We finished off our kid/parent retreat weekend with a couple days of full-family bonding out at the beach house!
Our little band of characters has come up with a fun family challenge: to visit all of the 190-odd Oregon State Parks! Here are our rules:
- We have to visit them all by the time Will turns 18.
- “Visiting” means camping at the campgrounds, and thoroughly exploring the day use parks.
- All four of us have to be present to check each park off the list.
Ben is a total nerd, and although wordpress.com won’t let him embed it here, he wants to show off his cool tracking system!
First up: Oswald West State Park, a Jenson family favorite. We walked the trails through the now-closed campground while I told stories from my childhood, ate a picnic lunch, and spent most of the afternoon on the beach.
Lucy spent most of her time creating elaborate structures with sand and rocks:
Will stayed super busy exploring the creek and the driftwood masses:
Us grownups relaxed and read and chatted:
Scenic viewpoint stop in Garibaldi!
The next morning we visited the very windy and foggy Roads End State Recreation Site. The weather didn’t want us to stay, but we managed what seemed like a 5-mile walk down the beach before giving in and driving home.
We are super stoked about this challenge and already have our first three Oregon State Parks camping trips reserved!
Band of Characters 
What a great challenge! Maybe we can join you on some of those camping trips through the years. (We’ll bring our trailer.) 🙂
PS….Oswald West campground is CLOSED?? So many memories there…
Just the campground (since 2008). The picnic area, the beach, and the hiking trails are still open.
Great idea, maybe our family will take on the Washington coast and we can Co-publish a book about the Pacific Northwest beaches. 😉