Disney's Animal Kingdom

The sun slowly rises in the East, filling the morning sky with vibrant shades of red, yellow, and orange.  The tall grass dances side to side as a cool breeze nudges them so gently.      The silence of the plains are broken by the loud roar of the big cats…..Lions that is.  They are returning to their den after a long night of hunting.

Are we on some safari down in Africa.  I wish.  No, for we are still continuing our Disney World adventure as we explore Disney’s Animal Kingdom.  Maybe someday I will be able to make it to Africa and go on an actual safari, but for now I will have to be content with the wilds of Orlando Florida.

I know it is hard to pick a favorite Disney park.  Each have their own uniqueness and offer something that the other parks don’t.  With that said, I will have to say that Animal Kingdom might be my favorite park.  I have been fascinated with wildlife for most of my life.  I can sit and watch animal documentaries all day.  I prefer them over regular T.V. most of the time.  When Shark Week is on don’t even think about bothering me, because I have a nice comfy spot on my couch and the Discovery Channel is calling my name.  If I didn’t have to go to work I probably would watch it all day.  Thats the dream right?

I had mention in one of my previous post that the Animal Kingdom was more like a zoo.  Well I was a little quick to judge when I had said that.  Even though it does have that zoo like essence, with various animals from around the world on display, there is much more to it than that.  Much like the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom is divide up into 6 areas: Oasis, Discovery Island,  DinoLand U.S.A., Asia, Africa, and the new Pandora - The World of Avatar.

The Oasis is just inside of the Main Gate of the park.  It is mostly a gathering place with a few shops and animal encounter for your viewing pleasure.

Discovery Island is the heart of Animal Kingdom.  Much like Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle, the Tree of Life is the focal point.  The tree was created to celebrate the creatures of the world.  Encompassing the tree is 325 carving of living and extinct animals.  The tree is cool to see during the day but I think that it really shines when the lights go out.  As the sun goes down the tree is light on all sides in many colors and thats not all.  About every 10 minutes the tree comes to life.  The animal spirits of the tree comes to life and move about in a 5 minute show.  I could be wrong about the length of the show.  It could be longer.  There is a different animal that comes to life per show so it doesn’t repeat that often.  Underneath the tree lies It’s Tough to be a Bug, a 3D show based on Pixar’s A Bugs Life.  Just a warning, its not meant to be scary but there is a part that can be a little intense for the little ones.  There was a little girl in the theater with us and I’m pretty sure she will be traumatized for the rest of here life.

DinoLand U.S.A is modeled to look like any typical U.S. city in the 40’s or 50’s.  One area of DinoLand is made up of carnival style rides and games.  Its typically not my style of entertainment, but it was actually pretty fun.  We did ride the Primeval Whirl.  Its much like a Wild Mouse ride were the upper part of the carriage moves freely from the base.  Its a fun but jostling.  I went on it when I was a little too full of food, not my best idea of the day.  No worries, I didn’t get sick but things got sloshed around.

I think the Highlight of DinoLand is the Dinosaur ride based on Disney film of the same name.  The idea behind this ride is that you are sent on a mission back in time to find an Iguanodon, but there is a miscalculation in the trip.  When you go back in time you go back within minutes of the meteorite hitting the Earth.  Not to mention that you are also being chased by a carnivorous dinosaur.  Is your mission successful…..well I could tell you but I don’t wont to spoil it completely.

When you enter into the Asia area of the park, you can’t help feel that you are about to take a trek up to top of Everest.  Which you will, but we’ll get to that later.  The building are made to resemble those that you would find in Lukla, Nepal.  Lukla is a small village around the base of Everest.  This is the starting point for many climber that attempt to make it to the  summit.

My favorite ride in Asia is Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain.  Expedition Everest is a high speed, high thrill ride.  On this expedition you are tasked with find the legendary yeti.  Instead of you finding him, he finds you and pounces causing damage to the track.  There is only one way to go from here and that’s backwards.  Hopefully you are brave enough to endure to the end.  There is another cool little spot in this ride and it takes place before you even get on.  If you are fortunate, or unfortunate depending on how you look at it, not to us a FastPass on this ride you are treated with a little yeti museum.  This museum chronicles the history of yeti sightings throughout  the history of the area.  It interesting to see how the legend has grown through the years.

