Mt. Rainier National Park

National Park #19

A trip to Mt. Rainier National Park

Harrison County – Obannon Woods State Park

We started our day at O’Bannon Woods by visiting the fire tower, which is right at the entrance.

Pinnacles National Park

National Park #18

In December of 2022, we were able to attend Caleb’s company holiday party in the SF Bay area. We had plans to spend a night at Yosemite and do some hiking, but a large snowstorm rolled in and foiled our plans to drive there.

Backup plan: a day trip to Pinnacles National Park

Joshua Tree National Park

National Park #17

Our day in Joshua Tree National Park began with a hike on the Hidden Valley Nature Valley.

Death Valley National Park

National Park #16

After spending the morning at Red Rock Canyon National Conversation Area, we made our way to Death Valley National Park.

Gateway Arch National Park

National Park #12

Caleb and I surprised the kids with a weekend trip to Saint Louis for Isaac’s 12th birthday.

Johnson County – Indiana Live Steamers

Randolph County – Winchester Courthouse Square

It was a quiet Sunday afternoon in July when we visited the Winchester Courthouse Square.

Wayne County – Highest Point in Indiana

Wayne County – Levi and Catharine Coffin House

Our last stop of the day was the Levi and Catharine Coffin House.

The Coffin House is one of the Indiana State Museum’s Historic Sites and after coming across a handful of glowing recommendations we decided to check it out.

Jay County – Loblolly Marsh Wetland

Our second stop of the day was Loblolly Marsh Wetland.

Adams County – Baltzell Lenhart Woods

After a trip to visit Grandma, Grandpa and Angola Balloons Aloft, Caleb and I decided to take the long way home and visit four counties on the eastern side of the state. Our first stop was Baltzell Lenhart Woods.

Grand Canyon National Park

National Park #1

The Grand Canyon was one of just many stops on our first road trip back in the fall of 2017. It started with a trip to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta (ah-mazing!!) and ended in Las Vegas with lots of fun stops along the way: Route 66 in Winslow, Arizona, Meteor Crater, and the Hoover Dam.

Hamilton County – Carmel White River Loop and Top Golf

Over the past two summers, we’ve been exploring the bike trails around the state.

Clinton County – Bryan Woods Nature Preserve

Our last stop, Bryan Woods Nature Preserve.

Pulaski County – Tippecanoe River State Park

Our next hiking stop for the day was Tippecanoe River State Park. Tippecanoe River is the 22nd Indiana State Park we’ve visited.

Jasper County – Stoutsburg Savanna

Our second day of exploring northwestern Indiana was all about hiking. The first stop was Stoutsburg Savanna Nature Preserve.

Newton County – Kankakee Sands and Fair Oaks Farms

Our next stop in Northwestern Indiana was Kankakee Sands.

Benton County – Wind Turbine Blade and Fowler Town Park

When researching things to do in Benton County, I discovered the county has a number of wind farms and you can take a wind farm tour. Unfortunately, there are no tours on Saturdays.

White County – Monon Connection

On the first weekend of summer vacation, we decided to hit all of the remaining counties in the northwest part of the state. Our first stop was the Monon Connection.

Franklin County – Brookville Lake

Our second stop for #OptOutside 2021 was at Brookville Lake or Mounds State Recreation Area.

Union County – Whitewater Memorial State Park

Our #OptOutside selection for 2021 was Whitewater Memorial State Park and Brookville Lake/Mounds State Recreation Area.

Warrick County – The Museum of the Coal Industry

We’ve lucked into a number of cool things/places on our travels and The Museum of the Coal Industry ranks right there at the top.

Spencer County – Lincoln State Park

In June 2021, we spent a long weekend checking out south western Indiana. On the docket: hiking, friend time, a couple of new counties and then we’d wrap up with a day at Lake Patoka. Our first stop was Lincoln State Park.

Dubois County – Ferdinand State Forest

We finished out our fire tower trifecta with a stop at the Ferdinand Tower in Ferdinand State Forest.

