Creating experiences, finding truth along the way
Travel blog: Lakeside camping, hiking, and enjoying the view from the top of Big Pocono
My recommitment to the Pennsylvania State Park Challenge I’d set for myself at the beginning of the year led me to book a camping trip for the FOURTH time at Hickory Run State Park.
The annual HIT 12-hour improv marathon festival! You never know what kind of surprise shows will happen at Hitstravaganza!
An unplanned trip for my new consulting business, Find Calm Here, lead me to spend a few hours with new friends from Alabama over a beer at Rum Boogie Cafe on Beale Street. Check out the photo gallery here. The CLIX event brought me to Memphis after I’d met the founder, RD Whitney, who invited…
I arrived at Canoe Creek State Park just in time to watch a short but steady snowstorm from the comfort of my warm car. As the snowflakes slowed, I found a fun trail to travel up and down hills for a bit to get back on track with my plan for hiking. In addition to…
Finding myself near the end of the year, I’ve reached AND exceeded that goal, and for that – I rewarded myself with this amazing trip to St. Petersburg, Florida to finish the year and start 2022 with a new perspective – physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Today is the second to last day of 2021 and I’m sitting in my hotel room in St. Petersburg, Florida overlooking a beautiful pool within a garden of palm trees (my favorite), and in the distance, I can see Tampa Bay. After pivoting to building an online business in 2020 and now becoming a full-time…
Each year I offer a photo calendar of my travel photography and it is that time of year again!
The Lily Inn, located right in Historic Burlington, New Jersey offered me a cozy room on the top floor with a view of the street below, decorated for the holiday season. With a king-sized bed, jetted tub, and in-room TV that I could connect my Roku Streaming Device to, I felt like I was living in luxury.
On Saturday I traveled up and down the mountains from Bald Eagle State Park to nearby Black Moshannon State Park, Whipple Dam State Park, and Greenwood Furnace State Park. The first stop at each park was to get my passport stamp for the 52 State Park Challenge that I’ve been doing this year.
A crisp, fall afternoon of hiking followed by roasted marshmallows over a campfire is my ideal fall weekend, which I was lucky to enjoy recently at Raymond B Winter State Park. I drove up late on Friday evening (November 5th) and set up my tent to a walk-in site. Surrounded by the forest and a few other campers, I had an enjoyable time listening to podcasts and audiobooks while stargazing.
Fall is my favorite time of the year to explore hiking trails in hopes to capture some amazing colors. The Pennsylvania Grand Canyon has been on my bucket list for a while and I’m so thankful that I made it there right as the leaves were turning.
Of all the Pennsylvania State Parks I’ve visited in 2021, by far the best ones (in my opinion) have waterfront views, expansive mountains, and calming shores.
In June, just six months after my very first visit, I returned to Maine to enjoy warmer weather, hiking, swimming, and spectacular views. Now it has taken me time to edit the photos and get this post up here on my travel blog since I’ve been really busy with work. I also decided not to…
This past weekend I strolled down shaded trails to discover beautiful landscapes, to hear the beautiful sounds of the forest, and to enjoy photographing nature. After my walk I cooled off by taking to the beach! All of this and more I experienced just one hour away from Harrisburg. On my continued mission to visit 52 Pennsylvania State Parks in 2021 I was able to add two more to the list.
The heat of summer has arrived and I’m seeking places with a place to cool down right now! In my pursuit of hiking at 52 Pennsylvania State Parks in 2021 I am focused on parks that have a lake, or stream to dip my toes into during or after a hike – AND hiking earlier!~
Hot and humid, but in the shade of trees, summer hiking can be enjoyable. I’ve been hiking during every season in Pennsylvania and although summers are a bit more challenging with overgrown and unkept, narrow trails, the leaves from forest trees keeps the heat bearable. Pun intended! Keep an eye out for bears if you…
As I continue to share the 52 Pennsylvania State Park 2021 Challenge, in which I plan to hike in up to 52 state parks this year, I’m happy to update the tally after this week to 17 after visiting Cherry Springs State Park, Lyman Run State Park, Patterson State Park, and Marsh Creek State Park.
As I continue to share the 52 Pennsylvania State Park 2021 Challenge, in which I plan to hike in up to 52 state parks this year, I’m happy to update the tally after visiting two more state parks last weekend, Gifford Pinchot and Swatara state parks and also announce a new collaborative art project.
After almost eight months I finally got on a plane and took a trip down to Cocoa Beach, Florida for my birthday and to enjoy visiting beaches, seeing rockets, and checking out the many fabulous places to eat and drink in town.
A few weeks ago I announced the 52 Pennsylvania State Park 2021 Challenge in which I plan to hike in up to 52 state parks this year. I’m happy to update the tally after visiting a few more parks over the past few weeks. Colonel Denning State Park, Susquehannock State Park, and Samuel S Lewis…
Inspired by my travels to California last year and picking up the National Parks Passport, I knew I wanted to check out the many Pennsylvania State Parks in 2021. Pennsylvania went from 1 park in 1893 to 121 State Parks in 2015, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and National Resources.
I discovered that Cape Code National Seashore was only a 2-hour drive from Providence and planned to spend an entire day driving and hiking on the beach. The drive alone was worth the trip, but when I arrived, I was just blown away by how beautiful it is there. After ge
For years I’ve wanted to make it to Washington DC in time to catch the Cherry Blossoms and this year I finally got there. It’s been on my bucket list for years, but I just hadn’t made the time to travel there until this year.
As I drove through states I’d never visited like Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Maine, I dove into podcasts, music, and at times, just silence while watching the mountains disappear behind me. I’d been looking forward to a road trip like this for a long time.
On this final journal of this Epic West Coast Road Trip, I share with you my gratitude for this entire experience, and my ability to see that I’m privileged to have taken this adventure. If you’ve been following along, I’d shared last (in part 7) that after driving up the coast from Monterey to San Francisco, all the way up to Glass Beach, and then inland to Nice, California, we then headed to Sacramento, our final destination before flying back to Pennsylvania.
When arriving in San Francisco the first thing to see was the Golden Gate Bridge. What’s really crazy about this is that I had a photo of the Golden Gate Bridge on my 2020 vision board, which I created in January.
Arriving back on the coast in Monterey, California, after spending the past few days inland while visiting national parks, I was thrilled to see the ocean once again.
Travel. Hike. Click. Write. 