Get Into The Outdoors
Get Into The Outdoors
By Ryan Graden
My wife and I have four daughters! You can all pray for us! But truthfully, I wouldn’t change it for the world. Having these young ladies in my life has been an incredible journey as we have raised them through the years. My oldest is sixteen and my youngest is eight. The best part is, everybody is old enough to take care of themselves. (No more diapers, feeding them, keeping them entertained, etc.) They pretty much know the routine of our lives and follow along without much hands-on care.
Now, that does not mean we are just letting them do life on their own. Not at all! At this stage in life we have found that we are incredibly capable to go anywhere and do anything as a family! They are all at an age that has allowed us to take some adventures together over the last few years. Climbing in the Rockies, white-water rafting, camping, hunting, fishing, and kayaking have been just a few things that we have done together. The memories and laughs have been great!
I realize, that as we are out taking advantage of what’s around us, there are probably a good number of families sitting at home in front of the TV missing out on the opportunities to spend time together and do some of the same things we have done over the past few years. Maybe it’s a time issue, maybe it’s a lack of creativity, maybe you’ve just never thought about it.
Regardless of your reasons for not being out there doing things, I am challenging you to this, GO DO SOMETHING!
Winter
I understand that on a cold winter day, the last thing you want to do get into the outdoors when it is cold outside. I’ll be the first one to admit, unless I’m out hunting, the cold seems to bite more and more the older I get. However, you will not make many memories with your family if you all stare at the flat screen like a bunch of zombies! Do you want your kids to say, “Hey Mom, Dad, remember that time we sat and watched TV?” No! Winter is still a time to get out and enjoy the outdoors with your family.
The “old-fashioned” time of sledding is becoming a lost art! Kids years ago used to find anything they could to travel down a hill on the snow. Shovels, cardboard, even cafeteria trays (don’t tell the food service peeps at local colleges!). Sledding is a fun and exciting opportunity to be with others. Not to mention the athletic activity will help you burn a few calories. Go buy a cheap sled and get your kids up and down a hill! Look to local golf courses, city parks, or neighbor’s properties. There’s probably a great sledding hill near you somewhere.
Take a hike! Winter is yet another time of year that I do a lot of tracking and patterning of deer movement. If it’s late enough in the winter, I’m also looking for sheds. However, I always take my girls along! We spend, sometimes, hours in the timber walking trials, noticing tracks, and looking for sheds.
My daughters have learned quite a bit about the skill of tracking during these times. They can tell rabbit tracks, coyote tracks, deer tracks, squirrel tracks, and more. They can also tell which direction they are traveling and how fresh they are. Occasionally, we find a shed or two. However, the time is never wasted! Usually these walks allow us to see some unique things too. Take a day and go on a winter hike!
Spring
How long has it been since you’ve been fishing? Why not spend some time in the spring and get into the outdoors with your family on the edge of a local lake, pond, or river?
Iowa has some fantastic places to fish and you don’t need to be a professional to do it. Go to Wal Mart and get yourself set up with a pole, hooks, and the other basics. When you find time, take your family to the water! Pack a lunch, bring your bait, and dip your pole! Spring is a good time to experience some fantastic fishing. Sometimes you catch some, sometimes you don’t. Regardless of your success, time with your family will always be a joy.
Bird Watching is slowly becoming a popular pastime again here in the Midwest. I can remember my grandmother always having a bird identification book by her window. My grandfather had strategically placed some feeders in front of a large window of theirs to make it easier for them to see birds, but they were always calling out what they saw!
In the spring, many seasonal birds are on their return to the Midwest. Take a walk in a state park or even in your neighborhood with an identification book and a pair of binoculars. Who knows what you might see. If you are lucky, you might eventually see some of Iowa’s newest citizens cracking out of their shells and swimming right behind their parents on local bodies of water. Don’t get too close. Keep your distance, and admire the new creation that’s coming about!
