Our National Park Monopoly board has ended but there are plenty of adventures yet to be had. So far the next year has a couple of travel plans in it. Up first on the list is a trip to Northern Minnesota to explore the frozen North Shore with our French Student we are hosting until the end of the school year and in search of birds that migrate to Minnesota from farther places north in search of food and easier conditions than their summer homes. Seems a little weird to think birds actually travel south to Minnesota for the winter. One such bird that I’m hoping to see is the Snowy Owl which resides in the arctic during the rest of the year. Northern Hawk Owls are another bird traveling south along with Pine Grosbeaks and Evening Grosbeaks. Along the shores of Lake Superior during the cold reside an amazing winter wonderland. Ice coating much of the shoreline, frozen waterfalls, and snow covering the landscape make for a beautiful scene many don’t get to see. It can definitely be cold but appropriate clothing makes being outside in Northern Minnesota actually enjoyable. This should be a good way to kick off Two Thousand and nineteen.

Another trip currently in the plans is exploring some of the off road trails in Utah. Designed and constructed his Jeep to go off road. We decided it’s time to take it out on and adventure and enjoy the fruits of these labors. Utah is well known for these types of activities with trails catering to multiple skill levels along with different off road vehicle levels. Skill levels vary and make sense as each trail adds experience to the driver as well as those navigating a trail but vehicle levels? As it turns out not all off road vehicles can handle the same conditions. Stock 4 x 4 trucks can handle many dirt/gravel/sand roads as long as they don’t have too large of ruts or too steep of angles for the vehicle to climb. Lifting a vehicle along with different types of suspension systems can increase the trail difficulty it can handle. For the serious off roader things like winches, extra fuel tanks, skid plates, and on board air compressors can increase the types of trail challenges a vehicle and driver can handle. Trails can be ranked in difficulty by different means such as the likely hood a vehicle will tip over or what type of equipment must be present in order to attempt that trail. Our sights are on easier to moderate trails for this trip as Utah is very remote and getting help can be a bit of a challenge if something were to go wrong. I’m looking forward to crawling around the Utah landscape and seeing some amazing sights.

Early in the summer there’s an adventure planned to go back up to Northern Minnesota to show another friend of mine the North Shore which he has never seen. During our week there we hope to see Minnesota’s native orchids in bloom along with the beautiful area of Duluth and multiple waterfalls along the shores of Lake Superior. With any luck there will be a nice summer storm producing some beautiful lightning out over the big lake. It can be a beautiful time to be in that area with all of the spring blooming flowers and wildlife roaming with their young even if the temperatures tend to get a little cool at night and the mosquitoes are starting to hatch in full force. We’ll be camping for the week and exposed to the elements which most likely will include rain. I’ve never had a full week up at the North Shore so am looking forward to being able to explore things in a little more thoroughly.

One final adventure in the plan for this next year is a backpacking trip to Isle Royale. I tried to do this a couple of years ago but things didn’t really work out to actually do it so I’m going to try it again. This time there should be plenty of moose to see but also a potential wolf howling off in the distance as they’ve began to relocate wolves onto the island to help control moose populations. If there are too many moose, vegetation can get decimated along with disease going through the herds which is something people would like to avoid if possible. A different route is planned bringing new views and areas to explore and things to photograph. The challenges of a longer hike and ways to reduce the weight of the backpack are things I’m looking forward to taking on.

As the year progresses I’m sure there will be other possible adventures and unforeseen events to make for a fun new year. Here’s wishing all of you a promising and eventful 2019!

I think I’m still trying to catch my breath from the past year. It seemed like there was always something going on making it feel as though every week just kept flying by in the blink of an eye. There were a lot of memories made and fun had but I hope the next year is a bit more relaxed. A few of my goals for Two Thousand eighteen included taking in as much of Super Bowl VII in Minneapolis, finishing the National Parks Monopoly board, celebrating a graduation, and doing some summer camping. Ohh ya, and continuing to work on my photography. I think all of the objectives set out for the year were achieved. You can read more if you’d like on the Year Ahead post.

Super Bowl VII was a lot of fun and pretty tiring with ten days of events. For each of those ten days I was either volunteering at Super Bowl Live helping people navigate downtown Minneapolis, taking pictures for people, crowd control for the outdoor concerts, or getting people out of their zip line gear. Many of the days were cold with temperatures dipping below zero degrees Fahrenheit but for those of us living in the cold, it’s all about dressing correctly for this very weather. Don’t get me wrong, retreating into a warm building now and then felt really nice just to gain some feeling in my fingers and toes. For a little more on Super Bowl adventures you can click here.

