Recommendations for a visit to Sunriver

If you're thinking of a visit to Sunriver, Oregon, here are some recommendations:

There aren't many good places to eat so definitely get a place with a kitchen and plan to pack your food. We ate at only two restaurants all week:

• El Pescador (57191 Mall Drive) for lunch. It was reasonable Mexican food at unreasonably high prices. Nothing special.
• Barking Squirrel. A Lebanese restaurant with good, eclectic middle eastern food. They seemed to be out of everything the Wednesday night we went (no pita?!) but they made up for it with good service and tasty hummus, lamb kabobs, and chicken.

A talkative local told us there are only two restaurants worth visiting: Blondies (for pizza) and the new Hawaiian BBQ in the mall. But we weren't able to try either.

One of our bikes broke down and we had it fixed at the Chrome Pony. The mechanic, John, was excellent. While he was fixing the derailleur, he also reattached a child's carrier that had been improperly installed back in Kirkland. I thought the prices were great, especially considering the quality of work and comparing to what we're used to in Seattle.

The observatory at the Nature Center is worth the visit just to see through all the telescopes. But try to arrive right when it opens at 9am so you can view the telescopes before the crowds. Definitely skip the slide show, which for us didn't start till almost 10pm. The guide kept asking endless questions of the kids in the audience and the show itself was on one of those ancient slide projectors, with crudely-made slides that looked like they came from the 1960s. You're better off going home early to watch the Discovery Channel.

Finally, if you're looking to rent a place for the week, don't go through the mainstream web sites run by the property management companies. There are many private home owners who would be happy to rent at much lower rates. Call the following number instead: 541-593-5163. (It's a business phone, so just leave a message if you're calling late or on a weekend).