Trying Out Tryon

Yesterday during a break in our action we had an hour to spend and Bill suggested we tryout Tryon State Park. The only state park within city limits in Oregon. And a measly 10 minutes from our Portland home. I can't believe it took us so long to find this gem.

The paths are wonderful with wood bridges that traverse the creek that runs through the park. We walked for the entire hour and touched maybe a tenth of what is available there. The boys loved hiding in rotted out tree stumps and climbing on the uprooted trees that lie like upturned giants off the path. It was so wonderful, we had to go back and spend some more time there today.

Bill worked today, and the boys and I hadn't planned anything yet, and I really needed a little walking time, so we headed to Tryon for a couple of hours again today. We spent two hours this time exploring new trails and playing new games. My favorite game was Mama troll vs. Trolls in training.


Mama Troll is teaching her kidlet trolls how to police a bridge by having them learn riddles to ask. I goggled a page of kid riddles and the boys had to solve them before they could cross. It added some humor to our hike and made getting to bridges pretty exciting. Lots of hints were given and all trolls past the tests.

No trip to a forest would be complete without fighting imaginary foes who threaten the safety of children hiking through it's lush green battlefield. The boys love pretending they are doing battle with goblins and monsters and who knows what else. Sometimes they turn on each other, but only when Mama Troll asks them to pose for a picture.


2 hours in Tryon was enough to wear out my already worn out trolls in training. Plus, they were to excited about the next phase of our day to concentrate on anything else any longer. When good friends and donuts are on the horizon, nothing else seems to compare. Not even an exciting duel with a tree.