A Weekend in Sunriver with Leann
I had a crazy weekend. For about a month or so, Leann and her most recent ex, Bryan (Not to be confused with my high school friend Bryan), have been planning a Labor Day-weekend vacation to Central Oregon as his birthday present to her. Their plan was to rent a house in a resort community called Sunriver and spend four days hanging out away from Portland. Sunriver is a huge planned community a touch south of Bend, Oregon, that seems to be a haven for retirees and rich people who want to get away. The local realty organization has dozens of homes available for rental on a daily basis for as little as $100 a night. The one Leann and Bryan got was a fully furnished two-bedroom, two-bath home. The place even had a covered private hot-tub and bikes in the garage waiting to be used.
For weeks beforehand, Leann negotiated to get me to come along as well as several of her other friends (Namely our mutual friend and my friend from college, Christine, as well as husband and wife Faren and Abraham whom I met a month ago when Faren fell down her stairs and sprained her ankle). There was initial hesitation because, obviously, no one knew how it would be if Leann's former and current boyfriends shared one roof for 96 hours. Would we all get along? I couldn't pass up an opportunity to spend four days with Leann, so I agreed to go on that principle alone and set aside any fear of potential animosity with Bryan. I had met Bryan several months ago at a game night at Christine's apartment when, at the time, him and Leann were still dating. He seemed like a geek like me, so I kind of knew what to expect going into this. Maybe this would be some odd bonding experience. Guys are funny like that.
After a crazy week getting everyone on the same page, the trip began on Friday with Bryan driving Leann, Christine and me the 200 miles to Sunriver. We got in after dark and spent the evening enjoying the rental house and soaking in the hot tub. Bryan and I seemed to get along well, much to everyones surprise. We both brought a few of our favorite electronic gadgets (Laptops and GPS gizmos) so there was that techno-ish nerd camaraderie right off the bat. My first impressions were that he seemed a touch high strung, but completely harmless.
Saturday, Faren and Abraham made the drive and joined us before we all went to Bend to do some grocery shopping. We had decided that we'd be self-sufficient this weekend and prepare all our meals at the rental house instead of spending a fortune eating out. We spent the afternoon riding bikes around Sunriver a little and seeing all the little shops available to the residents. Upon returning to the rental, Leann and I prepared a somewhat lavish taco dinner for the group. There was a minor spat later in the evening in which Leann felt everyone was picking on her somehow. Her and I cozied up in our room and we had a long talk about things. After drying her tears and calming her hurt, we rejoined the group and ended up having a great night filled with board games, movies and laughter.
Sunday was Leann's main event. When she was younger, her family camped every summer at a place called Cultus Lake, a forty-mile drive west from Sunriver deep in the heart of the Oregon Cascade Mountain Range. Leann was desperate to make a pilgrimage there this time out and she was dead set on going with or without everyone else. Bryan opted to stay behind (He's quite decisive and was completely uninterested) but the rest of us decided to tag along with Leann. We didn't know exactly how to get there and the signs on the road weren't totally helpful. We actually missed several turns and tempers momentarily flared before we finally found the place. When we arrived at Cultus Lake, the warm sunny weather we'd been enjoying in Sunriver was replaced with dark clouds, rain and a blistering wind not to mention 50-degree waters. Swimming and a boat rental were out of the question now, much to our disappointment. Leann tried to salvage the trip by taking us on a hike to the campground she knew so well as a youngster but there were still some party poopers among us, including myself. I'll admit, I was a little annoyed that the trip was a bust. Moreover, Leann didn't really know what to do with all of us, but we sat down to a meal and watched the water and somehow, the crummy feelings all melted away and I ended up having a nice time there. I hope to return one day with Leann but hopefully under better circumstances and possibly with less people. I look forward to getting a paddle boat for two and just getting far out onto the lake. Just her and me.
