Sunriver

A week ago I had the privilege of taking a mini winter vacation. Some friends of ours have a beautiful condo in Sunriver, right on the Deschutes River and next to the National Forest, and we were allowed to use this beautiful home for six days. We also had the good fortune to make this trip with our best friends, Dave and Vicki, friends we have had for over 30 years (man, that makes me feel really old! maybe we were two years old when we met them, which would mean that I had my frist child when I was 10 -- oh, never mind, we've been friends for a long time).

Dave and Vicki picked us up on a Wednesday, a day earlier than originally planned (the stars were aligned in our favor). We took their Subaru, a good little snow car, and loaded up all of our usual gear along with snow clothes and containers holding our art supplies. We were quite a sight, all packed in. The drive over the mountain was a little dicey and at times slow, and after a stop in Sisters for lunch and shopping, we made it to Bend, stocked up on groceries, and drove the final leg to Sunriver in the dark. Once settled, we got a fire going, made a pot of chili, and plopped ourselves on the couch with a sigh of relief. But we weren't down for long, as Vicki and I appropriated the dining table as our art table. We spread two vinyl tablecloths across the table (we were prepared) and began taking out our art supplies and getting our little areas organized and ready. It wasn't long before our organization bit the dust; we not only had the table, but we were also piling supplies on the chairs and eventually in an arc around us on the floor.

Here is our table all organized and ready for us to begin:



And here we are "playing" away, yes in our PJs, which we wore for long periods every day:



We did eventually get dressed and even managed to be cajoled into strapping on snow shoes so we could enjoy the beauty surrounding us. Here's proof:


Beautiful, beautiful scenery, cold, clear, and sunny!


Vicki and I spent many hours working primarily on our art journals, starting and sometimes finishing pages. We shared our supplies and ideas, inspired and cheered each other on. Here are a couple of my early pages:



The time came when it was time to pack up our supplies and load the car (a little trickier because we had made treks into Bend to shop at a their Goodwill and a couple of funky little second-hand stores, so we were going home with more than we arrived with - Vicki and I both had baskets on our laps for the return trip). But a trip to Bend is never complete without a stop at the Funny Farm, located on Hwy 97 right outside of Bend near the cut-off to Sisters.