Tumalo Falls was an amazing adventure and one of the highlights of our trip. We chose the loop…read moretrail so we could see all of the waterfalls, and it was absolutely worth it. One of the most exciting parts was crossing the river several times. In some places there were bridges, and at one point we had to carefully balance across a log, which made the hike even more fun and memorable. We visited in April, and there was still a little snow on the trail. The weather was beautiful, but I would recommend bringing traction spikes if conditions are slippery and hiking poles for extra stability. The waterfalls were spectacular, and the scenery along the trail was breathtaking. It was a perfect mix of adventure and natural beauty. I'm sure I'll return one day with my kids to experience it all again.

I am DONE staying quiet about this. Oregon residents, read every word of this…read more Let's start with the Oregon State Lottery. Not just scratch tickets -- we're talking about over 10,000 video lottery terminals running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in bars, restaurants, truck stops, and corner stores from Portland to Medford to Pendleton. Machines that never sleep. Machines that pull HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS out of Oregon communities every single year. One of the big promised beneficiaries of all that money? Oregon State Parks. HUNDREDS. OF. MILLIONS. OF. DOLLARS. Every year. So now I want you to listen very carefully to what Oregon State Parks does with all of that money -- and then I want you to tell me this makes sense. They charge you $50, $60, sometimes more -- just to pitch a tent on a patch of dirt and gravel. For a campsite. A flat piece of ground with a fire ring and maybe a picnic table. That's it. That is what they are charging your family a premium price to use -- land that the lottery was supposed to already be funding on your behalf. But wait. It gets worse. Who actually runs those campgrounds day to day? Who checks you in, keeps things clean, handles problems, and maintains order so your family has a decent experience? In many Oregon state parks, that's the PARK HOST. And you know what the park host gets paid? Nothing. Zero dollars. Not a dime. They volunteer their time and labor in exchange for a campsite to park their RV. Oregon State Parks is getting free labor -- DONATED labor from retirees and volunteers who love the outdoors -- and they are STILL charging you through the roof and STILL claiming they need more money. And then there are the rangers. Now I want to be fair -- but let's be honest about what a lot of ranger activity at campgrounds actually looks like. They drive around and check that you paid. They verify your tag. They make sure your receipt is displayed. That's the job. Fee enforcement. At wages that aren't exactly making anyone rich. So let me get this straight: -- The lottery generates hundreds of millions of dollars, with parks as a named beneficiary -- Volunteer hosts donate their labor for FREE -- Rangers are not highly paid -- Operating costs are therefore not enormous AND YET the fees are sky high, they keep climbing, and nobody in state government can give Oregon families a straight answer about where the money is actually going? I'm not just frustrated. I am demanding answers. Where is the lottery money going? Show us the budget line by line. Show us how much came in from the lottery last year and exactly where every dollar was spent. Because right now it looks like Oregon families are being squeezed from both ends -- losing money at lottery terminals across the state AND then getting charged again just to stand on public land for a weekend. This is public land. It belongs to you. You already paid for it. You are being charged to use what is already yours -- while the state collects a river of gambling revenue that was supposed to make this more affordable, not less. Enough. Share this post. Contact Oregon Parks and Recreation at oregon.gov/oprd. Call your state legislators. Demand a full public audit of every lottery dollar that was supposed to go to parks. Oregon families deserve to know where their money went. And they deserve to use their own land without being gouged for it. SHARE THIS. People need to know.

Convenient, affordable, and great service! We found this place last minute when we decided to…read moresnowshoe. I took a chance and called the number on Christmas Day, and they were working. The person on the phone was very accommodating and patient. We let them know when we were planning on arriving, and they said they would make sure the store was open. Snowshoe rentals were only $15 each, and they included poles, goggles, and a balaclava. I believe the snow pants and snow boots were also only $15 each. The teal pants were SO cute. The person in the store was also very patient and helpful. There was a cute little hot cocoa station that included marshmallows, tea, Vitamin C, and apple cider packets. The only things missing were candy canes! But they made up for it with sweet treats (sugar cookies, fudge, and more). While we were there, we realized that we forgot our hand warmers. The person overheard us and gave us some for free!! What makes this place so convenient was that it was 6 minutes from our AirBnb in Sunriver AND they have a return box outside of the store if we get there after hours! I was also pleasantly surprised that we didn't have to return the rentals under the next morning at 9:00. Will definitely come back for more rental needs!

We had a great time renting snow mobiles from Sunriver…read moreToyHouse! They anticipate every possible need. From helmets to heated vests to warm drinks and snacks. They gave thorough instructions to get us safely on the trail. When a belt broke on one of the machines, they walked us through repairing it and we were quickly back on the road. We would definitely recommend them and will be back for another adventure!

On my first visit to Bend, I saw a little bit about the Bend Ale Trail but realized it was too much…read moreto work on that trip. I had a visited a bunch of breweries, but not all in any one region. For my most recent trip, I purposely tried to complete what I could. The Bend Ale Trail is a sponsored by the Bend tourism authority where you get stamps for each brewery visited either digitally or in a free passport book. I read there were prizes and artwork associated with each, so it made sense all of this was done out of the Visit Bend Oregon visitors center right downtown. It's easy to find, just a few blocks away from the river. They have mostly daily hours, making it convenient to drop in. If you're a first timer to the area, I recommend coming here on your first days, as they have a ton of free literature about the area including maps, activities, coupons, etc. They also have areas to sit, have pictures taken, plus advice and planning from the people who work here. I had mixed interactions with the people working here, but none were negative. Back to the Ale Trail - it's free to do, and worth your time if you're already visiting all the excellent breweries in the area. As you complete each of the seven regions, you bring in your passport and show it to receive a tasting glass and matching sticker with the key art. Once you complete all seven glasses, you get a matching wooden flight paddle! Even better, if you have a designated driver they can complete it too; but they'll earn a free branded Hydro Flask, another famous company headquartered in Bend. If you're visiting, it's worth stopping here to help plan your trip!