Don’t worry though, if Expedition Everest sounds too intense you can always turn to the Kali River Rapids.  A lazy river style ride, with a few drops that are sure to get you wet.  Ever ride is different.  We rode it twice.  On the first ride I barely got wet but the second one I was drench.

After dark Asia comes alive with River of Lights.  This is a light show that takes place over one of the rivers that flows through the park.  Moving images are projected onto background trees, while floating platforms jet water into the air.  The platforms are equipped with lights which change the color of the water and the platform themselves, for that matter, depending on the flow of the show.  Large jets shot water from one end of the river to the other.  Vivid movies are projected on to the falling water from the jets creating some visually stunning effects.  A really cool show I would recommend seeing if you have the time.

My favorite ride in the whole park is in Africa, the Kilimanjaro Safari.  On the safari you will see many African animals.  It is made to simulate an actual African safari.  Many of the animal are free to roam wherever they choose to go.  This free roaming can cause the truck to stop for periods of time until the road are clear.  They do keep the predators separated from the prey animals so that there are no unfortunate accidents.  Ever safari is different from the last as different animal are active at different times of the day.  If you are able, I would suggest riding it several times at different times of the day.  You will not be disappointed.

While venturing through Africa make sure to stop in at Festival of the Lion King and visit with Simba and his friends.  The festival is a live action show full of singing, dancing, and acrobatics.  You’ll enjoy the songs from Disney’s Lion King.

Welcome to Pandora - The World of Avatar.  The latest addition to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.  As the name suggests, Pandora is based on James Cameron’s film Avatar.  The World of Avatar takes place generations after the events of the movie.  Humans have come back to Pandora to help restore the planet back to its former glory and restore the friendship with the Na’vi.

Disney has down an awesome job recreating Pandora.  As you wonder around you feel like you’ve been transported into the movie.  Gravity defying mountain float above your head.  Waterfalls run off said mountains.  Strange and unusual plants surround the walkways.  Currently Pandora only has two rides: Na’vi River Journey and Avatar Flight of Passage.  Since the area is fairly new expect longer than usual wait times.

The Na’vi River Journey is simple little boat ride.  As you travel down the river the native Na’vi tell you about Pandora.  While the creature of the planet run and stalk about the ride.  It is a fun little ride.  I will have to say that I was a little disappointed by it.  The ride is short only about five minutes or so.  It was visually stunning though with the use of black light and projected images.  I would ride it again, but I would not stand in a long line to do it.

Avatar Flight of Passage on the other hand is an extremely fun ride.  We ended up standing in line for a little over an hour to ride it.  This was relatively a short wait time.  At one point it reach well over two and a half hours.  The ride itself is a 3D thrill ride.  The ride simulates you riding on back of a banshee as you fly through the wilds of Pandora.  Disney put a lot of thought into the design of this ride.  You can feel the seat move as it simulates the breathing of the banshee.  Something that I thought was really cool.  Just think of it as Soarin’ but on back of an alien creature on an alien planet.

We had a lot of fun playing in the different areas of the Animal Kingdom.  We were able to ride all the rides, sometime more than once, and see all the shows that we wanted to.  I can’t wait to go back.

We’ll see you next time in Hollywood….Studios that is.

As always until next time.  Thanks for stopping by.

Josh

The Magic Kingdom

The screeching alarm blaring from my clock tells us it’s time to get up.  It reads 3 am.  Hesitantly we drag ourself out of bed.  Our cab will be here in about 45 minutes to take us to the airport.  It’s a quite drive but with every passing minute our excitement grows with anticipation.  In a few hours we will be landing in Orlando, Florida to start our anniversary adventure.

