Madeline Rose: Sunriver Family Vacation

Family Vacation

Up to now, our family vacations (just the three of us, not including vacations to visit family) have consisted of camping, so we decided to mix it up a bit, rent a house and enjoy a relaxing vacation in a family friendly environment. We found all of this, and more, in Sunriver, OR. Sunriver is an odd little town in the woods near Bend, OR (Eastern part of the state) that is built for tourists. Most homes are vacation rentals, there are 30+ miles of paved bike/walking trails through the woods (very well signed), the town center is called "The Village" with shops/restaurants/bouncy houses and a little train running around, and there's a HUGE water park called The SHARC (Sunriver Homeowners Association Recreation Center).

Our "Ranch Cabin" vacation rental, although not spotless (I have high standards) and missing a few light bulbs, had what we needed to enjoy our four day weekend. Plus, there was a pool just steps away across the little road running through the cabin area, which was perfect for afternoon swimming and cocktails! Maddy spent a lot of time in the water on this trip, and got very comfortable tooling around the pool in her life jacket.

We took advantage of everything Sunriver had to offer, exploring the Nature Conservatory and hitting up the bird show where we learned about red tailed hawks and other birds that live in the area. All the birds at the conservatory are injured and there either for recuperation or to live if unable to return to the wild. The conservatory included a walking trail with interpretive signs including information about planets and the sun leading to a building housing some very powerful telescopes where we viewed sun spots! Very cool stuff.

The town center, called The Village had lots of activities including a train, bouncy houses, restaurants, shops, play structures and even bumper cars (which we didn't get to). But the biggest hit was our day at the giant water park called SHARC. There were water slides (I went on both the big ones!), a lazy river, log rolling and plenty of kid areas for Maddy to enjoy. It was lots of fun!

All in all, a great family vacation.