Site Description

Tina and I loved travel, seeing nature, and soaking up history.  There are so many great places to see in this country that we were planning to retire early so we can spend a few years doing just that.  Now that it's just me, I bring her along in my heart so she can see them along with  me.  

I mainly created this blog as reference for myself to go back and see the places I've been.  It's all about  the adventures experience while Seizing the Dream.

Index:  If you are looking for a spot to visit, this is a good page to start with.  It includes two features that will help you plan your next adventure if you want to visit one of the spots I've described in my blog posts.  At the top of the page is a map with icons at every trailhead, paddling launch, campsite or other point of interest that I've visited.  Clicking on any of those icons will open a list of related blog posts.  Unfortunately this isn't automated, but I do try to be consistent with it.

Below that is a table with key information, links to the blog post, and links to the official websites.  This is in alphabetical order, so if you know the location you should be able to find what you're looking for.

Road Trip:  This is a relatively new section of the website where I document my road trips as they happen.  I'll include the an overall description of the road trips as well as details of what I see an do along the way.

Camping:  Our first camper was a small pop up.  We selected this one because it was the perfect size for just the two of us and would give us the flexibility of expanding our weekend destinations for hiking and other stuff.  Two nice features of this camper is that it only takes about five minutes to set up or take down (that's faster than most tents), and it fits easily into our garage.  My next method of camping was a tent that mounted in the back of my pickup truck.  I bought this mainly as a test to see what I thought about traveling alone before investing in the camper that I have now.  

Currently I'm camping in a 2022 Grand Design Transcend.  It may be a little more than I need for myself, but it is very comfortable.  This tab will include descriptions of campgrounds that we stay at, and anything else that might fit this subject.

Hiking: The hiking posts describe what I saw on the trail and they also include a lot of photos.  I usually to provide estimated distances to, or between, key points along the trail.

At the end of each of these posts, I include a trail map that I create with my GPS app.  I've been using Wikiloc for years and have been very happy with it.  If you would like to download any of the maps to your own GPS app, you can click on the Wikiloc logo on the  map and it will take you to that site where you can download the trip to your own app as a GPX file.

Paddling:  There are almost as many water trails in Florida as there are hiking trails.  I use the same app to map my kayak trips, and I usually get some good photos as well.  I didn't get out paddling nearly as much as I would have like to.  I ended up selling my kayak because it just wasn't comfortable to use.  I prefer a canoe, but haven't found one yet that will make a good replacement for me. Along with photos from the trips, I also include the GPS map that I create.   

Biking:  I really enjoy taking out my bicycle when I can - the trips I've taken include both on and off road rides.  Like my hiking and paddling trips, I also include photos and a GPS map.

Travel:  This is for anything that doesn't fit neatly into any of the other categories.  Visits to historic sites, museums, exhibits, etc. are included here.
 


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello. I enjoy your site but notice the posts stopped in 2018. Hope you are well.

Andy said...

Better now - I'll be starting to add more content in a couple months - expanding to more than just Florida though.