After picking up our rental car we head to hotel to see if we could check in early.  We didn’t want to go exploring Orlando with our suitcase in the car.  Well something we weren’t expecting happened when we reached the hotel.  Their system had been down for two days and they didn’t know when it would be back up and running.  At this point we were unable to check in.  It was getting close to lunch time so we figured would head over to Disney Springs and see what kind of trouble we could find there.

Disney Spring is what used to be known as Downtown Disney, very similar to the one in California.  Disney Spring is an open air mall.  It probably goes without saying but most of the stores are based on Disney and their associated properties.  No frets though, there are plenty of regular mall stores to be found.

After roaming through the stores, we decided it was time to eat.  There are plenty of places to choose from.  We settled on D Luxe  Burger.  As you would expect they have burgers and chicken sandwiches.  We both had the barbecue burgers.  It was really good and juicy.  Luckily for me they had rolls of paper towel at the table because I had juice and maybe some grease run down my hands and arms.

All in all, our first day in Orlando was pretty low key.  Which was a good start to the hectic week we were about to have.

We find figured we would start our Disney World adventure with the heart of Disney, the Magic Kingdom.  We rose early to meet up with my family before heading to the park.  Magic Kingdom is a little different than the other parks.  In the other parks after you park you catch a shuttle that takes you to the gate and you walk into the park, but at the Magic Kingdom after you park and take the shuttle you then have to choose one of three ways to get to the main gate.  Take a ferry across the lake, take the monorail or catch one of the buses.  All are acceptable.  On the first day the monorail was having issues, so we had to take it the ferry.  Which wasn’t that big of a deal to me.  It was a nice leisurely cruise with great views of the resort.

The Magic Kingdom is divided into 6 different areas: Main Street, USA, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Liberty Square, Frontierland and Adventureland.

Once you pass through the main gate, you find yourself on Main Street, USA.  Main Street is the gateway to the park.  Here you will find shops and eateries to fit your fancy.  On one of the days we stopped in at Casey’s Corner.  They serve American style grub.  Mostly hotdogs in a wide variety of flavors.  I had a macaroni and cheese foot long.  I know that sound awfully strange but it was surprisingly good.  At the end of the road sits Cinderella’s Castle, the center point of the park.

To the right of the castle sits Tomorrowland.  Here you find Space Mountain, Tomorrowland Speedway and many others.  One of my favorites rides in this area is a easy going and non-abrasive.  The Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover.  The PeopleMover is a small tram that takes you through the rides of Tomorrowland and gives you some insight into them.  We were sitting there and you could hear the screams from Space Mountain.  A different perspective on what you are used to.

I don’t know if you have ever driven the cars on the Tomorrowland Speedway or Autopia in Disneyland but there is something about them I can’t figure out.   I think of myself as a good driver, not the best by any means but good.  No matter how I adjust the way I drove, I would always crash into the safety rail that sits underneath the car.  It was frustrating but I guess sometime you have to give in once and awhile and let it run its course.  We still had fun and thats all that matters.

Behind the castle you find Fantasyland and Liberty Square.

Liberty Square is a snapshot of Colonial USA.  The highlights for me were The Haunted Mansion and The hall of Presidents.  I think most people know about or at least have heard about The Haunted Mansion, so I’m not going talk about it in too much detail.  The Haunted Mansion takes you on a tour of…well the Mansion.  Inside you encounter the former residents of the home who are no longer amongst the living.  Be on your guard or might find yourself joining them.

The Hall of Presidents is Disney’s animatronics at their best.  All 44 men that have served as the U.S. President are on display.  Several of them move, which are very realistic, as they related the history of our nation.  The one thing that I thought was really cool was when Obama and Trump gave there speeches.  As you would expect, the supports from each side cheered and clapped for their President but neither side booed the other.  During these times it was really inspiring to see happen.

Fantasyland is were Disney Princesses come to life.  Here you find rides and attractions relating back to Classic Disney movies.  It seem that we spent a lot of time here.  Maybe it was because it started down pouring on us when we got there and the idea was to get out of the rain.  Just a helpful tip.  Pack an umbrella or poncho, you never know what the weather will do.  The first stop for us was Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid.  This is a fun little ride that takes you through the movie.

