Category: Outdoor Adventures

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Airstream Accessories Giveaways Outdoor Adventures Outdoor Gear

The Currently Wandering Holiday Gift Guide

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We seriously own 90% of this gear, and the other 10% we would own if we could fit it in our Airstream (ahem! Vacilando quilt!).  This post contains Amazon & REI affiliate links which help to fund the blog in a small, small way. Thanks for helping us out by clicking through to shop!

Now that Thanksgiving is over we get to celebrate Christmas!! I love this time of year, and amid all the presents, the lights and everything else we try to concentrate on spending time together as a family. While we are big on experiences (not presents) for Christmas and birthdays we do have our favorite gear to help facilitate our adventures. We have very little space to store things, so we make sure they are our favorites. If you are looking for the perfect gift for a child, for family time, outdoor adventure, the adventure mom, or even a traveler, read on!

Gifts For Kids
1. REI Sahara Convertible Pants – My kids wear these EVERYWHERE. Hiking, mountain biking, or just playing. Great because if they get too hot they can stash the legs in their pockets.

2. Drawstring Backpack from Mamoo Kids – Super comfortable, great adventure bag! Stash their nature journal, a pen, a water bottle, and some sunglasses and head out to explore.

3. Nite Ize Bug Lite – We have three of these (one for each!) and they make fantastic backcountry night lights. They also wrap around hiking poles or wrists for exploring in caves. Just sayin’….

4. Woom Bike – I’m not sure I can express how much we LOVE our Woom. So much that the older two kids are begging for one. Full review here.

5. My USA Adventures Map – I can’t think of a more adorable way to keep track of your adventures. A 12×18 map of the USA comes with 16 stickers to highlight your trips. They also have a world map if you are a bit more adventurous.

Family Time Gifts6. Aerobie SuperDisc – people are surprised with how well my kids can throw a frisbee. This thing is soft, flexible and flies well. Perfect for an afternoon out in the campground (or the lawn, or the park!).

7. Forbidden Desert – Everyone we’ve taught to play this game loves it. Its a cooperative game – so your family against piling sand, thirst, and a huge storm. Just be prepared to lose your first few times playing.

8. Talkabout Radios – These are great for hiking, for sending your kids off exploring (together) or just to general keep track of each other at Disneyland. Blog post here.

9. Bora Single Line Parafoil Kite – We have a stunt kite, but this one is MUCH easier for the kids to fly. Whether on the Oregon coast, or in the deserts surrounding Las Vegas we’ve loved pulling it out.

10. YayLabs! Soft Ice Cream Ball – We don’t own one of these (yet) but friends have said they are a blast! Who doesn’t love ice cream?

11. Trekking the Parks Board Game – Visit the National Parks, earn points, and enjoy the beautiful photos and artwork on this family game. Full review here.

Gifts For Outdoor Adventure

12. Sea to Summit Aeros Pillow Premium -We recently bought me one of these for backpacking as I was struggling to sleep, and then we ended up buying another one. Love that one side is soft so my face doesn’t slip off while I’m sleeping.

13. REI Flash 22 Bag – We use this as a super light-weight everyday bag. It packs up small and doesn’t weigh much so that the kids can carry it pretty easy as well. Great for short hikes or exploring a city.

14. Samsung NX500 – This is the big brother of the Samsung NX300 that we own (full review here). On this one the screen actually swings all the way around for video and selfies.

15. Capture Pro Camera Clip – I use this ALL the time. Its super easy to carry a camera around and have it easily accessible. I’ll even strap it to our REI Flash Bag.

16. Hydro Flask – We bought this on a whim before our backpacking trip on the Apostle Islands and it was fabulous for keeping our hot chocolate warm in the morning. Actually, the Hydro Flask keeps things almost too warm!

17. REI Stratus Thermarest – We bought one for me awhile ago, and its so small and compact, we’ve now bought one for Rachel and Andrew.  Its not self-inflatable so you have to blow a little, but its worth it for the weight savings.

Gifts For Adventure Moms 18. REI Co-Op Down Vest – We dress is layers, and having a puffy vest has been absolutely spectacular. I looked at a bunch, and the REI Co-op vest has a great design and is reasonably priced.

 

19. Smart Wool Candy Cane Beanie – I am in LOVE with this beanie. Warm and stylish. And it goes with my vest.

 

20. Haiku Bag Bucket Bag – I heard about these bags from some outdoor friends and decided to give it a try. I needed something that could hold my wallet, my Kindle, and my Nexus 300 but not be overly large. Its perfect.

