Our family travels to the Bend/Sunriver, Or area a few times a year. My in-laws have a vacation house over there and it’s a quick weekend getaway when we need to get out of Medford. The weather in the summer is usually a little bit cooler than back at home but in winter it is C-O-L-D! They usually have snow and icy roads due to the weather we tend to stay away from Bend during winter.

There are many things that Bend has to offer from hiking trails, Mt. Bachelor, lakes, good restaurants and LOTS of breweries. Sunriver is about 20 miles outside of Bend. It’s a small community built up of vacation homes. Sunriver has a mall with a small grocery store, restaurants, local shops, and small activities for the kids; The Shark: includes a swimming pool, slides into the pool, a wave pool. Then there is bike riding and a small mini-golf course.

Where did we stay:

Sunriver community of Vacation Homes at Jason’s families vacation house. The house has 4 bedrooms and can sleep 10 people, It has 3 full bathrooms, 1 upstairs in the master bedroom, 1 upstairs for the guests, and 1 full bath downstairs. It has a living room, a game room/den, a kitchen/dining room and seating in front of the fireplace. It also has a hot tub in the backyard off of the deck. 

What did we do: 

Friday: We left Medford around 11 am and arrived in Sunriver at 2 pm. We stopped at the house to unload the car, change Sawyer, and then we headed out to Bend to get some lunch. We decided to go to Worthy Brewing, I have never been but it’s one of Jason’s favorite places to eat in Bend.

When we pulled up, Worthy looked like a typical industrial-style building, which is what you see all over Bend. We walked in and there was indoor and outdoor seating, indoor was pretty full and it was a nice day out so we opted for outdoor seating. Worthy has a stage for live music, a lawn area for corn hole, multiple picnic style tables for you to sit, drink, and enjoy your food. They also allowed dogs which excited Sawyer! Anytime he sees an animal he thinks he has to pet it and it’s his. 
Jason ordered the Baxter Burger and I ordered a build your own pizza; I chose pineapple for my topping and shared with Sawyer. When we got our food we were shocked by the portion sizes. The burger was huge, Jason was silent the entire time he was eating, so I know it was good! If I wouldn’t have been starving from not eating all day I would not have finished the pizza. I ate all of it besides the two pieces that Sawyer ate. (I forgot to take pictures of the food we were so hungry!) 

After eating at Worthy, we met Jason’s mom, Mary and our sister in law Sachta at the Old Mill District. The Old Mill District is an outdoor shopping center with shops for Men, Women, and Children. There are also quite a few restaurants in the mix. We love going to the Old Mill District just to walk around, it’s right by the river and the weather is always nice. There is a bridge so you can walk across the river if you’d like or just stop and enjoy the scenes. 

It was getting later and we had dinner reservations to celebrate Mary’s birthday, we headed back to the house to change and freshen up. Dinner was at the South Bend Bistro in the Sunriver Village. The Bistro is smaller and doesn’t have too much seating inside but they have a beautiful deck where you can sit outside, which is what we did. The food was good but the best part was the atmosphere on the deck, the weather was perfect, the umbrellas and trees helped to shade the late afternoon sun, and the friendly staff and people around made it a great experience. After dinner, we all walked around the village, went into a couple of shops, and listened to live music before we headed back to the house for the night.

Saturday: We woke up and we made breakfast, I played in the backyard with Sawyer before we all got ready and we headed downtown. Once we were downtown we went to a cafe called Sintra’s they have Mediterranean Breakfast & Lunch. The cafe is cute and has an industrial clean vibe to it. I ordered a 1/2 Sandwich, 1/2 salad, Mary ordered a Soup, and Jason ordered a full sandwich. The salad was so good that I went home and created my version of the salad. (You can find that recipe here)

After lunch, we walked around downtown through a few shops before walking the park along the river where Sawyer watched the baby ducks swim and play in the water. 

Whether you travel to Bend/ Sunriver in the Wintertime to enjoy Mt Bachelor for skiing and snowboarding or you go in the Summer to enjoy the lakes and river. If you enjoy industrial towns with something for everyone and breweries and restaurants for you to try year-round, then Bend is the place for you!