There are two rides in Magic Kingdom that always had insane wait times.  One was Peter Pan’s Flight and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.  I was familiar with Peter Pan but I had never heard of the Mine Train and was intrigue to know why it always had a huge line.  We were unable to get fast pass to it.  We were going to spend one more day in the park and decided that we would get there first thing and wait out the line.  The Mine Train is a fun little roller coast that takes you through the diamond mine of the dwarfs and the story of Snow White.

Left of the caste lies the lands of Frontierland and Adventureland.

Ah Adventureland,  I don’t know what it is but I really like this part of the park.  It doesn’t have a ton of rides but what is there is fun.  The two main rides are Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise.  My favorite ride of Disney has to be Pirates.  It is the only ride that I feel I have to do at least once no matter which park I’m in.  I will say Disney World Pirates feel a lot shorter than the one in Disneyland.  There are a slight difference between the two, but for the most part they are the same.  Pirates is a lazy river style ride that takes you on a pirate adventure with a few twists and turns.

The Jungle Cruise is another boat ride but on a much bigger scale than Pirates.  What starts out as a simple river tour through Africa quickly changes for the worst.  The captain will try to expertly navigate you through the treacherous waters, so don’t lose your head.  Literally, for head hunts live in this region of the river and can’t wait to take a souvenir back to their camp.

Frontierland, home of Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Railroad.  Splash Mountain was the first ride that we went on when we got to the Magic Kingdom.  Its a ride that you will get wet on, so we wanted to get it out of the way.  Of course, we did know we would be caught in a monsoon later in day and be soaked to the bone.  Splash is yet another river ride, but is more on the thrill side of things.  You join the Br’er Rabbit as he takes you on an adventure through the Briar.  Its all easy breezy with a few twists and drops, until the end when you go careening to your death down a 52.5 drop to the water below.

Big Thunder is a thrill coaster with high speed and lots of twists and turns.  Its funny, I’ve been to Disneyland many times and to Disney World only twice.  I think that I have rode this ride equally between the two parks and that would be twice in each of them.  It seem that whenever we were in Disneyland it was closed do to construction or it had broke down.  Do to this, I feel that it is more enjoyable and fun for me.

Our Magic Kingdom adventure was filled with fun and excitement.  We were able to see a lot and ride all the rides that we wanted.  The only thing I would have done differently would have been to close the park.  We had to leave early on the days that we were there.  I would have like to see the firework show that they have.  Well there is always next time.

We will see you at the Animal Kingdom.  Until next time, Thanks for stopping by.

Josh 

A Brief Look Back At What Started It All

What is up everybody?

In August of this year Erin and I will be celebrating our ten year wedding anniversary.  What a crazy ten years it has been, filled with very high highs and some very low lows.  Our time together has been full of adventures and we’ve seen and been through a lot of things.  As I look back, I can’t help but to remember the adventure that started it all for us.  Our honeymoon.  Don’t worry nothing explicit here.  For our honeymoon we went to one of the happiest places on Earth…….Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Growing up in the West, we tended to travel to Disneyland in California.  So I was fairly familiar with what to expect when we traveled there.  I had never been to Florida, so I didn’t really know what to expect.  I wasn’t the seasoned adventure then that I think I am now.  Now a days I would do some research before the trip so that I would have some sort of an idea of what I was getting into.  What can I say, I was young and dumb and didn’t know any better.  I packed the way I normally would.  BIG mistake on my part.

