Category: Outdoor Recreation & Hiking
Start the New Year Off on the Right Foot with a First Day Hike
December 27, 2012 by Rex Vogel · Leave a Comment
With New Year’s Day just around the corner, people everywhere are zeroing in on their new year’s resolutions for 2013. Some will vow to add more exercise into their routines, and others will promise not to stay indoors as much. You can start the New Year off on the right foot, the left foot, or any foot by tackling both those resolutions at once and at the same time create a new family tradition by participating in a “First Day Hike” at a park near you, and together start off your year in a new direction. America’s State Parks announces that all 50 state park systems will sponsor guided First Day Hike Programs on New Year’s Day 2013. First Day Hikes originated over 20 years ago at the Blue Hills Reservation, a state park in Milton, Massachusetts. The program was launched to promote both healthy lifestyles throughout the year and year round recreation at state parks. State involvement has grown to the point where, for the first time in 2012, all 50 state park systems joined... [Read more...]
Merry Christmas to All
December 22, 2012 by Rex Vogel · 2 Comments
It’s Christmas weekend, the most wonderful time of the year. Season’s greetings fellow RVers, campers, snowbirds, wanna-bes, birders, photographers, hikers, and everyone who loves the great out-of-doors…and all Woodall’s blog readers! Thank you for reading our camping blogs this past year! Best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy holiday season. May the miracle of this wonderful season fill your heart with peace and happiness and bless your life throughout the year. As we approach Christmas Eve we’re on the Alabama Gulf Coast enjoying balmy Gulf breezes, discovering the beauty and diversity of the area, and indulging the palate in fresh from the Gulf shrimp, oysters, and native fish. For me, the ultimate experience of camping and RVing requires a camera. Without a camera I bring home memories. With a camera, I bring home a series of images of the memories that I can return to over and over and share with readers of my posts. Memories become more complete and... [Read more...]
Christmas Ideas for the Outdoors Lover in Your Life!
December 16, 2012 by Diane Berry · 2 Comments
As a follow up to my Stocking Stuffers post a few weeks ago, each year I like to write a blog to share some Christmas gift ideas for those in your life who enjoy the outdoors…or maybe for yourself! I like to try to come up with ideas that may not occur to you, to stimulate your imagination and perhaps lead to that one gift that will be enjoyed year round. As with the St. Nick’s ideas, couple of traditional favorites include a new calendar to help plan trips in the New Year and the newest edition of Woodall’s Guide for the same reason. But every year I also like to add a few new ideas that may simply not have occurred to the typical Santa. Here are my ideas for this year: Terry’s New Butter Fleece Jacket…shhhh 1) A new Butter Fleece to wear as a top layer on cooler spring or fall days and under an outer layer during winter. My family cannot get enough of this fleece; we each have several and wear them throughout the year. While many of them are the ¼ zip variety,... [Read more...]
Some Days Are Diamond: Florida Man Finds 1.95 ct. Brown Diamond
December 9, 2012 by Rex Vogel · Leave a Comment
The second-largest diamond found so far this year at Crater of Diamonds State Park was certified on the afternoon of November 28. Doug Lay holds his newly found 1.95-carat dark brown diamond. (Credit: Crater of Diamonds State Park) The 1.95-carat dark brown gem is about the size of an English pea, with a round shape and a pitted surface. 40-year-old Doug Lay, a certified nursing assistant from Hernando, Florida, discovered the coffee-colored gem around 1:00 p.m. while wet sifting in the East Drain, a trench along the east side of the park’s 37 ½-acre diamond search area. Lay is no stranger to diamond finds; he has found more than 30 over the past four years, but this is his largest find yet! Lay first learned about Crater of Diamonds State Park from his father, one of the park’s longtime diamond miners. “Dad’s been coming to the Crater of Diamonds off and on for about 17 years. Whenever I’m on vacation, I like coming to Arkansas to spend time with him, and we enjoy searching... [Read more...]
National Parks – A Kid’s Guide to America’s Parks, Monuments, and Landmarks
December 7, 2012 by Canadianladybug · 1 Comment
National Parks – A Kid’s Guide to America’s Parks, Monuments, and Landmarks By Erin McHugh Published at Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers About the book “During National Parks Week, we reaffirm our need to maintain connections to the natural world.” —President Barack Obama President Obama has shared his views that it’s important for all of our country’s citizens to acknowledge the value of the natural world around us. National Parks helps families explore that world—the diversity, beauty, and history found in our national park system. Arranged alphabetically by state, this fun-filled book tours more than 75 U.S. parks, monuments, and landmarks, from the rocky shores of Maine’s Acadia National Park to the ancient redwood groves of Northern California. Also included is a removable, fold-out collector map to house the 56 America the Beautiful commemorative quarters! Through fascinating text and hundreds of vintage-style illustrations and photographs, ranging from digitally... [Read more...]