Summer
What isn’t there to do in summer, to get into the outdoors? I mean, really! Summer should be a season where the TV should be unplugged and hidden and you and your family should be entertaining yourselves in more creative ways.
Camping is a cheap and fantastic way to get away with your family. Most state campsites, for tents, do not exceed a $20 charge per night of stay. If you have a camper, most do not exceed $40. I would have to pay over $100 nowadays to take my family to a hotel for a night! Go camping!
If you have an afternoon or evening free, pack a picnic. Bring with you a ball or Frisbee. Wear a swimsuit in case there is a body of water nearby. Make it an impromptu outing just to do something out of your normal routine. Get a few old tire tubes or cheap floatables and float down a river for a while. It’s fantastic fun for you and your kids.
My family has done this more than once. We live close to Ledges State Park. In recent years, we’ve grabbed some fast food, put on our “mud tromping clothes” and headed to the park. After eating what we’ve brought, we hike some trails, throw a Frisbee, and even play in the stream that travels through the park. Smiles, laughs, and fun come to the surface very quick when you pursue moments like that.
How about berry picking! Do you have any idea what’s out there in Iowa’s natural habitat for you to eat. There are quite a few “sweet-treats” that could be eaten right off the vine or branch when you find them. Alternatively, they could be brought home and preserved as a wonderful jam or jelly!
How about bike riding! You don’t have to have the best bike in the world to get out on two wheels and see the scenery. Dust it off, air up the tires, grease the chain a bit and you’re in business! Take your family around your neighborhood or your town. Take advantage of some of Iowa’s great bike trails. Maybe go to a local college and ride around on their sidewalks. This is something that my wife, girls, and I have done many times. Each family member takes turns leading our ride. We’ve had some crazy paths in the past!
Fall
My favorite time of year to get into the outdoors! I love when the cooler temperatures are beginning to show up and the leaves are changing color. The smell of a good fire always draws up within me a sense of peace and tranquility. It’s a time when, we here in the Midwest, are preparing for winter. However, it does not mean it is here yet!
In the early fall, it is a great time to go canoeing or kayaking. Putting in on some of Iowa’s wonderful waterways will give you better entertainment than you could see in any movie theater! The sound of the water, the wildlife you see, the colors of the timber are just a few of the things that your senses will take in. Again, pack a meal and beach your water vehicle for a short amount of time on a sandbar to eat. It will be a great memory that just might become a tradition.
Fall is another great time of year to see a lot of the local wildlife. Many of the hunting seasons begin in the fall too, which will give you an excellent excuse to be out in the timber. Some of my greatest family memories are hunting squirrels in September and October with my Dad, Grandfather, and Uncles. Spending the day together always trumped any success of lack thereof.
If you’re not a hunter, try picking up a camera and seeing what you could “shoot”. Deer, turkeys, squirrels, pheasants, and many more animals are busy eating as much as they can. Fattening up to make it through Iowa’s winter is an important part of the fall. But, if you know of their food sources, you can be there to snap a picture that will last a lot longer than any taxidermy on the wall. Taking your family members out with you will make a wonderful time to talk, and share any experience that you might encounter.
A final fall option that I would suggest is to do some hiking and camping. One of my favorite places to visit in the fall is Backbone State Park in Northeast Iowa. Talk about beautiful! The camping facilities are great, the fishing is great, and the trails are great. Take your family out on one last cheap getaway before the winter sets in.
So…….
Truthfully, I think the television, social media, and general “connectivity” of our currently culture has actually “disconnected” us from what our relatives and ancestors have been doing for hundreds and thousands of years. That is, being a part of what’s around us!
The creation that surrounds us is countless times more entertaining than anything you see on a screen. In the outside, things are constantly changing and it’s never dull spending your time on the other side of your front door.
Get off your rump, give the couch or chair a break, and get yourself and your family and get into the outdoors. I will bet that some of your greatest memories will happen if you do so. You will never know unless you try it. So, what are you waiting for?
Good luck as you get into the outdoors!