With the Super Bowl in the rear view mirror all focus turned to our final park: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. With a few months left to finalize details there were many hours spent preparing for one last National Parks trip. After a couple of months passed we boarded a plane and landed in Kona, HI many ours later. I had forgotten just how humid Hawaii can be. It almost took my breath away as soon as I stepped out of the airplane. From there it was a week of exploring, snorkeling, enjoying family, and standing on an active volcano as we all found out a few weeks later. There was so much to see and do and I enjoyed nearly every minute of it. Many of those adventures can be found on these pages. One piece I had forgotten about was on our last day on the Big Island. I got up early to see the orange glow of Kilauea, which you can read about on this post. After taking in this amazing orange glow it was off to the airport heading to Honolulu for the remaining few days of our adventure. Upon landing we began to hear news of activity at Kilauea. This was the beginning of months of eruptions and earthquakes. A very memorable time!

Once we landed back in Minnesota and Spring Break was over the realization set in that the final weeks of school were about to begin for Lysa. Preparations for graduation went into full swing. The end of May came flying at us before we knew it and it was graduation week and then graduation day. Definitely a day of mixed emotions. A sense of satisfaction that your child has reached this stage, sadness that they are becoming adults and will be moving on beginning a new phase of their life, and looking forward to what they will become. Have you prepared them for this time in their life. What have we missed? The next day was continued celebrations with many friends and family stopping by wishing their congratulations and good luck. It was so nice to see many people that we’ve not gotten together with for some time. And now Lysa has entered her first year in college.

As all of the years events wound down and summer hit I took some opportunities to go camping at Lost Lake in Northern Wisconsin. Here’s a few posts about that if you’re interested. These were much needed weekends of quiet after the craziness of spring. Hopefully this is something I can do again in 2019. Near the end of summer we decided to take one more National Park adventure and visit the only one in Minnesota – Voyageur’s. We spent a couple of days here camping near the park during the peak of the Persied Meteor shower. Is there a better way to watch a celestial event than in the darkest area of the state? My post on Voyageur’s can be found here. During this trip we stopped at Itasca State Park for a few nights exploring one more area I wanted to see with the family – the place where the Mighty Mississippi River begins. A few posts on that can be found at this link. This completed everything I had set out to do in two thousand eighteen which was a great year of adventure. On to another year…..

Now that the holidays have passed I like to make goals for the new year. Some are already underway while others have yet to be defined. This is going to be an interesting year for our family. To begin the year Minnesota is hosting the Super Bowl and my wife and I are committed to be a part of that which will be great. My oldest daughter is getting ready to graduate from high school and move on to the next phase in her life so that’s going to be a big change for us. Before the school year ends we are expecting to complete our National Parks Monopoly board with a trip to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. After graduation there are no definitive plans which feels weird for me. I’ve had an adventure planned many summers and not having one this year seems like something is missing. Maybe this will be a good summer to get another dog and use this time to train it. Once the fall arrives there could be a transition bringing our daughter to college in a different state. We’ll see.

In just a few short weeks Super Bowl 52 will take place and I get to be there for all the fun, with my wife and several other family members, for the entire 10 days. During this time I’m a part of the volunteer group Crew 52 which will be roaming the Super Bowl Live area each day so if you’re in Minneapolis during Super Bowl week look for me and say hello. I’ll be the one in the long, blue coat that says Crew 52 Volunteer on it. In addition to that I’m also a part of the halftime setup crew so that is really exciting. There will be posts on these experiences I’m sure. The question often comes up wondering if I will be part of the crowd on TV. No, I’m part of the crew that sets up the staging and takes it down all in a matter of minutes so the only opportunity to get on TV is possibly in the background behind the on field analysts during halftime before or after the show.

Plans for traveling to Hawaii to explore this great National Park and Island have been in the works since last fall but there is still much to do before we go on this adventure over spring break. This is a happy and sad trip bringing mixed emotions each time I plan another piece of it. I’m really looking forward to spending this time with family exploring another National Park and learning more about volcanoes and the tropical wildlife in the area. However, this is the last trip that I may get to take with my children in this way. The future is uncertain with the oldest moving on in her life. Sure, there’s likely to be other trips but will it be with significant others or spouses and how often will vacations align to take trips like this? I’ve really enjoyed our trips to explore National Parks and cherish the time spent together and I will do the same with Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Shortly after returning from the Hawaiian Islands, graduation will take place. Something I am definitely not ready for. It’s one of those events you know will come (at least you hope it will) but that doesn’t make it any easier to prepare for. High School goes so fast even though it may not seem like it on a day to day level. Our youngest daughter has now entered her first year in high school so she is not far behind. It’s kind of exciting to see what her future holds as she becomes more in control of it. A factor I know that is scary for her but she’ll be fine I’m sure.

