Jamaica in pictures
Once a year, we typically plan a vacation that takes us outside of the midwest. This year was originally going to be our year to go backpacking in Yosemite. Since we also decided to put our house up for sale this year, we figured that the planning involved for the Yosemite trip would be too much. We pushed that trip out to next year and decided to try an all inclusive trip to the Caribbean. We wanted to do a joint vacation with my parents and after some research, we decided to go to Iberostar Rose Hall Suites in Jamaica.
Van Meter State Park weekend
Van Meter State Park is a special place for me. As a child, we would take day trips down to the park to hike the trails and enjoy the outdoors. Trips such as these helped foster the love for hiking and the outdoors that I have today. Strangely enough, since Tammy and I met, we have never returned to Van Meter. There have been several times that we have considered it as a weekend camping location, but every time we chose another option. This past weekend we finally made it back to the park that I remember so fondly.
Flashback - Hiking Boundary Waters
After our first backpacking trip, we decided that this was definitely something that we wanted to continue doing, and we needed to start planning our next trip. We typically take a trip somewhere for our anniversary in September, so we figured that would be a great time for our next backpacking adventure. While looking for destination ideas, I found an article in Backpacker magazine that stated that September 2012 was supposed to be a good time to try to see the northern lights. It also stated that northern Minnesota was the best bet for seeing them in the lower 48 states. Since seeing the northern lights is on our bucket list, we decided on the Angleworm Lake Trail in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area near Ely, MN.
The First Trip
Back in 2012, Tammy and I decided that we wanted to start backpacking. For years we had enjoyed hiking and camping and had been intrigued by the thought of combining the two activities. We talked about it for a while, and finally decided to take the leap.
The Pursuit of Comfort
In today's world, the goal of most consumer products is to make us more comfortable. Even in the outdoors industry, it is all about making the outdoors as comfortable as our living rooms. I am beginning to question if comfort is what we should be pursuing.
It's a Beautiful Day
Relatively speaking, the weather today was AMAZING. 50+ degrees in January is always welcome in my book. However, there was one major issue that made this bittersweet; it was a workday. So, as the temperature peaked, I was stuck at my desk. I had decided that wasn't going to stop me from enjoying a least a little bit of the day. Therefore, as soon as I was finished with work, I was heading out of town as quickly as possible.