Pike County – Pike State Forest

We contemplated hiking in Pike State Forest but with a full day ahead, we decided not to push our luck with the kiddos so we opted to just check out the fire tower.

Carroll County – Wabash and Erie Canal

Our last stop on our Memorial Day Weekend hiking trip was the Wabash and Erie Canal.

Tippecanoe County – Wolf Park

Our final stop for the day was Wolf Park.

Tippecanoe County – Prophetstown State Park

Next up, Prophetstown State Park. Prophetstown State Park is Indiana’s newest state park and was established in 2004.

Hot Springs National Park

National Park #15

With the RV-10 finally painted, we wanted Spring Break to be our first big trip in the plane. We toyed around with a couple different options but settled on Hot Springs National Park followed by a few days in New Orleans. In case you’re wondering, they’re not really all that close to each other but that’s the advantage of owning a plane.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

National Park #15

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is on the Island of Hawaii. The park is incredibly busy when Kilauea is active. We arrived early and made Kilauea our first stop.

Haleakala National Park

National Park #13

We decided to spend Christmas 2021 in Hawaii! It was an epic 13 day vacation. We visited three Hawaiian Islands, both national parks, swam with sea turtles, learned to surf, relaxed on the beach and much more.

But let’s talk about Haleakala National Park.

Shenandoah National Park

National Park #11

In the fall of 2021, we decided to visit Washington D.C. Since this would be our third trip to the area, we wanted to re-visit a few favorites but also check out a few new things. Shenandoah National Park is less than 90 minutes outside of the DC area, so it was a no-brainer to spend a few days in the park.

Warren County – Williamsport Falls

Williamsport Falls was stop 2 on our trip. Williamsport Falls was only a 15 minute drive from Portland Arch and well worth the stop.

Fountain County – Portland Arch

For Memorial Day 2021, we decided to check out a couple of counties that we intended to hit last year but got rained out. Unfortunately, the weather was a bit soggy and cold but we pushed back our departure time and managed to stay mostly dry.

Rush County – Wendell Wilkie Mural

Unfortunately, there were not many options for things to do in Rush County on a long holiday weekend.

Henry County – Summit Lake State Park

We had decided to do some hiking in western Indiana on Labor Day Weekend. Unfortunately a quick check of the weather, after we already on the road, revealed thunderstorms. We quickly threw together a new plan and we headed off in the direction of Summit Lake State Park.

Everglades National Park

National Park #2

For Spring Break 2018, we did a south/central Florida driving tour and visited a number of things we had never done. Everglades National Park was one of our stops. We went hoping to see an alligator and were absolutely amazed by the diversity and amount of wildlife!

Acadia National Park

National Park #3

Our trip to Acadia National Park all came about because we had a Southwest credit that was set to expire in the summer of 2018. We chose Acadia because it’s somewhere we never thought we would go. We’re glad we gave it a chance because it’s probably our favorite national park.

Madison County: Mounds State Park

We’ve been hiking quite a bit since the shelter in place orders hit in Mid-March. So when Caleb had a rare day off so we decided to visit Mounds State Park on a beautiful Friday morning.

Yosemite National Park

National Park #4

In October 2018, we decided to visit Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. And we were going to do it all in 3 days! before finishing up our Fall Break at Disneyland. It was an ambitious plan with lots of driving but it was ah-mazing!

First stop, Yosemite National Park.

Kings Canyon National Park

National Park #5

In October 2018, we decided to visit Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. And we were going to do it all in 3 days! before finishing up our Fall Break at Disneyland. It was an ambitious plan with lots of driving but it was ah-mazing!

When planning this trip it seemed like a great idea to hit three national parks in three days. In retrospect, I wish we would have taken a bit more time in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

Sequoia National Park

National Park #6

In October 2018, we decided to visit Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. And we were going to do it all in 3 days! before finishing up our Fall Break at Disneyland. It was an ambitious plan with lots of driving but it was ah-mazing!

