the other awesome thing worth mentioning about camp sunshine is that this is a camp for kids with life-threatening illnesses AND their families. so it's a chance for the entire family to just be a family, for the parents to spend some time reconnecting with each other (and other parents in similar situations) and for the siblings to also shine during a time when they may be feeling left in the background.
as a volunteer, being at camp sunshine is a wonderfully exhausting and liberating time. it's amazing how tiring, though stress-relieving it can be to spend such full days with one focused goal: it's about the kids having fun. the sessions here range from week-long to long-weekends (if you go on a holiday weekend you can get away with only having to take one day off work), so check the schedule. i've been twice with a few friends, which is fun because you stay in cabins of five beds and can cozy up at night with some knitting (both times i went were in the winter, when knitting is big amongst the campers). it's also therapeutic being away from the city.
there's not much else in the area, but for free time entertainment, we hit friendly's and this cute winery, blacksmiths. portland is sort of close by if you have the energy, but after playing with those kids all day, i never did. read more