 

21. Broken Compass Trading Handmade Notebook– I ran into Sarah on Instagram as they live out of their Airstream and just bought some land in Colorado to call home. She makes beautiful, hand made notebooks and jewelry! I can think of a million ways to use these notebooks, but a nature journal would be epic.

 

22. Title Nine Dress – Can you tell I’m in the mood to recommend clothes? When a girl has a tiny closet, I have to love everything in it, right? I just bought this dress from their store in Utah, and dressed up with leggings and a scarf its trendy, warm, and super-duper comfortable!

 

23. REI Venturi Hoodie – My favorite shirt. Its functional, cute and works great for hanging around or going on a short hike.

 

24. Tarma Designs Charms – I’ve had the Cairn & bicycle charms for years and wear them religiously on a chain around my neck. I love that they represent activities in my life that I love and are a huge part of my identity!

 

Gfits for RV Travellers 25. Eno Double Nest Hammock & Atlas Straps: I think everyone needs a hammock, and this is the best. Super comfy and Sam and I can both fit in it. The Atlas straps are great for wrapping around trees, rocks, or whatever else is handy.

26. Wander T-Shirt: We picked this up at the Airstream factory, but you can always buy it online. Subtle and simple, its one of Sam’s favorites.

27. Frostfire Solar Ice Rocks: We use these outside our trailer for a little more light at night. They charge via sunlight, so as long as you leave them out during the day you’ll be good to go!

28. Airstream USB Keychain: GREAT for the Airstream lover. How awesome is this?

29. Quilt or Subway Tote from Vacilando Quilting: Laura & her boyfriend traveled in an Airstream for awhile under the Democratic Travelers. They’ve since “settled” in the Bay area and Laura is using her seamstress talents to make amazingly beautiful quilts & tote bags!

30. Camper Leveler Blocks: These are on our wishlist. Lego blocks are great until they aren’t. These allow to precisely level at any increment between 1/2 inch and 4 inches.

If this isn’t quite what you are looking for, check out this other amazing Gift Guides from some of the best adventuring family experts I know!

Categories
Backpacking Biking Hiking Rock Climbing

The Truth About Our Outdoor, Adventure-Focused Family

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During our recent trip to Utah we had a surprising conversation with my family when I mentioned I was past ready to go on a hike but my kids weren’t going to like it.

“They aren’t going to like it?” my dad asked.

“Oh no,” I said. “They are going to whine and complain.”

I received looks of skepticism from all the adults in the room. After seeing picture after picture of our outdoor adventures, my family had apparently reached the conclusion that our kids never resisted our activities.

Let me clear this up: Our kids whine ALL the time about going outside to hike or bike or just even a walk. “Mom! This is NOT a short walk”, or “I’m tired” and even “I don’t want to go” are very common phrases in our household. Many days the kids would rather stay inside reading books (Rachel and Andrew), playing Lego’s (Cara), or sitting in front of a device playing Minecraft (all three).

The thing that makes the difference is that we go anyway, even when it’s hard. 90% of the difficulty is getting out the door and not giving up when ten things go wrong in the five minutes before you turn on the car and drive away. We’ve tested this theory over and over again throughout the last two years and every single time we all come home in a better mood. Every. Single. Time. With that kind of a track record, how can we not go?

I admitted in a past blog post that we are cheaters. Suburbia IS hard to get away from. Outdoor sports are less conveniently located, and its difficult to find wilderness (or even something resembling wilderness) in many places. In that sense, we have it easy because often just the act of getting OUT of the trailer is enough. There’s usually a bike path, or trails, or something in every state park we’ve stayed at so proximity is not the problem. We just have to overcome our mental laziness, which can sometimes be extremely difficult to do.

Just yesterday, our experience proved true yet again. After hearing complaints from ALL three children, we all went mountain biking as a family. It was chilly, difficult, and long. Cara even fell off her bike three times during the ride. It was very dark when we finished, and everyone was tired. But we were happy. We had accomplished something difficult together and all three children had smiles on their faces.

Categories
Daily Life Outdoor Adventures Outdoor Gear

Gear Review: Trekking the National Parks Board Game

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We recently stumbled across a new board game at the Sleeping Bear Dunes Visitor Center in Michigan. I always make it a point to browse the gift shop as we’ve found some great books, games, and other educational items, so this time I was just doing the rounds.

I spotted Trekking the National Parks board game and had never seen it before (and with how many visitor center’s we’ve been in that says a lot)! So, of course, I immediately Googled it to see if there were any reviews.

The game started as a Kickstarter project, and after watching the videos decided it was worth a try.

