This is part of our 100 Things in 2014 challenge. Here’s the full list.

It was my birthday. What better way to celebrate than by going to an interpretive center and on a cool hike?

The Tillamook Forest Center is about halfway to the coast from where we live, and it’s full of firefighting lore and history. We’ve driven past this at least a dozen times, it was about time we stopped. There’s a 40-foot-tall replica of a forest-fire lookout tower, and at the top is a snapshot of how the lookouts lived in such remote places.

Will spotted his name, but it was all scrambled up.

Then we went into the main exhibit. Smokey was in attendance, of course, but there were all kinds of interesting things just laying around.

As with every museum in this part of the world, part of it is set aside for dressing up like a wagon-train pioneer.

But here there are also forest fire fighter costumes!

We took a guided tree walk. Will and Lucy both volunteered to help with the teaching. Here Will is a tree that loves sunshine.

Lucy’s character likes the rainy shade.

At one point I turned around, and my entire family was trapped under a river diorama with plastic salmon.

The kids went out bug-hunting by the river side with a ranger guide. They learned to identify at least three kinds of bug.

We also stopped to take my birthday portraits!

(Super informative signage here.)

We liked this place, and it was completely free! It’s only an hour away, people. Seriously.