When planning this trip it seemed like a great idea to hit three national parks in three days. In retrospect, I wish we would have taken a bit more time in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

At some point between Yosemite and Kings Canyon and Sequoia, Zoe developed a pretty epic case of car sickness. Luckily, at this point she was feeling well enough to check out the General Sherman Tree but we kept our exploring to a minimum.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

National Park #7

In June 2019, my parents rented a cabin in Pigeon Forge for a family vacation. The 12 of us spent a few days exploring the area. Caleb, Isaac, Zoe and I spent the majority of our time Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Olympic National Park

National Park #9

In October 2019, we decided to head to the Pacific Northwest. We started the trip with a few days in Olympic National Park before investigating Seattle for a couple of days.

Biscayne National Park

National Park #10

Our National Park adventures began back in 2017. We decided to add a trip to the Grand Canyon while visiting the Albuquerque International Ballon Fiesta. Now we’re hooked! So when we decided to vacation in southern Florida for Christmas, we decided a visit to Biscayne National Park was in order.

Montgomery County: Shades State Park

Over the Thanksgiving Holiday, we decided to take advantage of being close-ish and visit Shades State Park.

Monroe County: Kiwanis Indiana Balloon Festival

Earlier this year, Caleb and I took a ride in a hot air balloon and now we may be a little bit hot air balloon crazy. By the way, the ride was ah-mazing! and I’m definitely gaming to go again. Anyways, we decided to check out the Kiwanis Indiana Balloon Festival.

Howard County: KokoMantis

Cass County: Big Bull Statue #2

Starke County: Large Fish Head

Indiana Dunes National Park

National Park #8

After a good breakfast we headed out to visit the Indiana Dunes National Park.

Porter County: Indiana Dunes State Park

We decided to tackle the 3 Dune Challenge on this visit to the Indiana Dunes.

LaPorte County: Hesston Steam & Power Show

This was our second trip to the Hesston Steam Museum. We thoroughly enjoyed our first visit so it seemed like a good addition to our Labor Day weekend trip.

St. Joseph County: Touchdown Jesus

Our Labor Day Weekend adventure started in St. Joseph County.

Noble County: Chain O’Lakes State Park

Next stop on day 2 of our Memorial Day Weekend trip: Chain O’Lakes State Park.

Wells County: Ouabache State Park

Our last stop for the day was Ouabache State Park.

Huntington County: Big Rooster

Blackford County: War Memorials

Grant County: Garfield Trail

The centerpiece of our Memorial Day Weekend was hiking at Chain O’ Lakes State Park. Since Chain O’ Lakes is a bit out of the way for us, we decided make an overnight of it and check out a few counties along the way. First stop the Garfield Trail.

Sullivan County: Shakamak State Park

Our last adventure for the weekend was a stop at Shakamak State Park with Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Tom.

Knox County: George Rogers Clark National Historic Park

Early Sunday morning, I went out for a run and happened across the George Rogers Clark National Historic Park. I thought it looked neat so we decided to make a quick stop before meeting Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Tom and Shakamak State Park for our final destination.

Knox County: Indiana Military Museum

The last stop for the day was the Indiana Military Museum.

Gibson County: Princeton Train Depot

We encountered a bit of bad timing in Gibson County.

Posey County: Harmonie State Park

We’ve been slowly trying to visit all of the Indiana’s State Parks.  Since we’ve visited all the ones close to our house, we decided to take advantage of Labor Day Weekend visit a couple farther away.  We also threw in a couple of more counties along the way since we were in that neck of the woods.

Tippecanoe County: Triple XXX and Purdue

Over the last few months, Isaac has become a pretty big [Purdue][1] fan.  So on the way to Chicago, we thought we would make a detour and take a quick drive around the campus.

Steuben County: Pokagon State Park

Over Memorial Day weekend, we rounded up some family to check out Pokagon State Park.

Jackson County: Jackson Washington State Forest

On a chilly late Spring morning, we headed down to Jackson Washington State Forest to hike somewhere new.

Shelby County: Indiana Grand

Marion County: Fort Harrison State Park

In preparation for our big Fall Break trip, we spent lots of time hiking in 2017. 

