Let's get outside!

The goal:  The intent of this blog is to provide details of planned, monthly weekend outdoor getaways near east-central Illinois.  Activities may be as brief as 3-4 hours....or as long as 2 days....but they won't be too processed or micromanaged.  The goal is to have fun and learn a bit at the same time.  Personally, my initial intent was to build a stronger outdoor relationship with my daughter, but then I figured, why not share the opportunity with others?!  We'd love for you to join us!  

The schedule: This year, I've planned weekend activities once a month from March through November! My 10 year-old daughter and I will be participating every month, and approximately 7 days prior to each activity, I will be posting details about locations, logistics, schedules, and necessities for each trip.

March	23	Navigating and Map Reading	Oakwood, IL
April	27	Canoe Trip 2.5 miles	Sidney, IL
May	18	Bird Migration/Owl Observation	Allerton Park
June	22	Solstice Overnight Hike Indiana	Shades St. Park, IN
July	20	Fossil Hunting/Geode Hunting	Indiana or Iowa
August	17	Kickapoo Rail-Trail Ride	Urbana-St.Joseph, IL
September	21	Equinox Canoe Trip 1-2 Day	Oakwood or Sugar Creek
October	19	Starved Rock 1 Long Day	Ottawa, IL
November	23	Day Hike Lodge Park Geocaching	Lodge Park, Monticello, IL

The scoop:  I have no intention of missing these events, but our participation may change due to other short-term/urgent schedule conflicts.  It happens.  However, prior to each trip, I intent to post enough information that anyone else can certainly adventure out to the sites and participate.  Trips in June, July and September are unavoidably/intentionally overnight trips.  We're super excited about those.  All others can easily be completed between dawn and dusk.  Feel free to email me at jthomason11@gmail.com if you have any questions or suggestions!