Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Thousand Trails Bend-Sunriver, OR Resort and First Paddling on the Deschutes River

Bend, OR                       (Click on Pictures to Enlarge)

Thought I would  talk a bit about the Thousand Trails Campground at Bend-Sunriver, OR.  This is our first time to ever stay here and already it's one of our favorite Thousand Trails parks.  We originally made reservations to stay for 8 days, but after seeing a bit of the area, we've changed our stay to 14 days.  There are just a lot of outdoor activities to do and see in the area.

We love campgrounds with trees.  Our site is located near the front of the campground where many of the amenities are located.  The best aspect, however, is the wide spacing between sites here.

The campground is well maintained and all of the staff is very friendly.  The area near the check-in and main office has an old west theme and is called "Town Square".  There are some very cute landscaping ideas.

Top (L) Sheriff's Office and Jail             Top (R) Saloon
Lower (L) Country Store   Lower (R) "Tombstones" in Graveyard
TT has recently installed a  new welcome and check-in building in an attempt to keep rigs from backing up into the main entrance area.  Seems to work efficiently as we were checked in quickly and proceeded to our site.  The only negative about this park is that it has water and electric only. No sewer hookups.  A pump out service can be used, for a fee, or you can haul your rig to the dump stations, or do as we did and haul our NEW portable tote tank to the dump station. (I may, or may not, do a blog about this adventure!)

Top (L) New Welcome Center    Top (R) Main Lodge
Lower (L) Family Pool  Lower (R) Rental Cabin
We finally got the Sea Eagle in the water yesterday.  The Little Deschutes River runs right beside the campground and a few miles down South Century Drive (SR42) the Deschutes River crosses under a bridge.  Both of these rivers join together a few miles north of us and eventually run through the middle of Bend, OR.  We drove 2 miles to a "put in" area and inflated the Sea Eagle. It was Sunday and quite a few folks had the same idea.

The weather was beautiful.  It was about 80 degrees and the sky was a bright blue.  Because we had no way to float down river and be picked up, we paddled about a mile upstream (and against the current, I might add), then turned and leisurely floated back to our starting point.

Along the way we pulled along the shore for a beverage and snack break.  Looks like Karen enjoys this. (Hey, we both love this!)

We saw folks kayaking for fun, but some were also float fishing.  We didn't see this couple catch anything, but they looked as though they were having a good time.



We already have several more paddle trips planned in the coming days and may even do some "tubing".

Thanks again for stopping by to take a look!

6 comments:

  1. As always I enjoy the pictures and blog, every thing looks so pretty.

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  2. Continues to look like a beautiful area and plenty of great shots for your header. We're experiencing those big sites here at Rafter J in the Black Hills and I really like it. We drove through the local KOA the other day and RVs were like sardines in a can. We've been on the road a week now, so please stop by if you get a chance.

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  3. Where are you going to store your new tote when you travel?

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    1. I'm probably going to talk about the tote and our first "adventures" with using it in an upcoming blog.

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  4. Glad to see TT is working out for you. We held off joining to see how our travels would unfold and so far it doesn't seem to be worth it for us. Maybe when we get rolling again this might change.

    Karen is actually paddling? She'll have to give Marti lessons, she usually sits back and lets me do all the work! :c)

    Oh boy, I see an interesting post coming up about your tote. Hope it's not going to smell too bad. :cO

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    1. Paul you are exactly correct concerning membership campgrounds. NO membership is right for someone, if you don't use it.
      Yes, Karen always paddles. Sitting in the front, she can't always tell whether I'm paddling! LOL
      Still debating on whether or not to do a post on the tote.

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