Harrison County: Indiana Caverns

I came across an article about Indiana Cavernsa year or two ago and thought it would be a great adventure for Harrison County. So we loaded the kids up on Labor Day weekend and headed down to Corydon, the first capital of Indiana.

Spencer County: Holiday World

We went for the easy choice in Spencer County:  Holiday World.

Brown County: Brown County State Park

On a unseasonably warm day in February, we headed over to Brown County State Park for a family hike.

Ripley County: Versailles State Park

The first weekend of November, Aunt Natalie invited us to go hiking.  Caleb suggested we check out Versailles State Park.

Clark County: Fall of the Ohio

On an unseasonably warm fall Sunday afternoon we gathered up a few friends and headed to Falls of the Ohio State Park.  The fall is a great time to visit this park because the river levels are lower so more of the fossil beds are exposed.

Clay County: Exotic Feline Rescue Center

Over Fall Break, we decided to meet up with Grandma Cindy to visit the Exotic Feline Rescue Center.

Vermillion County: The Little Italy Festival

After years of talking about The Little Italy Festival, we finally made it there this year.

Putnam County and Owen County: Cagles Mill Lake/Lieber State Recreation Area

We decided to make a quick pit stop at Cagles Mill Lake/Lieber State Recreation on the way to visit Grandma Cindy and attend The Little Italy Festival.

Clark County: Charlestown State Park

Another long holiday weekend, another hiking trip.  After some deliberation, we decided to try out Charlestown State Park.

Vanderburgh County: Evansville River Run

In late 2015, a friend talked a group of people into running the Evansville River Run.

Putnam County: Airport Appreciation Days

Putnam County Regional Airport was having it’s Annual Airport Appreciation Days so we decided to hop in the airplane and check it out.

Parke County: Turkey Run State Park

Isaac and Zoe have really enjoyed hiking lately so we thought Turkey Run State Park would be a great place to take them.  Plus, both Caleb and I visited when we were young and were interested in going back.

Owen County: McCormick’s Creek State Park

The kids have really started to enjoy hiking so we decided to venture over to McCormick’s Creek State Park.

Greene County: Tulip Trestle, Sculptor Guy House and Richland Creek Covered Bridge

We were heading over to Greene County for an afternoon of fun and we thought we would take advantage of the opportunity and visit some of the sites of county.  As luck would have it, a few friends, Steve, Ian and Josie, gave as a guided tour of a few of the Greene County’s highlights.

Washington County: Maple Syrup Festival

A few years ago, Caleb got some real maple syrup from my sister for Christmas.  Ever since then, we’ve become real maple syrup snobs.  So it seemed like the Maple Syrup Festival would be right up our alley.

Hendricks County: Sodalis Nature Park

As you’ve probably gathered if you’re a regular reader of this blog, the kids enjoy hiking.  So when Caleb discovered Sodalis Nature Park, he thought it would be a good Saturday afternoon activity.

Ripley County: National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association Shoot and Friendship Flea Market

Twice a year the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association hold an annual shoot in the town of Friendship Indiana.  Coinciding with the shoot is the Friendship Flea Market.

While visiting Spring Mill State Park, we happened upon some cannons being fired.  Since Isaac and Zoe seemed interested, Caleb thought they might enjoy a visit to Friendship during one of the two annual shoots.

Lawrence County: Spring Mill State Park

Since the kids enjoyed hiking at Clifty Falls State Park last year, we thought we’d try another Memorial Day Weekend hike at Spring Mill State Park.

Jefferson County: Clifty Falls State Park

Fayette County: The Santa Claus Limited

What better way to kick off the Christmas season than with a ride on a train that picks up Santa Claus.

Johnson County: Kelsay Farms

The other day I happened across a blog post about Kelsay Farms. When I mentioned it to Isaac, he seemed excited about visiting the cows so on Saturday, September 29 2012 we headed out to the farm.

Delaware County: Muncie Children’s Musuem

On Saturday, September 1, we loaded the kiddos in the car (yes the car, Hurricane Isaac was predicted to make his grand arrival and Caleb did not want two Isaacs to deal with in the plane) and headed north. Our original plan was to check out the Muncie Children’s Museum and then head up to Fort Wayne to meet Cousin Hope.

