Green Friday

 In Oregon, "Black Friday" is "Green Friday." All state parks, fishing, clamming and crabbing is free the day after Thanksgiving, hoping to get people out into the beautiful Oregon countryside and forest instead of shopping malls.

We headed to Champoeg State Park which is 10 miles from our home. It was a gorgeous, fresh fall day after rain all night. It felt great to hike the trails with Cotton, our yellow lab, and work off a little of the Thanksgiving feast.

Old growth firs, Oregon oaks and a wild prairie cover the 678 acre park.

Some of the trails follow the Willamette River and there's a dock for easy canoe and kayak access.

Champoeg is a ghost town that was an important settlement in the early 1840's. It is the site of the first provisional government of the Oregon Country.

The park includes Butteville General Store, which was founded by a French Canadian that helped form the government in 1843. 

The store sells various Italian sodas and other drinks and rents bikes. In the summer, there's a pioneer garden and pioneer re-enactments. Bluebirds arrive in the spring to take up residence in the many bluebird houses set along fence posts.

Thank you, Oregon, for turning the day after Thanksgiving into something so fun . . .and all free!