Multnomah Falls was one of those places I’d seen in photographs so many times that I thought I knew what it would look like. I didn’t. It’s much taller in person than a photograph makes it feel, and when you’re standing at the bottom looking up at the falls and Benson Bridge, the scale finally … Read more
Eating differently gets much easier when you stop deciding what to eat three times a day. That’s one reason I like having a handful of simple meals I can repeat. Eggs. Chicken. Beef. Fish. Vegetables. A few basic ingredients that can become several different meals without requiring a complicated recipe every night. If you’re trying … Read more
There are some places that don’t look quite the way you expected when you finally see them in person. The redwoods are one of them. We visited Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park in early September, and photographs really don’t give you a sense of the scale. You can photograph an enormous tree, but it’s hard … Read more
Ha Ha Tonka is one of our favorite places to visit at the Lake of the Ozarks. The castle ruins are what get most of the attention, and they’re absolutely worth seeing. But they’re only one part of the park. There are trails, bluffs, caves and rock formations, a huge natural spring, and some pretty … Read more
Thor’s Well was one of those Oregon Coast stops I’d seen in photos long before we actually went. And it’s much easier to understand once you’re standing there. It’s not a giant hole in the ocean, even though photographs can make it look that way. Water rushes into an opening in the volcanic rock and … Read more
You don’t have to already be in hiking shape to start hiking. You also don’t need to begin with a five-mile trail, buy a pile of gear, or wait until you’re fitter than you are right now. Start with the body and fitness you have. Pick a trail that matches it. Then build from there. … Read more
Everyday adventure doesn’t require a passport, a vacation day, or a plan that takes longer than ten minutes to make. It took me years to understand that. For a long time, I thought adventure lived somewhere else. On a vacation calendar. At an airport. In a place I wasn’t currently standing. Most of us learn … Read more
Tom and I don’t travel to relax. At least not usually. We like seeing things. If we’ve gone somewhere we’ve never been, we want to walk around, take the tour, visit the museum, find the weird local thing, and see as much as we reasonably can while we’re there. Other people would hate traveling that … Read more
Sometimes nothing is actually wrong. You have a job. A home. People you love. A life that works reasonably well. And still, somewhere in the middle of all of it, you start thinking: I don’t want the next five or ten years to look exactly like this. That’s a strange place to be, because it’s … Read more
When the clock strikes midnight on January 1st, many of us vow to live healthier, more active lives in the new year. But why wait until tomorrow to kick things off? Across the U.S., First Day Hikes have become a popular tradition, with state parks inviting people to step into nature and onto the trail … Read more