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Adventures_in_New_Mexico

20 Aug A Photo Essay: Adventures in New Mexico

Posted at 08:05h in Blog, New Mexico, Outdoor Adventure, Photo Essay, United States, Urban Adventure

New Mexico is a state that has intrigued us for quite some time. White Sands National Monument was the main reason we wanted to visit New Mexico. But, when we started planning our road trip, we found so many other exciting adventures in New Mexico,...

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Adventures in Mankato, Minnesota

16 Jul Adventures in Mankato: Biking, Kayaking, Wildlife, and More!

Posted at 10:00h in Blog, Minnesota, Outdoor Adventure, United States

Mankato, Minnesota, offers a wide variety of adventurous activities, and throughout our visit, we managed to fit in quite a few! We spent our days biking the trails, kayaking down the Blue Earth River, watching bison and waterfalls at Minneopa State Park, sipping on drinks...

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Adventures Around Table Rock Lake in Missouri

19 Jun Adventures Around Table Rock Lake in Missouri

Posted at 09:15h in Blog, Missouri, Outdoor Adventure, United States

Table Rock Lake near Branson, Missouri, is a region that is filled with a wide range of adventurous opportunities. We were invited by Visit Table Rock Lake to discover the fabulous nature around the area, and we couldn’t wait to jump in and explore. Table...

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Behind the Scenes Tour at Hatch Show Print in Nashville, Tennessee

06 Jun Behind the Scenes in Nashville: Hatch Show Print

Posted at 08:30h in Blog, Tennessee, United States, Urban Adventure

“Every poster tells a story,” remarked our guide, and that couldn’t have been more spot-on. Standing in a room filled with letter blocks covering the walls from floor to ceiling we felt a deep history seeping from every corner. Hatch Show Print in Nashville, Tennessee,...

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Winter Adventures at Chena Hot Springs in Fairbanks, Alaska

24 Apr Adventures at Chena Hot Springs in Fairbanks, Alaska

Posted at 09:30h in Alaska, Blog, Outdoor Adventure, United States

One day many, many years ago, I read about a magical hot spring located in the remote lands of Alaska. Trees heavy with snow, steaming waters, and icicles growing on heads of hair, gave way to an otherworldly winter scene, and I knew we had...

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Searching for Northern Lights in Fairbanks, Alaska

18 Apr Searching for Northern Lights in Fairbanks, Alaska

Posted at 10:15h in Alaska, Blog, Outdoor Adventure, United States

Fairbanks is often regarded as one of the best places to see the northern lights, not only in Alaska and the United States but the world. So, it only made sense when we returned to Alaska for another winter visit, that we made searching for...

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12 Apr Fairbanks Adventures: Snowmobiling in North Pole, Alaska

Posted at 12:35h in Alaska, Blog, Outdoor Adventure, United States

On our last day in Fairbanks, Alaska, we decided that we were going on an adventure. It didn’t matter that it was -29°F (-33°C) because we were ready to go snowmobiling at the North Pole. Okay…well we weren’t actually heading to the geographic North Pole, but...

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Photo Essay, Winter in Fairbanks, Alaska

27 Mar A Photo Essay: Winter in Fairbanks, Alaska

Posted at 09:30h in Alaska, Blog, Photo Essay, United States

After a winter visit to Anchorage, Alaska, we told ourselves that going forward we weren’t going to any more cold weather destinations in the winter. Yes, we had a blast in Anchorage, but we live in frigid Minnesota. A warm winter escape is almost a...

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Favorite Restaurants in Door County, Wisconsin

28 Nov Our Favorite Restaurants in Door County

Posted at 10:20h in Blog, United States, Urban Adventure, Wisconsin

During our weeklong road trip in Door County, Wisconsin, our mission was to explore all the natural beauty the region has to offer as part of the Lands’ End Heritage Tour. While exploring the area, we also found some great places to dine, snack, and...

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Door County, Wisconsin, Adventures, Lands' End Heritage Tour

13 Nov Wisconsin Road Trip Adventures: A Week in Door County with Lands’ End Heritage Tour

Posted at 08:00h in Blog, Travel Fashion, United States, Wisconsin

We recently road tripped to Wisconsin in partnership with Land’s End to join in on the Land’s End Heritage Tour. Our mission was to explore the beauty that the great state of Wisconsin has to offer. We grew up in and currently live in Minnesota--Wisconsin's...

