by Jennifer Guterman and Fran Falkin

This year, FTF’s annual awards honor successful family retreats.  In the hectic 21st century workaday world, adults and kids are endlessly busy with jobs and school, meetings and homework, personal trainers and afterschool activities.  Weekends are full of household chores, more homework (for parents and kids) and separate relaxation activities.  Sometimes it’s hard for families to keep track of everyone’s schedules, and although many try, most are no longer successful at eating dinners together regularly.

When it’s time to get away from this routine, more and more adults are in search of a vacation where they can spend precious family-together time.  This doesn’t mean sleeping in the same hotel room and going separate ways during the day, but securing family bonds by experiencing both new and favorite pursuits together.

FTF “Top 10 Getaways for Family Togetherness” have been selected for focusing on the kinds of activities that put the “family” back in family vacations.  By offering a variety of outdoor adventures, watersports, cultural learning opportunities, crafts, classes, spa treatments and old-fashioned fun, kids, parents and even grandparents can reunite, create memories and, hopefully, return home inspired to find ways to nurture these connections.

Sunriver Resort
Sunriver, Oregon
800/801-8765

An oasis in the high desert, Oregon’s Sunriver Resort is a fabulous find.  Located 180 miles from Portland and 17 miles from Bend (one of the hottest outdoor recreation areas in the West), Sunriver was once a World War II training camp.  Today, it’s a meetings and convention destination for corporations like Nike, yet a surprisingly comfortable place for outdoors families.  The temperate climate makes it easy year-round to take advantage of trail hikes at the Nature Center, stargazing at the Observatory, and other recreation within the 3,800-acre campus, as detailed in Sunriver’s daily calendar.
 
This peaceful but active setting provides a great family reunion spot.  However, if you can’t gather 40 relatives to splurge on the $75,000 “Family Reunion Dream Package,” offering four days of pre-planned everything plus the kitchen sink, do not be discouraged.  Immediate and extended families will find plenty of all-ages activities from which to choose.

In the winter months, families may choose outdoor ice skating or head to the local Mt. Bachelor for a day of skiing or snowboarding.  Seasonal programs such as the winter “Traditions” offer a turkey trot, jazz concerts, sleigh rides, snowshoeing, breakfast with Santa and a New Year’s Bowl Game party.  Spring and summer bring afternoon craft sessions for adults and children together, pool time and opportunities for guided horseback-riding tours, canoe trips and kayak rentals from the resort’s marina on the Deschutes River, as well as whitewater rafting (for ages 4+) past the lava fields of the Deschutes National Forest.

The property's 37 flat miles of bike trails enable roller bladders and skateboarders to have fun too, while recumbent, racing, mountain and three-speed bikes can be rented along with baby trailers, bike seats and helmets. Off-property excursions via mountain bike to the exciting waterfalls of the Paulina Plunge are designed for riders and passengers ages 4+.  Kids can attend family golf classes with their parents and/or siblings, while those 10 and older can even participate in a Family Challenge Ropes & Orienteering course.  Year-round, there’s strolling the village of Sunriver, a short walk or shuttle ride away, with wonderful clothing boutiques, Native American art galleries, homemade ice cream parlors and some fine restaurants

While family together opportunities abound, Sunriver also has supervised children’s programs for a wide age range.  Fort Funnigan covers ages 3-10 during the summer months.  Participants join theme days, like Jr. Detective Day and Rodeo Round Up.  Sunriver’s porcupine mascot also hosts Spike’s Night Out in the evening.  More independently minded 11 to 16-year-olds may go on supervised guided adventures such as horseback riding, climbing, or hiking.  Teen Time programs for ages 13-19 focuses on more casual, sporty activities: Night Volleyball with Day-Glo balls on sand courts, rock climbing nearby, dodgeball and social events such as weekly dances hosted by the Homeowners Association.

Families can cook at home or reconvene for meals at Sunriver’s classy and kid-friendly restaurants, including the Meadows at the Lodge, where kids have their own station at Sunday brunch.  Sunriver also has a spa, extensive fitness center with classes, 28 tennis courts, and four super scenic golf courses including Crosswater, named by Golf Magazine as one of the “Top 10 Most Adventurous Golf Courses in America.”

And then, of course, there are the spacious accommodations that families come home to after a deliciously full day.  The Lodge Village contains guestrooms with a king or two double beds, while suites have two queen beds plus a sofa sleeper. Attractive, lowrise condos and posh two- to six-bedroom vacation homes are also available and add to the cozy, small town feel that has made Sunriver so popular with families.

Throughout 2006, rates at Sunriver range from $99-$1,399/N, depending on room type, hotel or villa accommodation, and season.

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