Memorial Day in Sunriver

The Thursday night before Memorial Day weekend, Tyler and I started talking about getting out of town for a day or two.  We both had Friday and Monday off work, so we discussed Sunriver and began looking at cabin rentals online.  No decisions were made before we went to bed that night, but Tyler woke me up Friday morning to tell me he was going to pick up the keys to a cabin and we were leaving in two hours.  We invited a couple people, grabbed our friend Smitty, and hit the road.  The cabin was adorable, had three bedrooms, and because it ended up being just the three of us we had more than enough space.  Immediately upon our arrival we cracked a beer and sat on the back deck to kick off our long, relaxing weekend.

Next, we found some bikes in the garage and hit the trails to explore for a couple hours.

We ate dinner at the Sunriver Brewhouse.  They had gluten-free beer(yay!), and I ate the artichoke crab melt on a gluten-free bun, which was exceptional!  The service staff was very friendly and helpful about gluten-free options and gave advice about other things to do in the area.

After dinner, we grabbed drinks at The Owl's Nest, a bar at the Resort.  They had a live band playing a combination of jazz and classic rock.

After that we retired to our cabin to wind down in the hot tub before bed.  Saturday morning after sleeping late I escaped to the porch to recover with coconut water and start a new book in the sun while Tyler made breakfast.

We spent the day at SHARC, Sunriver Homeowners Aquatic & Recreation Center.  There was an indoor pool, a lazy river, a water slide, and a hot tub.  The lazy river was nice, but a little to fast for me to consider it "lazy", and the amount of children(and grown-up children) splashing each other reduced my ability to relax much.  The water slide was great, but as it was May in Oregon the wind at the top of the slide was frigid and I couldn't bring myself to make the climb more than once.

After the water park we lounged around watching tv and playing board games.  Smitty taught me to play chess, which I am apparently naturally amazing at.  For dinner we made the most amazing fish tacos I've ever had in my life and had a low-key night.

Sunday morning I snuck in a quick run in the rain before making breakfast.

Our friends Wayne and Emilee were staying nearby, so we met them in Bend for the day to brewery-hop.  We started at Deschutes Brewery, which had an excellent Belgian-style gluten-free beer.  They identified the gluten-free beverages by putting a rubber band around the glass.  I thought that was clever.

Our next stop was Bend Brewing Co.  They didn't have a gluten-free beer but they had a hard cider that I loved.  It's called Strongbow, and it's dry instead of sweet like most ciders.

After that we made our way to 10 Barrel Brewing Company, which we had heard good things about.  I had to stand in line for almost a half hour only to find out they had no gluten-free options.  There was nowhere to sit and there were fire pits blowing smoke everywhere.  Our friends downed their drinks and we left disappointed and unsatisfied.

After a great day with great people, we returned to our haven and Tyler cooked a nice steak dinner(chicken for me).  We played more games, which became very competitive, and enjoyed our last night of relaxation.

On Monday, we slept in and cleaned up the cabin.  We stopped in Bend for lunch at McMenamins Old St. Francis School.  Then we sadly drove back to real life.  Sunriver is one place I've always loved.  It isn't a far drive from Portland, and every visit feels like a real vacation.

Adventures in Ashland

Last month Tyler and I decided we needed a mini-vacation.  We were able to quickly throw together a wonderful trip to southern Oregon and had an amazing time!  On our way down I-5, we stopped to spend a few hours at Wildlife Safari in Winston.  I hadn't been there in several years and it was a first for Tyler, so it was a great vacation appetizer.  It was a different experience to see all the animals in the drive-through open-exhibit zoo.

 After leaving Wildlife Safari, we drove to Ashland and checked into our hotel, Greensprings Inn.  This adorable log cabin style lodge with its accompanying cabins was about 15 miles up a winding mountain road, so at first I wasn't sure what to expect.  I was very pleasantly surprised, and by the time we checked out I was so relieved we had made the right choice.  We were away from the noise of the town, and the mountain air was extremely relaxing, which is exactly what we needed.  The staff was friendly and helpful, and the grounds were beautiful.  After exploring the grounds, we had a meal in our room from the Inn's restaurant, and it was delicious!  There was no tv in the room, but there were some board games so we took Scrabble to the little amphitheater in the woods used for live music and weddings and we played like children.

There were a few lakes up in the mountains that we decided to check out.  This was Hyatt Lake.

The next day we visited Emigrant Lake, a great park for picnics, gatherings, and water play.  We took a walk around the edge of the lake, soaking up the sunshine and natural beauty before heading into town for the day.

Later we walked through the Southern Oregon University campus, where I spent my Freshman year.  We laughed about how I remembered shockingly little of a place I spent nine months of my life, then headed across the street to Great American Pizza Company for, hands down, the best pizza I've ever had.  AND... gluten-free crust!

The rest of the day was spent enjoying beautiful Lithia Park in the heart of downtown Ashland.  The park has a playground for children, endless trails, and an unexpected amount of wildlife.  We encountered many birds, snakes, and deer just off the path.  Lithia Park was so serene and pristine, I desperately wish we had a similar haven in Portland.

To finish off our relaxing vacation filled with sunshine, we stopped at Mix Sweet Shop for a cold treat.  Passion fruit sorbet and Earl Grey chocolate chip ice-cream sent us on our way with happy tummies and happier hearts.