We came, we saw, we conquered the Bend Ale Trail. 16 breweries in three days sounds like a lot but…read moremy pretty designated driver and myself were up to the challenge. You can either grab a map at any of the participating breweries or download their app. I recommend you do both. The map as a souvenir and use the app to redeem for your rewards. The app is also very helpful in navigating the area and figuring out a course of action as you move from brewery to brewery. We of course started with the best beer in Bend at Boneyard. The Deschutes tour is another must. Crux makes some damn fine beer as well. I noticed for the most part, all the breweries in Bend are also restaurants as well. I prefer to keep my restaurants and taprooms separate so there's several breweries that I would have skipped if it weren't for the quest to visit all of them before we left town. The only negative to the whole thing was that 2 of the 16 breweries are about 20 miles away so you'll have to do some driving whether you want to or not. Since they're not in Bend, I'm not sure why they're included on the trail. Bridge 99 would have been a better choice to be included on the trail. The bottle opener and Silipint that you get from the Bend visitor's center for completing your passport are actually pretty neat and not throw away trinkets. The memories will certainly last a lifetime but it's always nice to get a little bit of schwag as well.

A ski shop in a church? So fantastically Bend! These folks help me out if a bind. One star off for…read morefeeling like I was interrupting them when I called to check on the status of my order. I get it though, they will text when the order is complete.

Far and away the best and most knowledgeable XC ski shop in town, and probably in the state. Staff…read moreare willing to go the extra step to make sure the customer is making the right choice for wax, skis, etc.

Stayed two days at the Hill Street Beauty, whatever they sprayed worked great until I woke up the…read morenext day stuffed up only to find myself covered in cat hair and the entire place reeked of cat urine, the upstairs is probably worse then the downstairs, I'm guessing the owner has a few cats and leaves the house when the house gets rented out and there is no cleaning in-between rentals, I would not recommend. The house is very small and outdated but generally has everything you would need to enjoy your stay, they customer service people at bluebird seem to be very helpful.

I have never posted a review for a rental before. I visited with my son's family and could not…read morebelieve the issues he faced while renting from BlueBird Day. My son has a 19-month-old and a 2-month-old. The home rented was a 3 bedroom and 2 story home. There is only 1 HVAC controller downstairs in the living room. The upstairs was hot as compared to the downstairs. Bend, OR was experiencing smokie days during this time. The smoke was lingering in the house and did not seem to be conditioned, or even moving. The only air coming out of the upstairs registers was just moving the smoke down around the baby. My son went out and purchased $1,000 of air purifiers to help. Without these, the home would have been uninhabitable and they would have to leave it. The air purifiers were hard to find as all places were sold out of them. Everyone in Bend seemed to have purchased any and all purifiers everywhere. When getting them in the house, right away one of them read 164. Not a good thing for a baby or anyone. Then I suggested looking at the HVAC filters. To my surprise and horror, the filters were turned over instead of new ones installed, as if someone thought that they could filter from both sides. The arrow was pointing in the wrong direction for airflow. This put the extremely dirty side from the past several months on the top and on the side where the HVAC handler is, meaning it was blowing dirt through the system and into the rooms. In addition, the other side was so filthy that there was no way anything was being filtered. This is why the smoke was lingering in the house and the differences in the temp. BlueBird Day lied and stated they had replaced them before my son arrived. I have never seen this kind of thing happen. We put new air filters in that we went and bought and then everything got much better. The air was then filtered, the flow was good, the air quality in the home was much better, and the temperatures were synced up. My son attempted to resolve these issues with BlueBird but they were horrible in regards to assisting him. He asked for a partial refund for putting his children in danger and they refused. AirBnB did assist a little with this, but not much. I would NOT ever rent from BlueBird Day. I can't believe how badly they treat their guests. They have no concern for the safety of children and were not compassionate in any regard.

Beautiful 2-bedroom unit overlooking the Deschuttes River. It was a delightful stay…read more Alpenglow staff responded quickly on the two occasions that we needed help.

We had a fabulous time in Bend, Oregon because the staff at Alpenglow Vacation Rentals worked with…read moreus to assure that we had selected the perfect place to stay. Everyone was patient, friendly, professional, and so very helpful. We stayed at the Lil' Oar House in July 2023 and it was perfectly located exactly where we needed to be. Close to the river, shopping, breweries, restaurants, hiking, river surfing (have you ever done that before?). It's an amazing sight to see. Most importantly the home is extremely comfortable to hang out in and relax. I'm the mom and I travelled with our three young adult daughters -- they coined themselves the three Lil' Oars after the house. It was serendipity that brought us to the house and meant to be for sure. We are telling our friends and family members to always work through Alpenglow Vacation Rentals if they are traveling to Bend or any other area that the company serves -- they really take care of you. Thank you so much. xox