Camden Hills State Park Camping Trip, Camden Maine June 2023

Our family headed out on our first camping trip of the season to Camden Hills State Park and Campground in June 2023.

We finished our first year of homeschool last Friday and celebrated that accomplishment, as well as our 11 year wedding anniversary with a camping trip to Camden Hills State Park in Camden, Maine. 

Friday

We drove to the campground Friday afternoon.  While checking in I purchased both the Maine State Park Passport Book as well as the Junior Ranger Activity Book for Camden State Park. Both books were a dollar a piece. 

We settled into our campsite, number 53, quickly. Many sites here have electric and water on site, this one included. The cost was 35.00 dollars a night.  We were very happy with this corner site and would stay here again. 

We ate a snack and the kids got to work on the Junior Ranger Book. Once a certain number of activities in the book were completed (based on your age) you bring the book back to the ranger station where they give you a patch making you a Junior Ranger for Camden State Park. 

We knew rain was imminent, so we decided to enjoy the last of the good weather and take a walk around the campground. Anika tested out her map skills and lead us around. The campground was pretty and quiet. We found a playground. Which was really just a grassy area with a couple of swings…but it still occupied the kids for a bit. 

After our walk we drove to American Flatbread in Rockport for dinner. It started to pour as soon as we paid so we ate pizza and salad in the truck. 

After dinner we returned to the camper, worked on the Junior Ranger Book some more and played Mario Monopoly Junior and Uno. Then we got ready for bed and started Billy and the Minpins, by Roald Dahl.

Saturday

The next morning we decided to check out Rockport’s first annual Donut Festival, an event created to celebrate national donut day. Apparently Rockport is home to the creator of the donut hole. We had seen signs for the event when picking up pizza the night before. The kids favorite part of this experience was riding the school bus shuttle to the festival. Jake adorably sat down next to the window, looked up at me and said, “Sit with me, sit right here, come closer to me” and I realized this was the first time he ever rode on a school bus. 

The Donut Festival was small, and the lines were long. We got a free cookie decorating kit, waited in line for a donut from Ruckus Donuts from Rockland, Maine and then watched the donut parade. The highlight for me was a giant lobster named Rocky. 

After the festival we stopped at Heavenly Threads thrift store, because I love a church thrift store in a fancy town. It did not disappoint, two almost brand new shirts for five dollars were acquired.

We briefly stopped at Reny’s, before heading back to the campground for lunch. 

After lunch we took advantage of the break in the rain to have a campfire and make some s’mores. We also made some hot chocolate. Our plans to hike Mt Battie to get our first passport stamp, were delayed as weather just wasn’t cooperating this trip and we decided to save it for another visit. 

We had a couple of hours with the campfire before the rain started up again. We headed inside the camper and the kids worked on their Junior Ranger Books some more. With the horrible weather these were so handy. Even I enjoyed them and did both the crossword and word search in each kids books. We also did the kids cookie decorating kids from Laugh Loud Smile Big in Camden, that they had received had the Donut Festival Earlier.

We played some more games, ate dinner and then finished the Roald Dahl book we had started the previous night.

Sunday

The next morning it was still pouring. We packed up and headed for home, briefly stopping at the Ranger Station to have the kids Junior Ranger Books checked and get their patch.

Despite the cold and wet weather this was still a great trip and a wonderful way to celebrate the end of the school year. It was fascinating that although there was no Rightstart Math or Fundations , there was still so much learning. The Junior Ranger Books, studying the campground map and using it to lead us around the campground, playing with math while playing Monopoly and Uno, reading the signs warning of the Brown Tail Moth Caterpillar which lead to discussions about evasive species, how they get here and why they damage our ecosystem.  We even read a book in two evenings. Although formal curriculum is something we will be taking a break from this summer, learning is something we will not.