For what it's worth, my feeling is if people expect all the five-star luxury of a Manhattan hotel, that's where they should stay. When you visit the Great Outdoors, you should expect to rough it, even if it's only somewhere between tent camping  and a luxury hotel.

Bend, Oregon

Located in central Oregon, Bend is just a few hours' drive from Portland, the state's largest city. It's a pretty drive, past forests, sparking steams and mountains. The newspaper picked Bend for the list because it's smack dab in the middle of the outdoors, and  crafted beers and ciders. Bend also has 400 miles of mountain bike trails and world class seeking at nearby Mount Bachelor.

Om our last visit to Bend, we enjoyed a stop at the High Desert Museum, just a few miles south of Bend on Highway 97.