Tested: Yakima SlimShady Roof Rack Awning

Price: $279.00 A station wagon and a roof rack go hand-in-hand. You cannot have one without the other, well, at least that's my mantra. Roof racks are a mandatory feature, an imperative must-have for me when it comes to car shopping. Sure, you can open the lift gate on a station wagon and fold down its seats to cr…

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Wisconsin's Secret Wilderness is Found at Horicon National Wildlife Refuge

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there are eight federal national wildlife refuges in the state of Wisconsin. Vast open amounts of land restored and protected for thousands of specifies (threatened, endangered and non-protective status) of birds, fish, land animals, trees and plants to name just a few…

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I'm Writing a Book!

Greetings and hello! If you haven't caught on from a few subtle mentions in recent blog posts...I'm writing a book! Yep, I'm following a bucket list item I've always wanted to cross-off and accomplish: write and publish my own book. The idea for this passion project I'd like to call it, comes in t…

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Campsite Photos: Wildcat Mountain State Park

After a successful first go at posting campsite photos from Nelson Dewey State Park , let's head a bit more towards the center of the state, still deep in the Driftless Area, to Wildcat Mountain State Park . What an adventure this park was, located in deep swooping hills and full of hiking trails that take to remot…

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Why We Need Our Public Lands

September 22 marks both the first day of fall and  National Public Lands Day , a day to recognize the importance and value of our vast web of open public lands from coast to coast, set aside for conservation and recreation. In an effort to encourage people to get outside and explore these great places of natural and hi…

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Cave Point County Park in Door County, WI

Head up into Wisconsin's outdoor gem- Door County to find a cool stop off the main drag located along the shores of Lake Michigan. Cave Point County Park neighbors Whitefish Dune State Park on the northern portion of the park and is about 10 minutes (on Clarks Lake/County Road Wd) west of highway 57 if you're…

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How to Make Pine Needle Tea

It's easy to make, free, pack-a-punch healthy and the perfect fix on a frigid cold Wisconsin morning. It's about as natural of a drink you can consume and getting outside is a mandatory requirement for foraging its ingredients. Clearly pine needle tea is a win-win. For a few years I've taught groups of mi…

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Meal Prepping, a Life Update, and Rock Island

Greetings and raise a glass of your best Oktoberfest beer to the (almost) start of fall! The trees here in Wisconsin are slowly starting to transform into glowing art pieces of copper, crimson, red, orange and sulfur as the temperatures also begin to plunge ever so slightly. I just returned from a trip out west to Ba…

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Tested: Boulder Pack Co. Foldable Backpack

Price: $20.99 As I've mentioned on here before and on various social channels, I'm writing a book! It's been a bucket list goal of mine to publish a book and last fall I pulled the trigger on a passion project: a guidebook to all of Wisconsin's state parks, forests, and recreation areas. The purpose of…

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Reflecting Back to Iceland's 917

In the middle of a busy week leading up to the Labor Day holiday rapidly approaching, I was reflecting this morning back to this exact moment in the late fall of 2016, in this exact location in Iceland. Of all the places I've traveled to over the years, the only spot I repeatedly find myself reminiscing and think…

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Campsite Photos: Nelson Dewey State Park

As a collaboration with the state park guidebook I'm writing, I'm going to be trying out a new series of posts on my blog in hopes to make booking campsites at our fascinating state and national parks a much easier and stress-free task. ReserveAmerica.com and Recreation.gov while both websites are packed with…

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