When we got back to the rental house Sunday night, Bryan surprised Leann with a cake he'd spent the day baking while we were out. Everyone then proceeded to spend the evening getting liquored up and goofy. That is, everyone except Christine, who seemed to noticeably "check out" of the entire trip at that point. What I mean by that is, she completely stopped participating with the group and simply spent that last night on the couch just watching TV and tuning us out. The rest of us got silly drunk and splashed around the hot tub between blisteringly funny sets of card games. There may even be photos on Christine or Faren's cameras of a very wet fresh-from-the-hot-tub Adam wearing nothing but a loose towel, but unless they decide to post them to Facebook, I admit to nothing. :)
Monday was Labor Day and our final day in the rental home. We had to be out by 11 AM but there was a lot of work to do to be out of there! We had bought so much perishable food over the weekend that we all spent some time eating as much as we could. Leann's cake couldn't make the journey home since we had no carriers for it, so it was sadly sacrificed. We ate up everything in sight before making it out of the house just in time. We then spent several hours at a cave just south of Bend called Lava River Cave. It was a giant lava tube formed from underground lava flows from a volcano 80,000 years ago. All six of us walked the mile-long underground cave and really had a blast. It was pretty spectacular, actually. When we reached the end, where the cave's ceiling was so low it forced us onto our bellies, we took a group photo. Here it is:
It was a great adventure. After that, we all had a nice lunch in Bend and everyone got back on the road to come home. Bryan, Leann and I shared one car and, surprisingly, Bryan and I talked and had stunningly interesting and enlightening conversations the entire three-hour drive home on topics ranging from politics and forest fires to video games and how traffic lights work. When we finally were dropped off, I had no problem shaking his hand, looking him in the eye and sincerely thanking him for a fantastic weekend. It's amazing to me that this dude was Leann's ex boyfriend and yet here we were hanging out. Shouldn't we be enemies or something? All in all, I think everyone was pleasantly surprised.
Life pretty much returned to normal once Tuesday arrived. Leann had her first day back to work as a teaching assistant at a school in Beaverton, so she's back to full time. I've been tasked with fixing and upgrading a few computers around here as well as Christine's laptop. Tuesday night, I asked Christine why she more or less removed herself from the group on Sunday night, and she expressed her disappointment that the group as a whole didn't do more biking in Sunriver, which was something she really wanted. Well, possibly next time. If those houses are really as cheap to rent as they claimed, then maybe that's the kind of vacation trip that's right up everyone's alley. Maybe I'll be back to Sunriver someday. In the meantime, Leann and I have a dinner date tonight. All the perishable food we were able to bring back with us from our trip needs to be eaten!
For weeks beforehand, Leann negotiated to get me to come along as well as several of her other friends (Namely our mutual friend and my friend from college, Christine, as well as husband and wife Faren and Abraham whom I met a month ago when Faren fell down her stairs and sprained her ankle). There was initial hesitation because, obviously, no one knew how it would be if Leann's former and current boyfriends shared one roof for 96 hours. Would we all get along? I couldn't pass up an opportunity to spend four days with Leann, so I agreed to go on that principle alone and set aside any fear of potential animosity with Bryan. I had met Bryan several months ago at a game night at Christine's apartment when, at the time, him and Leann were still dating. He seemed like a geek like me, so I kind of knew what to expect going into this. Maybe this would be some odd bonding experience. Guys are funny like that.
After a crazy week getting everyone on the same page, the trip began on Friday with Bryan driving Leann, Christine and me the 200 miles to Sunriver. We got in after dark and spent the evening enjoying the rental house and soaking in the hot tub. Bryan and I seemed to get along well, much to everyones surprise. We both brought a few of our favorite electronic gadgets (Laptops and GPS gizmos) so there was that techno-ish nerd camaraderie right off the bat. My first impressions were that he seemed a touch high strung, but completely harmless.
Saturday, Faren and Abraham made the drive and joined us before we all went to Bend to do some grocery shopping. We had decided that we'd be self-sufficient this weekend and prepare all our meals at the rental house instead of spending a fortune eating out. We spent the afternoon riding bikes around Sunriver a little and seeing all the little shops available to the residents. Upon returning to the rental, Leann and I prepared a somewhat lavish taco dinner for the group. There was a minor spat later in the evening in which Leann felt everyone was picking on her somehow. Her and I cozied up in our room and we had a long talk about things. After drying her tears and calming her hurt, we rejoined the group and ended up having a great night filled with board games, movies and laughter.