Erin and I were married in August, of course, during one of the hottest months of the summer.  For most of my life, we have been playing in the deserts and backcountry of Utah.  I figured I knew what heat was and how to handle it, but Florida has a different type of heat all together.  You may or may not know, that Florida has a high percentage of humidity.  Something I really didn’t understand until we moved to the Chicagoland area.  Because of this high percentage of humidity, it adds a different layer to the heat.  If you are from anywhere that has humidity you’ll understand what I’m talking about.  The moisture in the air makes you feel like you are constantly sweating, even though you are not doing anything that warrants you to do so.  I like to think of it as being fully clothed in a sauna.  Well….maybe not that drastic but you get my point.  For someone like me, who prefers to wear pants, it became super miserable super fast.  Luckily, I did have a pair of shorts that I brought along which saved the trip.  I wouldn’t have let that stop me from enjoying our trip.  I would have powered through and still have had as much fun.

You may not be aware, Disney World is separated into four main parks: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot and several other smaller parks including: Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, ESPN Wide World of Sports and a few others.  We decided that to get the most out of our trip and see what we wanted to see, we would spend a day in each of the four main parks.   We went to Hollywood Studios first, followed by Magic Kingdom, then Epcot and finally Animal Kingdom.  

Many people have asked us what are favorite park was and I tell them the same thing.  Its hard to say which is my favorite.  Each park is different and each one has its own good and bad.  Magic Kingdom felt really familiar to me because its shares a lot of similarities with Disneyland in California.  Hollywood Studios has more shows for your viewing pleasure.  Epcot is a little bit more laid back.  Animal Kingdom a bit of a zoo vibe to it, but a lot better than an actual zoo.  Like I said each park has its good and bad.  Each one is fun and exciting.  It all depends on the individual and what they are looking for.

To be honest I don’t remember every detail of our trip, but thats okay.  I know we had a lot of fun and thats all that matters.  It was an experience that we both really enjoyed and couldn’t wait to go back.

Fast forward ten years…..well maybe eight and a half to nine years. Our ten year anniversary was right around the corner and we wanted to do something really special to celebrate it.  We settle on taking a trip but not quite sure where we wanted to go.  Fly to Europe and see the wonders of the old world or maybe visit our Aussie brothers in Australia.  Hop on a boat and cruise the Caribbean or even Alaska.  So many option it was hard to decide and then it hit us.  Lets recreate the magic that we had on our honeymoon.  It was settle, we would head back to the happiest place on Earth.

With our destination set, we went into planning mode.  The first big step was to solidify how long we were going to stay.  We decide that we would fly in on a Saturday, play in the parks for rest of the week and fly home on Sunday.  We had to tweak this plan a little do to some unforeseen events that popped up, but we would still be in the parks for seven days. 

Now that we knew how long we wanted to go.  The next step would be to find out when we wanted to go.  Of course our anniversary is in August, but we didn’t want to repeat our mistake from our honeymoon and deal with the uncomfortable humidity.  This is where our research came in handy.  We scoured the internet and came to the conclusion, at least for us, that going in May would be the best time.  The temperature would not be to unbearable and the it would not be as crowded.

There was one last thing that we decided on.  If you have been following us for awhile, you would know that for our bigger trips we usually do with our families.  This trip was no exception.  We threw it out there that we were going to Disney World for our anniversary and anyone that wanted to come was more than welcome to come with us.  Both sides decide that they wanted to tag along to celebrate with us.  The idea was that it was their vacation to so they didn’t have to do everything that we were doing.  They were free to roam around as they pleased and for the most part that is what happened.  Some days we were all together and other days it was just the two of us.

We had a lot of fun playing and exploring Walt Disney World.  Over the next few weeks I’ll be going into more depth about our adventures.  If you haven’t been there I hope you will be inspired to plan a visit and experience the joy of Disney World.

Until next time.  Thanks for stopping by.

Josh

Adler Planetarium

What’s up everybody?

We are still having some weird weather out here in Chicagoland.  It’s been cold and wet.  In fact, it is snowing as I write this.  It feels more like winter than it does spring.  Luckily for us, the sun decided to come out from behind the clouds over the weekend.  To be honest, I have been suffering from a bad case of cabin fever and really need to get out.  It was really good to finally do that.  We jumped in the car and headed towards the big city to check off one of my bucket list items.  And that Was the Shedd Aquarium, but we figured since we were up there we would do a two-for and see the Adler Planetarium as well.