Jennings County: North Vernon Municipal Airport Awareness Day

Saturday, August 11 turned out to be airport fly-in day for us.  We visited the North Vernon Municipal Airport, which hosted an Airport Awareness Day and later that morning also attended a fly-in at Camp Atterbury.

Miami County: Pancake Breakfast Fly-in and Air Museum Tour

On Saturday, July 21, with Caleb’s flight instructor in tow, we flew up to Miami County to visit Grissom Air Force Base. Grissom had been on our radar for a while but we hadn’t made it up that way, yet. The allure of a Fly-in/pancake breakfast/lunch/$5 museum tours made this activity perfect for this Saturday.

Parke County: Bridgeton Mill

On Saturday, July 14 we decided to fly over to Terre Haute and visit Grandma Cindy for her upcoming birthday.   It so happens that Grandma Cindy lives very close to Parke County so we also decided to visit “Indiana’s Most Famous Covered Bridge.”

Morgan County: Hunter’s Honey Farm

Back in May, we purchased a Groupon for Hunter’s Honey Farm.  Around the same time, Isaac developed an obsession with bees (luckily it’s only resulted in one bee sting).  On Saturday, June 30 we packed up the kiddos and headed over to the bee farm to check things out.

Johnson County: World’s Largest Rocking Chair, a park, and Ben

The plan for Saturday, March 21 was to hang out at the mancave; we’d get a chance to take in the Saturday morning activity at the airport and more importantly Isaac would get a chance to expend some energy.  Unfortunately, the weather didn’t get the memo and it was cold, windy, and overcast.  So we decided to head up the road and visit Johnson County.  

Orange County: Big Splash Adventure Indoor Water Park and Resort

When I discovered there was an indoor water park in French Lick, I knew we had found our activity for Orange County.  Turns out some of our friends were vacationing in French Lick over their Spring Break so we decided to hit up the water park with them.

Dubois County: An afternoon in the country

On Saturday, March 10, we took advantage of a beautiful day and jumped into the airplane and flew to Dubois County to visit one of Caleb’s college buddies, his wife, and their 4 kids.  

Brown County: Annandale House

At that same charity auction that got us a ride on Old Engine 1, Caleb also bid on and won a one night stay in Brown County’s Annandale House.

Bartholomew County: Old Engine 1

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Back in the beginning of October, Caleb got “stuck” going to a charity auction for the March of Dimes.  While at the auction, Caleb had the opportunity to bid on, and ultimately won, a ride on a restored 1937 Stutz Diesel Fire Engine.

Marion County: The Indianapolis Children’s Museum

On one of our many trips to Menards to pick up supplies for the Mancave, we discovered Isaac got a big kick out of the Halloween decorations.  So when I discovered the Indianapolis Children’s Museum put on a Haunted House I thought it might be a good way to introduce Isaac to some Halloween fun.

Martin County: Hindostan Falls

On Sunday Oct 7th, we headed down to the French Lick airport (in Orange County) to visit the Dooley family and see some sights in Martin County.

Madison County: Hoosier Park Race Track

A couple of months ago, we had a guys’ night out and a bunch of us traveled to a nearby horse track to see a horse race, in which another friend of ours owned one of the racing hoses.

That horse’s name is “HQH Burn Notice”, and he won that race.

Flash forward to Saturday August 20, and his horse was racing again – this time during the daylight hours, making it much easier for Annie and Isaac to also attend.

Allen County: Fort Wayne Tin Caps

Our quick trip to Allen County to help celebrate Cousin Joel’s Birthday, didn’t highlight all Fort Wayne has to offer, so I thought I would blog about our visit to see the Fort Wayne Tin Caps take on the Lansing Lugnuts on Sunday, August 7.   

Decatur County: Park and Courthouse

On Saturday August 6th, we ventured to Decatur County for a few hours to explore some of goodies for the county.  Decatur County’s seat is Greensburg, and their fame is the courthouse tree.

