It's Vacation Time Already?!

We have been gearing up for the back-to-back vacations we are taking this summer for some time. Normally, we would only do one big vacation every few years, but this year we are blessed to be able to take two...within days of each other. We had planned to take the girls to visit my dad, stepmom and brothers on the east coast when our good friends got engaged and planned a destination wedding in La Pine, OR. This meant we needed to find a place to stay because we are helping with the wedding...Sunriver to the rescue! :)

Our plan was to get up, finish packing, load the car, eat some breakfast and head out of town. What really happened was we got up, finished packing, loaded the car, ate breakfast, ran to Radio Shack to replace Alora's headphones that stopped working (the $8 warranty has been worth it...this is her 3rd pair of them!), ran over to drop off Kylin's report card and Steer Clear paperwork at the insurance agent, filled the gas tank, and went back home. You guessed it, we I forgot something. :)

A quick stop to pick up my calligraphy pens, one last potty break and one last round of Piper loves, we were on the road. 1.5 hours late. True Crone family style.

The drive was smooth and easy. Our family loves road trips and we have gotten pretty good at them over the years. It has become tradition that I read a book to everyone while Tom drives. For this trip, we chose Holes by Louis Sachar. The girls and I haven't read it before but have seen the movie. Tom has read it several times and has seen the movie a lot (he uses it with his students) but was happy to hear it again.

As he drove, I read until there was something I couldn't resist taking a picture of. Like the majestically beautiful Mt. Hood. Or, Mt. St. Hood as Alora used to call it. :)

Our first "close" glimpse of Mt. Hood.

We told the girls we would get close to the mountain but didn't tell them how close. We wanted them to see it for themselves.

Seriously beautiful!

Mt. Hood looks different from this angle than what we usually see on the WA side.

As the road curved it's way over the mountain, I read. At one point I stopped mid-sentence to take a picture. Alora found that extremely humorous. On we drove and before long, we were entering the high desert. Alora spotted a wild fire burning off in the distance as we drove toward Warm Springs Indian Reservation.

She watched it until she couldn't see it anymore. There are a few wild fires burning in Oregon right now. I'm not sure which fire this one is, but it was interesting seeing the smoke filling the sky. Tom reminded the girls that fire is a natural part of the ecosystem and they aren't all bad.

We liked seeing the canyon. It reminds me of New Mexico every time I see it.

Onward we went. The girls spent some of the drive doing this...

Silly hair!

Alora tried to give Kylin silly hair, too but her long locks don't like to stick up much.

More reading, more driving and before long we could see this loveliness.

Do you see the mountains in the distance?

We finally rolled up to our house in Sunriver around 5:00 pm. Only about one hour after we could check-in. Not too bad in the grand scheme of things if you ask me.

The house is a nice, 2-story 3-BD 2.5BA. It has great things things to us to use like unlimited passes to Sharc (the waterpark), adult and children's bikes (including helmets), games, puzzles, a wrap around deck, hot tub, gas grill, wi-fi, cable, washer and dryer and more! It will be our little home for the next 7 days.

The only downside so far...the forecast is high 90s-low 100's during the day and there isn't any air conditioning...I miss that about our house in Vancouver!

We had dinner at Sara and Wayne's house, which about a 2 minute walk from our place. Her sister's family is staying in the house across the street from us, literally. It's nice to have everyone close as we get ready for the big day on Saturday. We are on the deck and toasted being on vacation. After dinner, we went to see Sara's brother-in-laws' sister, who is also in Sunriver this week. We sat on the deck chatting until the mosquitoes came out then it was time to head back and get to bed.

Tomorrow, we plan to go to Sharc at 10:00am!