I'm opting outside today, you should too

Thanksgiving was yesterday, today I sincerely hope you take time to opt outside. The past few weeks we've all been bombarded with commercials and ads about flashy "Black Friday" sales, deals, and discounts. While lower numbers next to dollar signs and special financing offers might seem attractive, in rea…

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NPS announces its 2019 free admission days

Every year, the National Park Service waives entry admission into all of its 418 national monuments, parks, historic sites, memorials and more.  This is always a great way to get out and explore your nearest public lands if you don't have an annual pass or are testing the waters when it comes to buying one. Of th…

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Tapping into New Jersey's industrial past at Paterson Great Falls National Historic Park

Less than an hour drive from the Big Apple sits a weathered city along the Passaic River, that played an integral role in the early development of American history. It's now a National Park. Paterson Great Falls National Historic Park pays tribute to Paterson, America's first planned city of industry and innov…

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Tips for visiting Buffalo Gap National Grassland

The greatest, best, and most beautiful place I've ever car camped was on top of a cliff in the Buffalo Gap National Grassland. Here's what you need to know. Over the past few years, I've been ever so grateful to cross-off several national parks, state parks, national monuments, national historic parks and…

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Returning to Great Sand Dunes National Park feels like a homecoming

Greetings and happy Thursday, fall is here and it's time for a little life update.  During my lunch hour today, I felt like doing a bit of travel blogging because in just six hours I'm hopping on a Southwest Airlines flight to Denver. I'm taking a break from my jam-packed schedule of visiting all the Wisco…

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Reviewing Yakima's SlimShady

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 liftgate on a station wagon and fold down its seats to create a cavern o…

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The current status of 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 h…

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Meal prepping, a brief life update, and this special place called 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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Alone on Iceland's coastal 917

I repeatedly find myself reminiscing about Iceland almost every day. 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. This tiny island in the North Atlantic o pened m…

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Tips for visiting Buckhorn State Park

Sunset views right on the water is what you get from many of Buckhorn State Park's campsites. I love Buckhorn , it's a wonderful park in Necedah, the second biggest in the state, and very underrated. The second-biggest state park in our system is a goldmine for outdoor recreation. Located on a peninsula jutting…

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Tips for visiting Copper Culture State Park

Today I visited my 30th state park, a tiny park that's grand with Wisconsin history.  Copper Culture is the second smallest property in our state park system is quite the surprise and shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s a hotspot of archaeological importance and a rich example of Wisconsin's Native American history. …

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