Sunday was Leann's main event. When she was younger, her family camped every summer at a place called Cultus Lake, a forty-mile drive west from Sunriver deep in the heart of the Oregon Cascade Mountain Range. Leann was desperate to make a pilgrimage there this time out and she was dead set on going with or without everyone else. Bryan opted to stay behind (He's quite decisive and was completely uninterested) but the rest of us decided to tag along with Leann. We didn't know exactly how to get there and the signs on the road weren't totally helpful. We actually missed several turns and tempers momentarily flared before we finally found the place. When we arrived at Cultus Lake, the warm sunny weather we'd been enjoying in Sunriver was replaced with dark clouds, rain and a blistering wind not to mention 50-degree waters. Swimming and a boat rental were out of the question now, much to our disappointment. Leann tried to salvage the trip by taking us on a hike to the campground she knew so well as a youngster but there were still some party poopers among us, including myself. I'll admit, I was a little annoyed that the trip was a bust. Moreover, Leann didn't really know what to do with all of us, but we sat down to a meal and watched the water and somehow, the crummy feelings all melted away and I ended up having a nice time there. I hope to return one day with Leann but hopefully under better circumstances and possibly with less people. I look forward to getting a paddle boat for two and just getting far out onto the lake. Just her and me.
When we got back to the rental house Sunday night, Bryan surprised Leann with a cake he'd spent the day baking while we were out. Everyone then proceeded to spend the evening getting liquored up and goofy. That is, everyone except Christine, who seemed to noticeably "check out" of the entire trip at that point. What I mean by that is, she completely stopped participating with the group and simply spent that last night on the couch just watching TV and tuning us out. The rest of us got silly drunk and splashed around the hot tub between blisteringly funny sets of card games. There may even be photos on Christine or Faren's cameras of a very wet fresh-from-the-hot-tub Adam wearing nothing but a loose towel, but unless they decide to post them to Facebook, I admit to nothing. :)
Monday was Labor Day and our final day in the rental home. We had to be out by 11 AM but there was a lot of work to do to be out of there! We had bought so much perishable food over the weekend that we all spent some time eating as much as we could. Leann's cake couldn't make the journey home since we had no carriers for it, so it was sadly sacrificed. We ate up everything in sight before making it out of the house just in time. We then spent several hours at a cave just south of Bend called Lava River Cave. It was a giant lava tube formed from underground lava flows from a volcano 80,000 years ago. All six of us walked the mile-long underground cave and really had a blast. It was pretty spectacular, actually. When we reached the end, where the cave's ceiling was so low it forced us onto our bellies, we took a group photo. Here it is:
It was a great adventure. After that, we all had a nice lunch in Bend and everyone got back on the road to come home. Bryan, Leann and I shared one car and, surprisingly, Bryan and I talked and had stunningly interesting and enlightening conversations the entire three-hour drive home on topics ranging from politics and forest fires to video games and how traffic lights work. When we finally were dropped off, I had no problem shaking his hand, looking him in the eye and sincerely thanking him for a fantastic weekend. It's amazing to me that this dude was Leann's ex boyfriend and yet here we were hanging out. Shouldn't we be enemies or something? All in all, I think everyone was pleasantly surprised.
Life pretty much returned to normal once Tuesday arrived. Leann had her first day back to work as a teaching assistant at a school in Beaverton, so she's back to full time. I've been tasked with fixing and upgrading a few computers around here as well as Christine's laptop. Tuesday night, I asked Christine why she more or less removed herself from the group on Sunday night, and she expressed her disappointment that the group as a whole didn't do more biking in Sunriver, which was something she really wanted. Well, possibly next time. If those houses are really as cheap to rent as they claimed, then maybe that's the kind of vacation trip that's right up everyone's alley. Maybe I'll be back to Sunriver someday. In the meantime, Leann and I have a dinner date tonight. All the perishable food we were able to bring back with us from our trip needs to be eaten!