Sunriver

My first times in Sunriver, one of Central Oregon's first major, planned resort towns, were when our children were small. We didn't stay there but camped elsewhere driving in to shop or have the kids play in what was called Fort Chickenpox by us if nobody else. Sunriver is convenient to skiing on Mt. Bachelor, the High Lakes of the Cascades and the Deschutes River.

Years later, with a little more disposable income, we began to go over and rent a house usually in the winter for some snow fun since Western Oregon gets very little snow. This year the house we rented was one we have stayed in before, but this was our first summer visit.

I don't remember how it was previously decorated, but with my growing interest in western art, I particularly liked its decor (prints, giclees and posters). When I am going somewhere that I will spend more than a night, I like renting houses to feel more like I am actually living somewhere for a few days. With the family, it becomes even more of an advantage. Homes like this one in Sunriver are often not used much by the owners as anything other than an investment. The art is generally wildlife, fishing, or western oriented as Central Oregon is the beginning of Oregon's cowboy country.

The house's only real drawback was the kitchen. It isn't easy to find rentals with well-equipped kitchens. One reason for renting a house is to avoid restaurants. Where so many (our kids) enjoy gourmet cooking, a better equipped kitchen would have been a plus. Still when you are looking for enough beds for 10 people, you have some limitations built in.

The big flat-screen TV was never turned on. The children had way too many other fun things to do like playing in the dirt outside. As I find with more and more rentals, it did offer wireless for the Internet. Since I usually take a laptop on any trip, to jot down ideas, write and download photos as I go, the Internet access was a plus. If I was there for a week, it would become even more of one. I used to think renting a house closer to the river would be a great place to write a book-- tall pines, view of the Cascades out the window, places to walk, quiet, and crisp mountain air.

Usually on a trip like this, with the grandkids, I like to find something special to give them as a new thing with which to play as well as a memento. This time it was small cougar and bear models. I wished later I had taken photos of the set up the children came up with outside in the dirt as they formed dens and played with their wild creatures.

Several times, strolling past the house, but too fast for me to get a photo, we saw a doe with two spotted fawns. On their way home from the playground, my daughter told me she overheard the 7-year old ask his 4-year old cousin-- Do you like wildlife? The younger said, Why yes, yes, I do. Me too and Sunriver is a place to enjoy it.