I have considered myself an astro-nerd for a long time.  I’m not sure if astro-nerd is even a term but we’ll use it anyway.  Ever since I was a kid, I have loved to watch and read science fiction.  One of my favorite movies of all time is Star Wars.  Even though Episode VIII did leave a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, but thats a discussion for another time.  It will always be one of my favorite franchises.  I wanted to be there flying through the infinite of space and battling my way across the cosmos in my starship with an alien counterpart.

In recent years my passion for space has been put on the back burner as life has changed and other things became more important.  I will have to say that sadly, the planetarium was not on my radar for things to see.  Which was unfortunate.  If I had done my research on it, like I usually do, I would have been a lot more excited to see it.

In 1928 Max Alder, a retired executive of Sears, traveled to Germany after hearing stories about their amazing planetariums.  What he found there was the recently invented Zeiss Projector.  The Zeiss Projector was a machine that accurately projected the night sky onto a domed theater screen.  Inspired but what he had seen, upon his return back to the states, he immediately went to work coming up with an idea for his vision of a planetarium.  He donated funds and a Zeiss Projector to the project.

The honor of designing the build fell upon famed residential architect Ernst Grunsfeld.  After some issues on where to built the Planetarium, they settled on building it on Northerly Island.  This small island is found just off the shore of Lake Michigan.  It is connect to the mainland by a small causeway.  The original Planetarium was a twelve-sided building with a stone facade and topped with a dome.  In 1991, it went through a remodel and a glass pavilion was built around the backside which faces Lake Michigan.  They say that the best view of the Chicago Skyline can be seen from the planetarium and I will have to say that they are not lying.  It is a spectacular view.  In May of 1930 Adler Planetarium, the first planetarium in the western hemisphere, opened to the public.

I know, its not the outside of the building that draws people to the planetarium.  Its whats inside that everyone wants to see.  The Adler Planetarium houses three theaters for your viewing pleasure.  Johnson Star Theater, Definiti Theater, and the Grainger Theater.  Fun fact: the Grainger Theater is the same theater that housed the original Zeiss Projector but remodeled and updated.  The tickets that we purchased allowed us to choose any two shows that we wanted.  We seen Planet Nine, which talks about finding the fabled ninth planet in the Kuiper Belt on the edge of our solar system, and Cosmic Wonder, which talks about thing that have been discovered throughout our universe.  Both shows were good and very informative.

There are exhibits for kids of all ages and all worth the time to explore and ponder about.  There were two that I found very interesting.  Astronomy in Culture and Mission Moon.  

Mission Moon goes over the history of the U.S. trying to reach the moon and the reaches of space through the eyes of Captain Lovell and his family.  Just incase you’re not sure who Captain Lovell is.  He was the lead astronaut on Apollo 13, which suffered from a catastrophic failure.  He and his crew valiantly and successful figured out a way to pilot their capsule back to Earth.  There is a part of the exhibit that gives you the opportunity to put you in their shoes.  You are given a panel of switches and you have to choose four of them to keep your capsule functioning without using too much power.  It gives you an idea of the hard decisions they had to make to survive.  

I will have to say it was all cool but my favorite part of this exhibit was the Gemini Spacecraft.  It was a vehicle that carried two astronauts and orbited the Earth at lower levels.  The purpose of these mission was to  develop techniques for space travel, being able to work on vehicles in the vacuum of space and to perfect orbiting maneuvers.   All this training would eventually be used in developing the Apollo Missions, which would place a man on the moon.

The Astronomy in Culture exhibit I thought was the best part of the planetarium.  Yes, there are lots of cool stuff throughout, but this exhibit really shows the history of astronomy.  Many of the objects date back centuries.  A good example is all the antique telescopes that are on display.  Some even used by Galileo himself, unless I read the plaque incorrectly.  Many of the items on display in this exhibit were initially bought by Max Adler before the planetarium opened.  It became known as the Mensing Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments.  Wow!  That was a mouthful.  The collection continued to grow throughout the years as many curators of the planetarium pushed to expand it to make it the awesome sight it is today.

