Travel Archives - Outdoor Wanderlust

Exploring the Grand Canyon’s South Rim

Expectations

I have a confession to make. When the other half of Outdoor Wanderlust said we would add the Grand Canyon to our itinerary, I envisioned every cliché road trip from the comedy movies of my childhood. I lacked the wisdom at that time to understand why clichés are developed. Our stop along Hoover Dam on the way did not disabuse me of the idea the canyon would be underwhelming. I found Hoover Dam to be an impressive feat of human engineering. But, that much concrete just did not impress my outdoor loving soul. I was a fool to underestimate the Grand Canyon, however, and I’m not too proud to admit it. Read more “Exploring the Grand Canyon’s South Rim” →

Destination

Exploring Hocking Hills State Park

Just outside of Columbus, Ohio lies Hocking Hills State Park, a diverse outdoor destination with waterfalls, caves, rock features, and beautiful hiking trails. We took a trip here with our two dogs this past summer and had a great time. The unique rock formations and waterfalls were awesome but the crowds during mid-day were not. Read more “Exploring Hocking Hills State Park” →

Travel

Roadtrip home in our new Ford Transit Van

5 am. Wake up. Pants on. Grab bags. Off to the airport. “Did I forget my phone?”… “Nope. Got it.” My brain doesn’t work this early in the morning. After 3 months of waiting, we finally get to pick up our Ford Transit Van (aka Griffin).

The Plan

Fly to Kansas City to pickup our new 2018 Ford Transit Van at Matt Ford. Then drive 500+ miles back home to Kentucky. Stopping along the way at anything of interest. We were going to just sleep in the van but I had a certificate for a free night at the Marriott, so I might as well use it. Read more “Roadtrip home in our new Ford Transit Van” →

Destination

Winter summit of Mount Colden in the Adirondacks

As with many of our adventures, a spontaneous idea quickly transformed into an amazing experience. This particular time the idea landed us on top of Mount Colden in sub-freezing temperatures during the tail end of the winter season. The idea to bag a peak in the ADK came up while planning a sales trip to New York for my job with one of my colleagues who was pursuing the Adirondack 46ers. Hanging around for the weekend after our planned work events gave us the single overnighter we needed to bag a peak, play in the snow, and visit Lake Placid. My wife snagged a Friday evening flight and met me in Albany, NY for a late night gear check and pre-hike logistics. A hearty crew of seven met up early in the morning to drive north so we could leave the trail head by sun up.

Camping

Dogs on the Indiana Sand Dunes

We travel so much, that sometimes I struggle to keep everything straight in my mind. I am much more likely to remember moments and then work to place them in time and location. Several of my most cherished are from our trip to the Indiana Dunes State Park and Lake Michigan.

We drove up for a relatively short trip over an extended weekend, with our two dogs. We don’t often get to travel to truly new places with our dogs, and it has been a long time since we took a non-backcountry trip with them by ourselves. Since discovering mountain biking usually the dogs tag along on group bike trips. I love traveling with my dogs. Despite Ripley’s carsickness and resulting human stress, I always feel better when my dogs are with me. This trip was extremely dog friendly, we never had to leave them in the car while we ran into a restaurant or went for a ride or a hike. Read more “Dogs on the Indiana Sand Dunes” →

Travel

Out of Africa Wildlife Park – A Safari in…

My Happiest Place on Earth… or at least pretty darn close to it.

In September of 2016 I visited the western United States including Arizona, Nevada, and California. Sedona, Arizona is certainly a highlight when I think back on all of my travel experiences. I completely fell in love with the outdoor opportunities and the foreign, captivating landscapes of red rocks. I also had one of my favorite tourist experiences in the Out of Africa Wildlife Park. In my opinion, the park was very reasonably priced, especially for the value of the experience. Our ticket (which included a tiger feeding and a Jeep safari tour) cost us less than our local theme park admission. I set my expectations low due to the reasonable price, but I was quickly pleasantly surprised. Out of Africa Wildlife Park offers a unique experience in which you can interact with a variety of animals. We split our day into four distinct activities: Solo Exploring, Jeep Safari Tour, Feeding the Tigers, and the ZipLine. Read more “Out of Africa Wildlife Park – A Safari in Arizona” →

Hiking

Ridge Hiking in the Switzerland

We recently visited Stoos, a small town in mountains of Switzerland. What is normally a small ski town in the winter is a beautiful destination for hiking in the warmer months.

Getting There

Getting to Stoos is a 45 minute train ride from Lucerne, Switzerland to Schwyz, Switzerland. Once in Schwyz you’ll need to hop on the #1 Bus to Stoosbahn and take the funicular to Stoos. The current funicular is about a hundred years old and will be replaced in 2018 with a modern funicular. The new one will be the steepest funicular in the world once opened.

If the weather is good, you’ll have a few options for hiking. Stoos has a few chairlifts available to reach the summits or you can hike the trail to the top. Our trip consisted of riding the chairlift up to Mt. Klingenstock where we met up with the panorama trail leading to Mt. Fronalpstock. At 6,338 ft., Mt. Klingenstock is the tallest peak along the trail.

Exploring the Grand Canyon’s South Rim

Expectations

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Exploring Hocking Hills State Park

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Roadtrip home in our new Ford Transit Van

The Plan

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Winter summit of Mount Colden in the Adirondacks

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Dogs on the Indiana Sand Dunes

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Out of Africa Wildlife Park – A Safari in…

My Happiest Place on Earth… or at least pretty darn close to it.

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Ridge Hiking in the Switzerland

Getting There

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