You know, one of the coolest things about the outdoors is the individual, one-on-one time you get to share with friends and family members. There's no distractions from TV or video games, no noisy kids yelling in a small room, where the sound just bounces off the walls and drives parents crazy. Nope, none of that when you're outdoors. Just wide open spaces.
Kids can yell and holler as much as they want when we're on a camping trip; doesn't bother me one bit, unless I'm hunting or fishing that is. Then those little twerps better keep quiet or stay at home with mom, haha. But in all seriousness, we, as a people, need to get our kids more involved in being outdoors again. It seems that we are losing this in this generation. Kids growing up just wanting to watch tv or play video games and nothing else. No team sports involvement or anything. That all stems from not getting outside and enjoying nature as a child.
Well, enough of my rambling on about why kids should stay away from that idiot-box they call the television. Let's talk about what this website is all about - the great(er) outdoors!
Need ideas for what to do outdoors? Take some of these suggestions:
1) Camping. Nothing beats "roughing it" to teach a youngster how to be self-relient. Learning how to build shelter, start a fire, determine which plants are poisonous and which are not, all that good stuff we learned in boy scouts can be taught in small steps by camping.
2) Fishing. It's funny how spending quiet time in a boat together can bring out a conversation between two people. In between catching fish, you get to know that special person even better. Then of course, there's the actual catching of the fish. I prefer to fish for bass or trout, personally, but I've heard of people "noodleing" for giant catfish, but that just doesn't seem the same to me. Call me old fashioned I guess.
3) Hunting. Similar to fishing in that you get to spend quiet time with a friend or child and get to know one another a little better, but there's more adventure to experience and adrenaline pumping through your body when you take down a big buck that you've been tracking. Nothing quite compares. Guided hunting trips are my preferred outdoor activity, over any other. Plus as a bonus, you get to eat great, natural, food from what you've harvested. It's what they call a win-win!
4) Hiking and Rock Climbing. Now, I'm not much of a hiker or rock climber, with my bad knees and all, but a lot of people really enjoy this and I can see why. I know that I would if I could. I have a friend that recently came back from hiking up the Himalayas and he took a little video recording of his adventure, it was pretty neat to see. So this is something I would recommend if you have the ability to do so. Just send me the pictures. :)