The year 2021…what is there to say, hmmm it was quite a year wasn’t it? I mean everything had to be better then 2020 right? Seriously that was a historic and terrible year. If we chose to stay in that mindset we could, but for me and my house, we chose to rise above it! We started Adventuring in the Moment and we made the year epic! Seriously look at those stats! We did this with three weeks vacation and a lot of clever weekends. We had busy lives but didn’t let that stop us from adventure. God was calling us to adventure and so we decided that is what we will do. We put in countless hours of exploration and planing. Every week was a new adventure. Weather we were close or far we intended to spend time together and get outside. It was fun for us to look back on all the adventures we did last year. We made tons of videos but more importantly tons of memories. We saw waterfalls, mountain tops, forests, fields, streams, we saw new states, new cultures, and new ideas, we complied all of it into one year to kick open the gate on adventuring. There will be many more adventuring in the year 2022 but let’s take a closer look back at 2021.
We made camping our outlet to see our country. We slept 37 nights under the stars. We ventured into new campgrounds and explored the surrounding areas. We went back to some old favorites and soaked in our favorite parts. But every night we camped we returned to the mesmerizing campfire to pray and reflect on the goodness of God. It’s amazing to be outside and spend the time listening to the crickets chirp or the sound of the birds in the morning. One thing we decided to do was share our camping fun in videos too. If you haven’t seen all of our camping videos check out these below.
We also traveled to 11 different states! From Maine all the way down to North Carolina. We saw lots of new things. I learned as I traveled this year that there is something beautiful in each state. If you take the time to research, explore, and sometimes stumble upon the hidden gems, you will find in each state. Several times we would just stop to see something cool that needed to be explored more. Then other times we had a set schedule to see what we wanted to. Either way the lesson was learned there are amazing parks, forests, lakes, mountains, and whatever else in each state.
We visited 3 National Parks last year too: Acadia, Shenandoah, and The Great Smoky Mountains. I’ll start with North and continue south. First is Acadia. This park is in my home state so I’ve been to it many times. I learned that when you are familiar with something you can kind of lose the appreciation for it. That was definitely the case with Acadia. However after researching and see other national parks I realized that nothing out there is quite like Acadia. From the rocky coastlines to the mountain peaks. The whole park is an island and there is way more to do there then I gave credit before. We have been on the peak of the highest point in the park, Cadillac Mountain, to see the sun rise. We have done a cruise to see whales. We have hiked tons of trails and have spent the afternoon driving the park loop road. There is definitely a lot to do and a lot of hidden gems to find. If you want to climb the rocks on the coast line you can always find a place of solitude to watch the ocean spray up over the rocks. Its worth the trip, so your research and enjoy the park, we definitely did.
Second up is Shannadoha Vally National Park. We only spent a day in this park. I really liked it and want to go back some day. Some of the highlights for me was the drive. Skyline Drive is a section of the Blue Ridge Highway that makes up the park. Mile markers show where you are and we drove almost the whole way from the south to the north. We ran out of daylight so we had to finish off early, but the look outs were plentiful and beautiful. It’s accessible for anyone because you just pull over get out and enjoy the views. Another highlight for me was Black rock summit and Dark Hollow Falls. These are beautiful trails and worth the trip. A lot of the trails were longer trails that required multiple days of back packing so we stuck to some of the smaller ones. Over all the park was really nice and somewhere we would like to come back to to give it more time that it deserves. Here is a video of our favorite trail.
Last up was Great Smokey Mountains. We spent four nights and but I could probably spend a life time. I guess I didn’t know what to expect because I knew there were mountains and I knew that it was warm. I was blown away by this park! From the enchanted forest of lush over grown greens to the high peaks. Driving through the park only gives you a snippet of the things to do. We drove up to Clingmans Dome and hiked to the highest point to soak in a 360 degree view of the Smokies. We took a drive down the historic Cades Cove and saw tons of black bears. We saw lots of waterfalls and walked tons of trails. It was a blast and I can’t wait to go back and enjoy it again. Check out our favorite trails in the Smokies.
All in all it was a great year with tons of family fun! Stay tuned as I go through the plethora videos and showcase the amazing places God has made.
Adventuring in the Moment 