Allen County: Cousin Joel turns 1

Saturday July 30th, 2011 – we ventured up to Ft. Wayne in Allen County to visit Annie’s sister, family, and extended family for their son’s first birthday party.

The plan was simple: fly up to Smith Field airport, get picked up, birthday party for a few hours, and come home.

Jackson County: Shieldstown Bridge

One of the interesting things when we started this adventure journal were the number of people we know from counties throughout the state who said the same thing: Good luck finding something interested to do in that county

Jackson County was one of those counties. Truth be told, the visitors center website didn’t list very much in the way of interesting sites or places to go. But this past weekend, during the beginning of an 8 day heat wave, we needed something to do, so we set out to find something interesting in Jackson county.

Steuben County: Hot Air Balloons and More

Even though this is Annie’s home county, it’s still on our list and we still sought out an opportunity to visit and do some fun things.

On Friday, July 8th we headed up to Angola Indiana to watch the Angola Balloons Aloft event.

Monroe County: Taste of Bloomington

On Saturday, June 18, 2011 we headed over to Monroe County to checkout the “Taste of Bloomington” event.

We left just after Isaac’s nap, and got to our friends’ house just before 4pm, just in time to drive downtown to the event. After a bit of search for parking, we found a spot and got in.

Laporte County: Hesston Steam Museum

After our brief visit to Lake County, we headed back to Laporte County on the afternoon of June 4th, 2011 to visit the Hesston Steam Museum.

History comes alive at the Hesston Steam Museum as real steam locomotives take you on a spectacular two and a half mile journey through deep woods, past lakes and farm fields.

Lake County: Aquatorium

While in Porter County, we made a very brief visit to Lake County on the afternoon of June 4th, 2011.  Keep in mind this is the home of Gary, Indiana - murder capital of the world - and we didn’t know where to go and where not to go.

We hopped up to Marquette Park, a small but charming park by the lake that is home to the Aquatorium.

Porter County: The Dunes

After a full day in Laporte County, we headed over to Porter County to see a few sights.

Laporte County: The Dunes

Continuing in our journey of counties, we recently took a 3 day weekend trip to the Indiana Dunes to explore and see the sights.

We left around 10AM on Friday, June 3rd from the Columbus airport and ventured to Michigan City airport, KMGC, a distance of about 152 nautical miles.  Travel time was about 90 minutes, which is much more pleasant than a 4 hour car ride.

Vigo County: Family Day Trip

We got an invitation a few weeks ago to my cousin’s high school graduation party, in Vigo County. Since this is where my (Caleb’s) family is from, we thought it might make for a nice little day trip and opportunity to see family.

The original plan was to fly our Cessna 182 to Sky King airport, which is close to my mother’s house, and get picked up for lunch with some of that side of my family.  However, strong winds scared me away from going there and instead I opted for Hulman Field, which has longer runways and more options for landing.

Bartholomew County: Commons Playground

Hancock County: Indy Air Show Main Event

On the heels of our Friday night adventure seeing the hot air balloons, we set off early Saturday morning to return for the major portion of the airshow.

We arrived around 10AM, parked, and made a fairly lengthy journey to the main gate. Our tickets were upgraded admission to the Suntable seating area, which meant instead of finding a place to sit and bringing your own chairs we had a roped off area, in prime viewing location, with preassigned tables and chairs to sit at. The price difference for the upgraded tickets was negligible in my opinion, and the viewing location made it worth it.

Hancock County: Indy Air Show Balloon Glow

On May 13 and 14, 2011, we visited Hancock County, specifically the Indianapolis Regional Airport, to partake in the 15th annual Indy Air Show.

We had been planning this trip for a few weeks, and in recent days a number of local television stations had been running commercials for it enhancing my overall anticipation.  We debated actually flying in to the airport for the airshow, but because the airport shuts down for about 6 hours during the aerial portion of the show, it limited our options to leave - and with an 18th month old, we didn’t feel comfortable being trapped.  Plus, since the airport is only about an hour drive away, we opted to drive.

The airshow spans Friday through Sunday, with Friday being the practice day and Saturday/Sunday being the actual air shows days.