High Desert Museum

The St. Matthew campout is an annual tradition for our family.  Each August we trek to a remote location (ok, so really it's often pretty close, and last year I stayed in a hotel) and try our hands at roughing it for a weekend (another fib; we camp in luxury as we bring everything but the kitchen sink, and they usually have those for us at the campground).

This year the parish chose a nice state park in Bend, which is quite far away (about 4 hours).  We had considered skipping this year because of the distance, but then I remembered about the High Desert Museum and how I wanted to make it a homeschool field trip someday.  So why not now?  So we signed up for the campout and made plans to leave early Thursday, find a small town for Assumption Mass, make it to Bend and visit the museum in the afternoon, and check in the campground before dinner.

We made it!

Once inside the museum we were informed that a "living history"
tour was taking place.  Perfect!!  The kids loved learning about
Oregon history, from the native Americans to the Oregon Trail
to mining and farming.

Unfortunately I missed the tour as I was on preschool duty.  :o)
Gemma loved the 2 wild cats so that is where we spent most
of our time....

After the tour the kids spent time in the dinosaur room.  It
had awesome video games and hands-on activities.  There
weren't many people there (late afternoon) so we just let the
kids hop from exhibit to exhibit.  This jeep was a hit.

We continued on a self-guided tour.  All the
kids loved the animals.

Sedric wasn't so sure about the turtle.  He
wouldn't get too close.

Before the museum closed, we took a walk at
just a small portion of their outdoor exhibits.

Birds of Prey--thinking of Auntie Erica.

Looking at bald eagles.

A fantastic experience!  I totally want to go back and attend more programs, and see all the outdoor exhibits that we missed on this short 2-hour visit.  We all loved it so much, and it was worth the drive for sure.