The video game/TV substitute!

I remember growing up in school there was always something special about getting a substitute for class. Class always seemed to be more fun and exciting. Well I think this can apply to all of us in our day to day lives. We all get caught up in different activities, whether it's school, work, taking care of others or wasting your life with meaningless activities like some TV shows and video games... We can still do the important things that we need to do, but sometimes it's good to have the "substitute" come and make things a little more exciting. About 2 weeks ago I was able to substitute my daily activities for a trip to Moab with my local Scout's, and boy was it great!

 Some of the scout's and leader's after some fun mountain biking.

 

 

We were able to spend about 4 days down in the Moab area, and in that time we did a ton of activities. We were able to go rappelling, rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking, canyoneering and river rafting. We also got to practice throwing some tomahawks, throwing knives, shoot some bows and practice our tracking and water finding skills (I had the boys do the last 2 and surprisingly they found it more fun than I thought they would)! Our last day there we made it down to Arches National Park and hiked the famous Delicate Arch.

 River rafting. We all loved being able to throw the other groups out of their boats into the water!

 

 

The whole trip was just full of fun activities, but I think the most rewarding part for me was hearing the boys say (many of whose lives revolve around TV, video games and the internet) that they would much rather be doing the activities we were doing then what they usually do on a daily basis.



 The beautiful desert colors.

 

 

Our drive to Moab was about 3-4 hours, but the majority of us don't need to travel near that far to have fun in the outdoors. It doesn't matter what season it is, nature will always provide us with fun activities to do all year round.

 Desert nights.

 Survival of the fittest.

 Desert sunset.

 A new view of Delicate Arch.

Desert friend.

 

 

So what am I trying to say? GET OUT AND DO SOMETHING! It's quite rejuvenating. 



Weekend Wilderness

This weekend I had excuse after excuse to spend time outside. Great weather, family reunion, nature hike, etc. Overall it's been a great weekend. And of course if i'm spending time outside, i'm going to have my camera with me, and i'll be looking for that perfect picture. Whether it's a sunrise, a cluster of tree's or a little critter, i'll be looking for it. I hope a few of these pictures help capture the beauty that is all around us.

 The far blue mountains

 It's easy to make friends in the mountains.

 Mountain sunrise

 Mama bird on her nest

 There's always food if you look hard enough

There is so much beauty around us, I think we just don't notice it because we're just not looking hard enough.