Next Up: Sunriver, Oregon - A Family Resort in Oregon's High Desert

 After spending two full days in Seattle, we braced ourselves for a six-hour trip to our next destination--Sunriver, OR.  For anyone that is unfamiliar with Oregon, Sunriver is located in the central area of the state, which is known for its high desert climate and terrain.

The Sunriver Resort was appealing to me because it's a family resort with tons of activities, located just 1.5 hours away from Crater Lake National Park.  The funny part is that we enjoyed our stay so much around Sunriver, we never actually made it to Crater Lake.  Instead, we spent our days exploring the "high desert," which included a tour of The High Desert Museum, a flashlight walk through a lava cave, a bike ride around the resort, and a float down the Deschutes River.

In full disclosure, when I booked the trip, I didn't really consider Oregon's terrain.  Naively, I just thought all of Oregon was located under a canopy of pine trees; the state license plate has a large pine tree in the middle.  However, as we ventured on our 6-hour trip, down Interstate 5 South to US 26 East, I realized Oregon not only has very high mountain peaks, but it also has a desert-like terrain.  I was amazed as all of a sudden, it felt like we were driving around a cliff with mostly rock and sagebrush--some of the exhilarating views reminded me of Northern Arizona near the Grand Canyon!

In my search, I found this ODOT graphic to warn truck drivers about Oregon's Mountain passes. Notice the graphic starts at 4,000+ feet above sea level.

On our way to Sunriver, we made a pit stop near the Warm Springs Reservation.  Fun fact--there are seven Native American reservations in Oregon.  As we traveled, we passed through lots of open land, farms, and state parks; there seemed to be trail heads and campsites everywhere.  (Of course, further research taught me there are 14 national forests, 16 national wildlife refuges, and 111 state parks all in just this one state.)  As we traveled, there were signs warning visitors everywhere of the "extreme" fire danger.  

During our travels in July, the wildfire season was already underway.  Before our visit, pictures of wildfires out West flooded the morning and evening news to the point that I became worried about our trip to Sunriver.  Afterall, the Bootleg Fire, the third largest wildfire in Oregon's history since the beginning of the 20th century, was raging 1.5 hours away from our resort.  Since this area of the state had been experiencing severe drought, I worried that 1) a fire could start right in Sunriver or 2) the air would be full of smoke--so much smoke that we'd have to stay indoors.

When we arrived at Sunriver, however, my worries disapted.  Yes, there were still signs warning of "extreme" fire danger and the blue sky, at times, looked smokey and hazy, but we were safe.  We didn't have to worry about any emergency fire evacuations or smoke inhalation.  Phew!

The resort was fabulous!  We stayed in a Lodge Village Suite, which had its own kitchen and living area, a loft, two bathrooms, and sliders to an outdoor deck with the most beautiful view.  The resort itself had multiple pools, slides, hottubs, a spa, and tons of activities like golf, biking, rafting, and stargazing (to name a few).  Located right near "the Village at Sunriver," I could also spend some hours shopping while the two Lews grabbed a bite to eat at Hot Lava Bakery (delicious) or the Sunriver Brewery.  I had my very first piece of avocado toast at the Hot Lava Bakery; now I'm hooked!!

These three photos were taken from the Sunriver Resort website. 
Our suite looked exactly like this, just messy from us.

Inside the Sunriver Brewing Company.

Our little home away from home.

They do tent weddings!

While we had plenty of sunny days at Sunriver, we also had one full day of rain.  The locals were so happy for the rainfall that I couldn't possibly complain--it was desperately needed even if it wasn't enough to reduce some of the fires.  On that day, we went to to The High Desert Museum, which I will talk about in my next post.  The day after, we learned even more about the area--we explored a mile-long lava tube called The Lava River Cave.  

On our third day and during our free time, we made sure to enjoy the resort.  Honestly, if Oregon was close to Connecticut, I could see the Sunriver Resort being a family vacation favorite year after year.  In fact, it seemed that some families in Oregon, California, and Nevada do just that--vacation there annually.  On one day, Lewie and I rented bikes and explored everything Sunriver had to offer.  As a planned residential and resort community, Sunriver has a shopping village, a golf course, an airport, a marina, a nature center, and a riding stable.  We saw it all, and the paved bike paths were flat, easily navigble, and amazing.  On multiple times during our ride, I coaxed Lewie to pull over because the view was just too breathtaking.  By far, it was the best bike trip we had ever taken.  (Plenty of other people seemed to think so, too.  There were tons of families out, some hauling bike trailers for their toddlers and even their dogs!)

On another day, I surprised the two Lews with a family float trip down the Deschutes River.  After driving to the Marina for check-in, we quickly showed our tickets and were sized for life jackets before going onto a van that shuttled us up to a place called "Harpers."  Once we exited the van, the three of us were given our very own blue float to drift back to the Marina.  (The trip would take 1.5 to 2 hours, and once we arrived back, we were promised s'mores and musical entertainment.)  Easy, right? 

Well, it should have been easy.  There were dozens of families all around us doing the exact same thing--floating down the river.  Some had obviously done this before and knew the exact spots where they could jump off their rafts and swim a little before getting back in.  We weren't warm enough to take a dip, so we simply enjoyed the scenery--using our oars here and there whenever it seemed like we could potentially hit a rock or get hung up on a log.  We took pictures--tons of them.  Daddy Lew asked me to store the car keys in a safe spot, which I did, along with my cell phone when I wasn't taking pictures.  Daddy Lew, however, kept taking his cell phone in and out of his pocket until one moment...the cell phone slipped right out of his pocket, and bloop, into the river.  Without thinking twice, Hubby jumped in to rescue it; however, the current kept moving Little Lewie and me in the raft.  We eventually used our oars to steer us to the side of the river, hanging onto a tree branch.

Thankfully, I threw Hubby's lifejacket to him before we floated away.  But the problems was...we floated away.  We couldn't see him because a log was blocking our view.  A few families passed by asking if my husband needed help.  One woman even looked worried; she called out, "You don't seem okay."

Eventually, Hubby was able to push himself away from the log and float to us.  He caught our oar, but we couldn't pull him in.  We had to wait until we reached a shallow part of the river for him to step inside the float again.  "What happened?" I asked, still startled and confused.

"I tried to get my phone, but the water's too deep there.  You don't realize it, but that current is strong.  I grabbed the log, and the water was actually pushing me under the log; I thought I was going to drown."

The funny moment took a serious turn--my husband almost drowned trying to rescue his cell phone, which now, was toast.  We floated the rest of the way in silence and exited the float, looking forward to yummy s'mores and music.  By the time the night was over, we were laughing again, and the spectacle became an inside joke.  What's a two week vacation, I suppose, without a little drama? (I just wish the cell phone wasn't corroding in that beautiful river.)

Yes, we loved our float down the Deschutes River, but we'll never think of that experience without thinking about Rescue 911.  Thankfully, the rest of our trip at Sunriver was calm, relaxing, and delightful.  If we weren't trying one of their water slides and doing laps around their "lazy river," then we were soaking in the hot tub or adoring the beautiful mountain views--and they were BEAUTIFUL!

The most beautiful view right from our deck!