Stocking Stuffers for the Camping Family
December 2, 2012 by Diane Berry · Leave a Comment
It’s that time of year again! In the northeast corner of Wisconsin, and many other areas of this country, St. Nicholas visits on the evening of December 5th, a sort of pre-curser to the Big Day as it were. Children hang stockings over the fireplace or on a banister before heading to bed that night. Then, in the morning, they are filled with small trinkets and goodies. My stockings always held a book of some kind, a small toy and a variety of Christmas candies. Every year I like to write a blog about St. Nick ideas for campers, hikers and outdoors lovers to help stimulate the imagination of our readers. A couple of traditional favorites include a new calendar to help plan trips in the New Year and the newest edition of Woodall’s Guide for the same reason. But every year I also like to add a few new ideas that may simply not have occurred to the typical “St. Nick”. Here are my ideas for this year: 1) A Water Filtration System—especially for people like our son Ryan, who... [Read more...]
Henry Horton S.P., Tennessee
November 30, 2012 by Traveler8343 · 2 Comments
As winter approached and sub-freezing temperatures were just around the corner, I still had some winterizing left to do with my Fun Finder trailer. After flushing the tanks as we left Top Sail RV Park in Santa Rosa, Florida months ago, we ended up having to use the toilet on the way home. When it came time to winterize I was not going to do it if there was any waste in the system. So-o, we needed to find a dump site and clean out the tanks properly. We decided that it was a good time to check Tennessee’s state park system, which is purported to offer full facilities at their campsites. Henry Horton State Park in Chapel Hill, Tennessee is only 27 miles from our new home. We headed there one cloudy afternoon, planning on an open-ended stay at the campsite (a benefit of retirement) and a thorough cleaning of our black and gray water tanks before we left. Henry Horton is a 1,532-acre state park named after Governor Horton (1927-1933), 36th governor of Tennessee. The park features... [Read more...]
Georgia on My Mind: Cumberland Island Turns 40
November 28, 2012 by Rex Vogel · Leave a Comment
Cumberland Island National Seashore recently (October 23) celebrated its 40th anniversary. Access to Cumberland Island is by a concession operated passenger ferry, The Cumberland Lady. © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved When President Richard Nixon signed federal legislation creating the national seashore off the coast of Georgia in October 1972, it culminated what Park Service officials said was “a long and complex process of obtaining support from various individuals and groups to make Georgia’s largest barrier island one of America’s national parks, reports nationalparkstraveler.com.” Before the National Park Service acquired most of the island for a national seashore, 90 percent of it was the private domain of Lucy and Thomas Carnegie (brother of Andrew) and their descendants. The Carnegies bought the island in the 1880s and built five mansions on it during the next two decades. The most superb house was the opulent 59-room, Queen Anne-style Dungeness on the island’s... [Read more...]
Plowing for Diamonds in Arkansas
November 20, 2012 by Rex Vogel · 2 Comments
Crater of Diamonds State Park is the world’s only diamond-producing site open to the public. On average, two diamonds are found each day at the park. The state park’s policy is finder-keepers. What park visitors find is theirs to keep. Diamonds come in all colors of the rainbow. The colors found at the Crater of Diamonds are white, brown, and yellow, in that order. The search area at the Crater of Diamonds State Park is a 37 ½-acre plowed field, the eroded surface of the eighth largest diamond-bearing deposit in the world in surface area. Why plow the search field at the diamond mine? The practice of plowing the diamond field goes back to the earliest days of commercial diamond mining, according to Park Interpreter Margi Jenks. In the early 1900s miners used a mule team and farming plow to dig trenches. After tourism began in the 1950s, Millar’s Crater of Diamonds used a road grader to turn over the dirt on what is now the north end of the present diamond search area. Today’s... [Read more...]
First Backpacking Adventure Continued…
November 14, 2012 by Cynthia Baum · 4 Comments
When I left off with our very first backpacking adventure, we were just turning in for the night. Picking up where I left off… My family of four all slept in one queen-sized sleeping bag that night—not the best idea we ever had. With the two adults on the ends and two little ones in between us, we didn’t keep each other warmer, as we had originally thought. Instead, we just didn’t have enough room and were waking each other up all night, with even the smallest of movements. The air inside the tent was so cold that any skin exposed (which was basically just our faces), was frostbitten. Even sleeping with all of our snow clothes, hats, gloves, and jackets still on, inside the sleeping bag, we were still freezing! By morning, we were all a bit grumpy, tired, sore, and frozen-stiff. While cooking our oatmeal, we got some hot dogs in a pan, ready to go on the stove next, with an inch of water just barely covering them. By the time the oatmeal was cooked and ready... [Read more...]