So glad we did! Even though the box says its for ages 13+ we found that we could play it just fine with our 10, 8, and 5 year olds. Their strategy tends to be a bit simpler but it still works. Cara played on my team for the first few times, but she got the hang of it and just wanted to play by herself after that.

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Trekking the Parks has some great tutorials and videos on their website of how the game works so I won’t bore you with that, but the basic premise is that you “travel” the U.S. trying to collect National Parks and earn points. It feels a little like Ticket to Ride in that you only do one thing per turn, but that’s probably where the similarities end.

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I struggled a bit coming up with a consistent strategy. You need to decide whether you want to go for parks and collect Trekking cards to earn them, or go after the tokens (the person with the most of a color gets 5 points) which you get just by landing on the park. Sometimes a mix worked, sometimes just going after one or the other was better, but it was hard to tell.

I guess that what makes it more fun, though right?! Plenty of hours of fun, and the photos and graphics are great so playing is a pleasure. Being a photographer, it always bugs me when the photos in a game are less than stellar, but these guys did a great job.

From their website, “We’ve worked diligently to create a game that’s strategic, competitive and educational. Trekking the National Parks allows you to explore these wonderful recreational playgrounds in a spirited manner…all in the comfort of your home.”

The only con I found is the price tag – we paid about $60 for the game, but I also understood its a family run business and they put a great deal of time and effort into creating it. More than anything on our journeys, we’ve come to understand that time is worth something, and having a great game to play as a family is worth it!

Keep turned over the next couple of weeks, as we’ve partnered with them for an awesome giveaway coming just before Thanksgiving!

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Categories
Backpacking Hiking Outdoor Gear Photo Gear

Gear Review: MindShift 180 Bag Rigged as a Backcountry Backpack

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While we would have loved to receive this item for free to review, we actually spent money to purchase it. This post contains Amazon affiliate links which help to fund the blog in a small, small way. Thanks for helping us out!

I’ve been on a quest to find the perfect bag. When you don’t have a lot of space to store equipment, each piece of gear needs to have multiple functions. I have a great over the shoulder camera bag (see that post here) but for longer hikes it just wasn’t cutting it. Plus, I wanted to be able to tote multiple lenses in a safe and easy to access manner.

Enter the Mind Shift Gear Rotation 180.

We ran into this bag at a camera shop downtown in Petaluma, CA. It piqued my interest as a solid, hiking/camera bag and even better when I found out they are made by Think Tank Photo who are leaders in the camera bag space.

The Mind Shift 180’s star feature is the accessible waist belt pack that swings around from inside the main bag. Hard to visualize? Here’s some photos to help out. The whole waist belt slides around and its super easy to get in and out which gives me access to extra lenses or even my camera if I’m not carrying it with the Capture Pro on a strap.
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The clip is easy to slip in and out without looking at it, but is also secure. There’s also a tether just in case the waist belt somehow comes undone so my gear won’t hit the dirt.

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Unfortunately, when we were planning our first backpacking trip in the Apostle Islands we just didn’t have enough room for all the gear. Sam has a huge regular backpack, but even with that we were having to give the kids too much weight. The Mind Shift 180 has a fairly large top storage compartment which is great for jackets, or food (which is heavier and better for an adult to carry), but it still wasn’t enough space.

Our solution? A dry bag roped to the outside. Fancy, right? We picked up this dry bag at Walmart for like $6. Its pretty heavy, but also durable which made it great for being on the outside. We stuffed a sleeping bag, everyone’s pajamas, and all the electronics in it and then tied it on to the Mind Shift 180 with these Sea to Summit Accessory Cords.

It worked surprisingly well. Because the Mind Shift is rather small, the pack overall wasn’t too heavy (my total pack weight for the Apostle Islands was 31 lbs) and I had no problems with unbalanced weight.

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It may not be the prettiest solution, but it totally worked! I would love for Mind Shift to come up with a legit attachment to the outside of this bag. They make a larger camera bag, but on shorter day hikes it would just be overkill and we don’t have the space anyway! This guy fits perfectly under the dinette seat for easy access and safe storage.

When I have easy access to lenses and even my camera, I am more likely to take photos along the way. Its also important for me to have my (fairly expensive) gear safe and I feel like the padding in this is definitely adequate. If you are looking for a bag to take out hiking, I definitely recommend this one!

