I have just returned today from the fourth annual trip to Sunriver that my office sponsors. My employers are kind enough to provide extremely nice housing, food, drinks, and entertainment for our entire office plus their significant others (the total number of people this year was 36, which is a lot if you are the one assigned to make dinner).
The great (an only, honestly) downside to this yearly excursion is the fact that to get from Tacoma to Sunriver takes, according to mapquest anyway, five hours 40 minutes, which in reality translates to somewhere more close to six and a half. My wife and I were fortunate enough to hitch a ride down and back with one of my coworkers, but even though I did not have to focus on driving I still had to sit in the car for hours on end. This meant either a) trying to read in a car, b) trying to sleep in a car, or c) trying to make conversation in a car. Given that this was a little four door and we were traveling over 60 most of the time, conversation was basically a game of trying to see who could say "WHAT?" the loudest. Sleeping and reading usually work for me, provided that I am not suffering from the pains of having the whole left side of my body fall asleep, which was the sad state of things most of the trip down. So rather, I tried to focus on the scenery, which mostly entailed trying to see what was different about the landscape since the last time I was down that direction this last summer.
Other than the horror of the 12 or so hours spent in the car (which were not really that bad, admittedly, I just need something to complain about), the rest of the trip was absolute bliss. I finally found the time to read through the commentaries on the Diamond Sutra, and I also had a chance to go for a two and a half hour hike around the town, which was incredibly enjoyable. My wife and I also did some shopping in town, where we managed to find a lovely pair of Fu Dogs, as well as "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian", which has already replaced about a dozen other conventional cookbooks in my kitchen. I am already looking forward to trying recipes of fried plantains, stuck-pot rice, and the myriad of beet recipes I found.
Tomorrow marks the official start of tax season, so I shall begin upping my hours to somewhere between ten and 11 as the week demands, and will probably be working around thirteen by February. I am also hoping to get out at least a half-dozen times on Sundays to do hiking over on the peninsula this year. I found a few resources for day hikes while on our trip, and with a little luck at least one of them will yield results.
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