As part of our ongoing quest to visit every state park in Oregon, we picked the kids up from school early on a Thursday and drove to Tugman State Park, near North Bend. We had a reservation for a yurt, and this is what it looked like when we arrived:

[A yurt, by the way, is a kind of permanent tent. It’s not large inside, but it’s sturdy, there’s an electric heater, and you won’t get rained on.]

One state park per weekend is not enough, so the next morning we hopped in the car and headed for Golden and Silver Falls, where there were 3 miles of trails to explore. It was gorgeous.

There were plenty of snails to poke along the way.

“Look how huge these cliffs are!”

“Look how huge these cliffs are!”

Since we were in the area, we took a side trip to see where Grandma Kay and Grandpa Roger (and I) lived in Coos Bay, and we stopped for a picnic lunch in Mingus Park, which has 4.8-star reviews, and a Japanese garden.

The next day, it was supposed to rain. A lot. But not until the afternoon, so we teamed up with the Jenson grandparents (who had extended their coastal camping trip for an extra day to hang out with us <3), and hiked a couple of miles around Eel Lake.

We spotted something like 100 salamanders, and dozens of giant beetles.

We packed up our things and headed towards home a day early. The storm rolled in, and we decided to let it blow over while we stayed warm at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. We got soaked just running from the car to the front door, but had lots of fun regardless.

Once the worst of the rain had passed, we grabbed some dinner at the Rogue public house next door, then drove home in the not-so-hard-anymore rain. We spent Sunday recovering.