Escapees March/April 2016

Camping Kids

Email, Melanie Carr, at melaniecarr@escapees.com

with your tips for organization, storage, safety, socialization or other aspects of traveling with children. Your submissions may appear in a future “Camping Kids” column.

Camping Kids | Jr. Ranger Badges By Mail By Melanie Carr #8

C ol lecting Jr. Ranger badges from the national parks is always popular for RVers who travel with children.

I came across this article from Jess Curren’s blog, Currently Wandering about how you can mail in your booklets to receive your badges, and I thought it would be helpful information to share. Mail In Jr. Ranger Booklets to Get Your Badge We have earned quite a few Jr. Ranger badges in our travels, but sometimes they weren’t easy to turn in. Luckily, the National Park Service plans for this and provides the option to mail in your booklets, so when we showed up at the Hoh Visitor Center in Olympic National Park in Port Angeles, Washington, to ¿ nd it closed, we decided to test out that theory. Surprisingly, mailing in our booklets was quick, easy and quite fun. First, I called the main visitor centers in both Olympic National Park and Mt. Rainier National Park to get an address from one of the rangers. I had to leave a message at one of the parks, but they were quick to call me back. Next, we took the booklets to the nearest post of ¿ ce.We used my husband, Sam’s, parents’ address in Petaluma, California, as a return mailing address (indicated on a post-it note inside the envelope) since we knew we’d be there for Thanksgiving, and it would give the NPS a few weeks to send us the patches. And send them they did! About a week-and-a-half later, we got a call from Sam’s mom to say we had two envelopes from the National Park Service. The rangers wrote super awesome notes for the kids and included the patches, as well as sending back our booklets to keep. Easy enough, right? It was almost easier than taking the books in to be inspected by the rangers. So, if you don’t have enough time to return to the visitor center, there is de ¿ nitely another option to get your badges. Jess Curren #123750 www.currentlywandering.com

Andrew, Cara and Rachel Curren wearing their collection of badges. Bottom right: Letter and Jr. Ranger patches received by mail. Photos by Jess Curren.

18 . ESCAPEES | March/April 2016 | www.escapees.com