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Photo Credit: Amazon

 

Categories
Backpacking Featured Destination Minnesota State Parks

The Camping Spot We Almost Didn’t Find – George H. Crosby Manitou State Park, Minnesota

Backpacking George H Crosby Manitou State Park with Kids

I’m pretty sure we are the only people that leave our Airstream travel trailer in one state park to back country camp in a completely different one. I suppose that doubles up on fees for the night, but if you think about the fact that when a “normal’ person goes camping they are also paying a mortgage (or rent) on a house, our situation sounds a bit more reasonable. Right? Right.

When I spent a few hours planning our trip up Minnesota’s North Shore, I knew we wanted to do some more serious hiking. Inland from the lake are some pretty serious hills (not quite sure this Utah girl can use the term “mountains” out here) with great views and at least some elevation. I picked out a couple of possibilities, but mostly we just left this option open as we weren’t sure when or where we’d have the opportunity.

After leaving Gooseberry Falls State Park, we headed north to Tettegouche, the next park on our list. True to form, the first thing we did was take a trip to the visitor center to check out our options. I talked to the ranger and when I mentioned we were thinking of a serious hike or possibly backpacking in the area, he highly recommended George H. Crosby Manitou State Park. There is no front-country campground, so the park is quiet, peaceful, and relatively unknown.

Just the way we like it.

When We Visited: September 8, 2015

Ages of Kids: 9, 8, 5

Total Mileage: 3.2 miles in, 3.5 miles out, 1 night.

Packing for this one was quick. Sam worked and the kids did school in the morning, and then around 1pm we started pulling out all the gear. Rachel and I threw together some quick Freezer Bag meals, and by 3pm we were headed out. It was only a 30 minute drive to the trail head and we were all feeling pretty good getting started along the trail.

Backpacking trip #2!
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Within the first 1/2 mile or so we found one of the markers for Minnesota’s Wildflower geocaching program. So, we took a short detour to find it.

Backpacking George H Crosby Manitou State Park with Kids

This hike was a little longer than our first on the Apostle Islands, and there was definitely more elevation involved. We started around 3:30pm and hiked in about 2.3 miles. We started passing campsites and were counting up to #6 when suddenly, at the top of a small hill we were there! Or so we thought. The campsite marker was along the trail, and we could see where previous campers had a fire ring and stacked logs around it to sit on. Upon further inspection of the area, there wasn’t really a flat spot sans roots for the tent, and no where was the pit toilet or bear pole that had been promised in the site description.

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I seriously almost cried. There had been some frustration all around getting going on this trip and to have a completely non-epic site was not helping. We collectively took a deep breath, dropped our packs, and set out to explore a bit more and see what we could find. Sam continued on the trail to possibly see if sites 7 or 8 were available, and the kids and I climbed the hill to the “overlook” to see if there was anything up there.

We found a large, flat rock with the remains of more than one campfire (and one amazing view!) and then just back into the trees a bit we found it! An official, metal fire ring. We kept exploring and found a flat spot for the tent, and even the toilet! Hooray! We wouldn’t be sleeping on roots or digging holes.

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We never found the bear pole, but we easily found a decent tree to bear bag our food. The kids thought it was fun and we figured it was a good teaching moment anyway. Not every site we camp at will have a bear box.

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Our evening was pretty chill. After setting up the tent, we brought our food down to the “dining room” and the kids played cards while Sam and I cooked up some dinner. We tried two new meals on this trip and both were great! We had mashed potato, stuffing, chicken with cranberries (tasted like Thanksgiving dinner!), and then for breakfast we did chocolate banana oatmeal.

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The weather was a bit chilly in the morning, but dressing in layers makes the temperature manageable. From the dining room we could see Lake Superior off in the distance which reminded us we were still along the “coast”.
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After breakfast and packing up, we opted to hike the “long” way out and add in the loop around Bensen Lake. It was flat with boardwalk the entire way around the lake and a super fun way to end the hike! We stopped at the picnic area and ate lunch before hiking the short distance out to the car and back to the Airstream at Tettegouche State Park.

Backpacking George H Crosby Manitou State Park with Kids

This park is definitely doable with young kids! We checked out some of the sites around Bensen Lake (Sites 20, 21, & 22) and they were beautiful and not that far from the parking lot. As parents, you could even take a couple of trips lugging gear if you didn’t have packs.

Highlighted in green below is the route we took. We started on Middle Trail, turned off onto West Manitou River Trail, and camped one night at site #6. On the way out we followed Misquah to Yellow Birch, cut through next to campsite 20, around the lake, and then back to the parking lot.

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While a bit logistically strange, we really enjoyed the peace and solitude at this park! The kids now had another solid over nighter under their belts, while Sam and I were gaining confidence spontaneously camping in the back country with kids. Definitely a win-win situation!