Once these events are complete there really is nothing on the books to look forward to. There are several possibilities such as more homeowner projects of which there are always plenty. I would like to take in a hiking and camping trip here or there to enjoy the summer and use the camera to photograph more beautiful scenery. Continuing to improve my photography is another goal throughout the year but I have nothing specific determined yet. We’ll have to see by the end of the year what comes up because one thing is almost guaranteed – something always comes up. I’m not one to just sit around hoping for things to appear. I hope you have several things to plan for to make 2018 a great year!

Two Thousand and Seventeen has now come to a close and I like to take a brief look back to see if I attained the goals set out in the beginning of the year and what else happened before going forward to the next year. The goals set out for 2017 included exploring Yellowstone, Little Bighorn, and Dinosaur National Parks, a return to Isle Royale, some home owner projects, and celebrating 20 years of marriage. We did end up visiting Grand Teton National Park and Craters of the Moon National Monument as a nice addition to our year. Most of these items were accomplished all except a hiking excursion to Isle Royale which was canceled just a couple of weeks before going off an this adventure. I’ll get more into this in a moment but first let’s look at the other goals.

Once summer began we were off to Montana to see the sight of Custer’s Last Stand at Little Bighorn. It was a warm and very windy day while we were here giving us the full Western Prairie experience. Learning about and seeing how this battle unfolded was a great learning adventure. Even looking over the landscape and seeing the different encampment areas and trails taking to get here, it’s hard to image the battle which ensued on these lands. Fortunately there’s plenty of information in the visitors center to fill in the events leading up to this historic battle. A piece of American history that is brought to life by this park.

Yellowstone National Park was the next adventure waiting for us which brought beautiful landscapes and interactions with nature that will last forever in our memories (and photographs). It has been said this is the Serengeti of the United States because of the diverse and numerous wildlife living here. We absolutely can attest to that with several bear sightings, a wolf encounter, bison, elk, coyotes, and other wildlife making their way into our view. Experiencing the thermal features here are very impressive with geysers, extremely colorful hotsprings, and mudpots giving a unique adventure to those able to visit.

Our final park on the National Parks Monopoly board for 2017 was Dinosaur National Monument located in Utah and Colorado. To image dinosaurs roaming this area was special and really brought to reality by seeing first hand the skeletons still buried in the earth among the hills here. Very interesting to see what has been already un-Earthed and imagine how many more places in the undisturbed grounds still held on to these historic creatures. These are surrounded by beautiful landscapes created by two rivers creating valleys through the colorful hills over thousands of years. At night the dark sky becomes filled with stars from horizon to horizon. I spent a night just photographing these bright lights in the sky.

In addition to these National Parks we managed to take in Grand Teton National Park and Craters of the Moon National Monument before returning home. Both are great places to visit and we enjoyed a brief exploration of both. One day I would like to climb Grand Teton so a potential upcoming adventure.

A few weeks before taking off to Grand Portage, Minnesota in August to hop on a boat and head to Isle Royale, the person I was going with had to cancel for work reason so I needed to make a decision of not going or going it alone. I decided to cancel primarily due to safety concerns. Our hotel was unable to be canceled by then so I decided to take the family to the North Shore of Minnesota to explore Voyager Days in Grand Portage along with a Pow Wow and take in the night sky with the Perseid Meteor shower on full display. This was all great to discover but would have been even better after hiking on Isle Royale for a week. One morning I got up to watch the sunrise and go exploring by myself photographing the beautiful area landscape. At one point I crawled up on some boulders only to have one of my hand holds give way causing me to fall onto the rocks below. Expecting to feel a lot of physical damage I only noticed one of my hands injured from this fall. Once I was up and walking around again I figured out that canceling the trip to Isle Royale by myself was a good idea for this very reason.

September brought my 20 year anniversary being married to my wife. We took a few days and stayed at the same lodge, Cove Point Lodge, that we stayed at on our honeymoon. It was interesting to see what has changed and what has stayed the same in those 20 years. The worst part about this celebration was realizing how much we’ve forgotten in those 20 years which was brought to our attention by looking back at pictures of twenty years ago in this very same place and not being able to remember several parts of our honeymoon. I guess that’s become one of the reason I like to take so many pictures.

Speaking of pictures, I ended up taking several thousand photographs again in 2017 and saw improvement in my picture taking abilities. There’s still more to learn and improve so I expect the same will hold true in the new year. It’s been another great year and I hope you had a number of memorable moments to look back on with a smile. On to 2018!