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Halloween in New Orleans, Louisiana, St. Louis Cemetery No 1 Tour

30 Oct Halloween in New Orleans: Cemeteries, Parades, and Death and Mourning

Posted at 09:20h in Blog, Louisiana, United States, Urban Adventure

Halloween landed right in the middle of our trip to New Orleans, Louisiana. But, because the holiday fell on a Tuesday night, most of the festivities took place the Friday and Saturday prior to Halloween. With our Sunday arrival, we missed out on most of...

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A Photo Essay, New Orleans, Louisiana

24 Oct A Photo Essay: New Orleans, Louisiana

Posted at 07:30h in Blog, Louisiana, Photo Essay, United States

On a last-minute whim last fall, we decided to take a road trip to New Orleans. Our road trip happened to fall during the week of Halloween, so we had a blast exploring the city during a festive holiday. Micah had been to New Orleans...

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Another hike that we went on during our time in De Another hike that we went on during our time in Death Valley National was the Golden Canyon Trail with the Red Cathedral extension! We really enjoyed the landscape throughout this hike—it was another one of our favorite trails in Death Valley. The trail is 1.5 miles each way (3 miles round trip), and the last 0.5 miles of the trail, aka the Red Cathedral Trail, requires some scrambling, ledges, and low overhangs.

The Golden Canyon/Red Cathedral trail was so fun and we loved weaving through, under, and over tight rock formations. Plus, the views at the end of the trail were beautiful. Apparently, some scenes from Star Wars were filmed in this area, and I can see why—it looked like we were walking through an entirely different world!
At first, Badwater Basin in Death Valley National At first, Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park doesn’t look like much, but when you learn more about this piece of land, it’s quite interesting. Badwater Basin is the lowest elevation point in North America, at 282 ft below sea level. The land here is made up of a salt flat that stretches nearly 200 square miles. If you look hard for the tiny white sign in the mountains in the 5th photo (straight up above the Cruise America RV) you can see where sea level is. Standing on the salt flat and looking up at the sea level sign really puts the low elevation into perspective! We couldn’t help but imagine standing at the bottom of the lake that once covered this area.

We walked about a mile out onto the flats and loved seeing all the salt polygons and unique formations all around us. The farther we walked the less people we saw, and it was quite peaceful during our sunset stroll. We ended up visiting Badwater Basin twice during our trip, and I already want to head back again. There’s just so much to see if you take the time to look!
When standing at the Zabriski Point Lookout in Dea When standing at the Zabriski Point Lookout in Death Valley National Park, you overlook stunning hills and canyons of the Badlands. And if you look close, you might see people hiking far out on the landscape. One of the trails that runs through this area is the Badlands Loop, and it is a fantastic option for a hike!  Wandering through the narrow canyons and up along the hills of the Badlands provides a beautiful vantage point of this colorful area. 

The Badlands Loop is a 2.7 mile trail that runs through the gulch and up along the top of the ridges. There isn’t much shade on this trial, especially if you hike it during the heat of the day, so try to avoid a midday hike here when the temperatures are high. There are several trails that intersect in this area; you can connect to both the Gower Gulch Trail and the Golden Canyon Trail to make it one longer 7.8 mile loop hike. We hiked Golden Canyon earlier on our trip, so this time around we just hiked the Badlands Loop. Photos 1-8 are from the Badlands Loop trail, and 9-10 are from the Zabriski Point overlook the day prior when the skies were much more cloudy!
We spent 2.5 days exploring Death Vally National P We spent 2.5 days exploring Death Vally National Park this past winter, and we sure packed a lot into our visit. Hiking the wide variety of trails was our favorite way to explore the park. All of the trails were fantastic, but the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes was one of our favorite stops. We visited the dunes several times during our three days in the park, and each visit was at a different time of day. We were there for sunset, at night to see the stars, and at sunrise. When we went for sunrise, we hiked our way out to the summit of the tallest dune. The summit is roughly 1 mile from the parking lot, although there is no formal trail to get there and back. 

Along the hike, we spotted someone painting the sunrise from the top of one of the dunes. We couldn’t help but stop and chat with her and Micah snapped a few photos—we absolutely loved her artwork! We also enjoyed finding lots of animal prints in the sand. Even though the distance was short, the hike was tough as the sand is very hard to walk on. It felt like every step forward equaled two steps back! But the feeling you get from conquering the tallest dune is well worth it. It’s a beautiful portion of the park to explore!
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