The Experience: Where can you find rock stars, Chinese acrobats, dog tricks, fruit pies and baby pigs all in one place? The State Fair, of course! Starting Friday, this annual event will More…

The Experience:
Step back to sock-hop days – and give your kids a one-of-a-kind, small-town community experience – at one of the last remaining drive-in movie theatres in Oregon and Washington. The 99-W Drive-In has been showing first-run movies since 1953, and is now run by the grandson of the man who built it. Though there’s also a two-screen indoor theatre on the premises, the drive-in is the real must-do for any local family – at least once. Chances are, once you try it you’ll keep going back.

Put the kids in their jammies, throw blankets and pillows in the car, and make the 23-mile drive to Newberg. Though you’ve got to get there early, there’s plenty to do before the sun goes down and the first of the double features starts. Park your car in between the old radio posts that mark the spaces then More…

The Experience:
There’s a month of Sundays (and Saturdays) left of summer vacation – seize the great weather and the weekend with a whitewater rafting trip on the Deschutes River from the tiny town of Maupin.

Maupin is about two hours from Portland, 90 minutes from Bend and an hour from Hood River. Most of the year, it’s a sleepy little town with about 500 residents. But in summer, it explodes with More…

The Experience: Glimpses of sun and the rapidly waning school year are getting locals riled up for summer. What better way to officially ring in the season than to pick a flat of ripe, sun-kissed berries and make jam? Or you might eat most of them on the way home and enjoy the last morsels in a pie or with a dollop of whipped cream. Yum. Kids love traipsing through the fields to find ripe berries, and somehow what you could buy at the store or farmer’s market is even sweeter when you’ve spent a summer day harvesting them yourself. More…

The Experience: I love getting out of town with my family, but don’t like the long, tension-filled car rides that often go with it. Luckily, there are lots of family-friendly places to go just a short trip from the city. McMenamin’s Edgefield in Troutdale, just a 20-minute drive from downtown Portland, is once such oasis. More…

The Experience: Also known as Thousand Acres, this park located at the west end of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area is a great place for kids to romp, stomp, run and play. Although it’s described by many as a dog’s paradise, because dogs are allowed to run off-leash in most of the park, with 1400 acres there’s room for everyone. It never feels overrun by canines, or people for that matter. More…

The Experience: Our city looks more beautiful than ever from the height of the Portland Tram. I was fortunate to ride the tram with my son and his friend on a recent sunny afternoon, and the views of downtown, the east side, and the distant mountains were crystal clear. More…

Exhibits about the native peoples, plants and animals of the High Desert.
59800 South Hwy. 97, Bend; 541-382-4754; www.highdesertmuseum.org.

24000 Spirit Lake Highway, Toutle, Wash.; 360-274-2140; www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/mshnvm.

Cultural museum of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.
Warm Springs Indian Reservation, Warm Springs; 541-553-3331; www.museumatwarmsprings.org.

Headquarters: 28908 NW Main Ave., Ridgefield, Wash.; 360-887-4106; www.fws.gov/ridgefieldrefuges; Friends of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge: www.ridgefieldfriends.org. Five thousand acres of wetlands, marshes, grasses – and scores of birds and other wildlife.

To reserve state park campsites in Oregon, call 800-452-5687 or visit www.oregonstateparks.org. For information only, call 800-551-6949. For state park campsites in Washington, visit www.parks.wa.gov or call 888-CAMPOUT (226-7688). For information only, call 360-902-8844.

View exotic animals as you drive through grasslands and wooded areas.
1790 Safari Rd., Winston; 541-679-6761; www.wildlifesafari.net.

Salem isn’t just our state capital and the site of the Oregon State Fair (www.oregonstatefair.org). It’s a fabulous city filled with family-friendly fun all year long. Check out the attractions below in and around Salem, or visit www.travelsalem.com for more ideas.

This children’s museum is located in downtown Salem’s Riverfront Park. (Your OMSI membership is honored for free admission so bring your membership card!)
116 Marion St. NE, Salem; 503-371-3631; www.acgilbert.org.

1877 house features many of the original furnishings.
600 Mission St. SE, Salem; 503-363-4714; www.oregonlink.com/bush_house.

City Hall, 930 Chemawa Rd. NE, Keizer, 503-390-3700; www.skateoregon.com/Keizer/Keizer.html. Free.

1894 multi-gabled Queen Anne style house and English gardens.
1116 Mission St. SE, Salem; 503-363-1825; www.oregonlink.com/deepwood.

Amusement park with fantasy themes for young children. Closed during winter.
8462 Enchanted Way SE, Turner (seven miles south of Salem); 503-371-4242; www.enchantedforest.com.

551 Commercial St. NE (in Marion Square Park); 503-588-6261; www.skateoregon.com/Salem/Salem.html. Free.

Features the 1847 John D. Boone House and the 1898 Thomas Kay Woolen Mill.
1313 Mill St. SE, Salem; 503-585-7012; www.missionmill.org.

101 Front St. NE, Salem. Take a cruise on the Willamette Queen Sternwheeler (503-371-1103, www.willamettequeen.com), ride the Riverfront Carousel (503-540-0374, www.salemcarousel.org), or check out Eco Earth, an inspiring work of recycled art.

Saturday Market between Winter and Summers Streets NE, between Marion and Union Streets NE; free parking in “Yellow Lot” across Marion St. Farmers Market also held on Wednesdays at Chemeketa St. NE between Liberty and High Streets; free parking in the Chemeketa Parkade. Free.
Downtown Salem; 503-585-8264; www.salemsaturdaymarket.com.

Home of the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes baseball team.
6700 Field of Dreams Way NE, Keizer; 503-390-2225; www.volcanoesbaseball.com.

You’ve likely got your own favorite spots along the Oregon coast, but there’s always more to experience! Check out www.visittheoregoncoast.com or call 888-628-2101 for more information about activities, attractions and festivals.

Interactive exhibits illustrate life on the river, both past and present.
1792 Marine Dr., Astoria; 503-325-2323; www.crmm.org.

Commemorating the 1805-06 winter encampment of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the site includes a replica of the explorers’ camp, museum, theater, historic canoe landing and hiking trails that follow the explorers’ paths.
92343 Fort Clatsop Rd., Astoria; 503-861-2471, ext. 214; www.nps.gov/lewi.

Free (donation suggested).
2030 S Marine Science Dr., Newport; 541-867-0100; hmsc.oregonstate.edu.

This world class aquarium features high quality marine life exhibits including Passages of the Deep, an acrylic passageway suspended in a 1.3 million gallon tank of sea creatures.
2820 SE Ferry Slip Rd., Newport; 541-867-FISH (3474); www.aquarium.org.

See sea lions, birds and other marine life.
91560 Hwy. 101 N, Florence; 541-547-3111; www.sealioncaves.com.