Sun River 2016

After the overwhelming success of our Baker's Dozen trip to Sun River last summer, plans were almost immediately hatched to repeat the adventure. Three families of 4, plus 1 Grandma, with bikes in tow, took over 1 happy house.

Sleep is a rare commodity for me under normal circumstances, so I confess that I was most likely the one reluctant holdout. However, the weekend was good fun from start to finish. Pool time, riding bikes, taking walks, spending quiet hours in the house with books and games, amazing food, frequent deer sightings, live music by the lodge, ice cream cones in the village square, and another epic float down the river.

I hope these trips continue every year, creating lasting impressions for the kids as they grow up. The cousin bonding time is good for all of us, even if the lone boy of the group grumbles under his breath just 5 minutes after arrival that "they are already talking about high heels and lipstick".

Weekend Trip: Sun River

We are extreme homebodies, so its pretty rare that we leave home overnight. But we made an exception for the Farmboy's family. His Mom, Sister and family, and Cousin and family all headed over to Sun River on the East side of the Cascade Mountain Range in Oregon to stay in a house together.

There wasn't much in the way of sleeping that happened, but the hours were packed with so much fun we didn't have a chance to feel tired. Group walks, biking, fun at the pool, cousin Minecraft sessions, live music, laughing into the night, ice cream cones at Goody's, and an epic canoe and kayak adventure down the Rogue River.

At the end of the weekend we all wanted to hit the automatic repeat button. But alas, the Summer was winding down, the school year approaching, and we had to settle for a promise to repeat as best as possible next year.

Due to a wildfire blazing across the highway on our normal route, our trip across was nearly doubled in time and distance. By our return trip, the firefighters had worked enough magic that we were able to travel home through the blackened acres of what resembled another planet, complete with hazy, smoky air and a glowing red sun.