My love for space might have fallen a little in recent years but with our visit to the planetarium it has rekindled that old flame.  Walking through the exhibits reminding me of the wonder I used to have as a child.  For those that are passionate or for those who are just getting into astronomy should check this place out.  A wonder for all ages.  You wont be disappointed.

Well my time is up!  As always, thanks for stopping by.  Until next time.

Josh

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Missing an old Friend

What’s up everyone?

Serenity on the rocks

It’s been awhile since I have posted and once again I have to apologize for it.  It becoming a habit that we’re gonna have to break.  Weather, that won’t make up its mind, and crazy work schedules have left us guarding the homestead instead of adventuring out into the great wilderness.  This has created a slight void in what we have talk about.  With Spring finally here, hopefully the weather will upturn for the better and we’ll finally be able to enjoy the outdoors once more.  With that all said let get back to this weeks post.

As I stated above, winter is over and spring is taking its place.  During this time of year, my thought tend to fall upon one of my favorite holidays, Easter.  Not necessarily Easter itself, even thought I enjoy the holiday, but the week leading up to Easter.

Every year during the week of Easter, the small little town of Moab, Utah fills to the brim with Jeepers and four-wheel drive enthusiasts.  Moab is the host of the annual Moab Easter Jeep Safari.  It has been this way since it was conceived in 1967 in an attempt to bring in more tourists and believe me it work.  My family has been participating in the Safari since ’89, that almost thirty years in the off road game.  Its hard for me to picture an Easter before we started going there.  I have watched the Safari grow and grow without any stopping in sight.  Which is awesome to see.  Like mind people being able to share and enjoy in an activity that they love.  Passing the time telling stories of their adventures or just talking about the upgrades of their rigs.

Courtesy of Route to Adventure

Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to participate in the Safari in some time now.  In the past it hadn’t bothered me all that much, but for some reason this year it has really been bringing me down.  It could be that it was one of our family traditions that I looked forward to every year or maybe I’m just suffering from a bad case of cabin fever and I really need to get out of this house.  STUPID WEATHER!

I think its probably seeing all these Jeeps running around here and it’s making me miss mine.  When we decided to move out to the Chicagoland area we elected to leave it in Salt Lake.  To be honest, I didn’t want to drive it all the way out here.  It might have been a mistake on my part to leave it behind but it made sense to me at the time.  Some of you may or may not know, but Illinois is fairly flat with nothing that I would consider worthy of using four wheel drive on.  I am still relatively new to the area and not too familiar with what is possibly around us in terms of play areas for off roading.  I did recently found out that there is a Jeep or 4x4  club out here.  I haven’t had a chance to look into them yet to find out what they are all about, but hopefully I will be able to contact them and get more information on where to play in our new home.  I’ll have to keep you guys up to date on that if it and when that develops.

I have made a new friend out here, that has be hounding me to bring my Jeep out here.  He is a fellow enthusiast and has started a Blazer project of his own.  He is fairly new to the off road game and he is always asking me question about my rig and excited to hear my opinions on the subject.  I find it funny that whenever we get together our conversation, regardless of what we are talking about, eventually lead to off roading.  I know his wife has had enough of it, since every time we talk he gets more excited about it and wants to work on his project to get it going.  I think that its refreshing for him to be able to talk to someone that has the experience that I have.  I’m not an expert in any way, I just want to make that clear, but I do know a few things.

Courtesy of jeep.com

In response to my friends hounding, I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a new Jeep.  I have really fallen in love with the new design of the 2018 Wrangler.  It would have to be the Unlimited Rubicon though.  There is a high probability that our little family unit will be expanding and having the 4 doors of the Unlimited would be a must have.  With the Rubicon variation it would save on upgrades in the future.  The more I toy with the idea the more I’m not sure I can do it.  Buying a new Jeep would mean that I would have to sell my old one.  I’m not sure if I quite ready to do that yet.  I’ve had a lot of good times and awesome adventures in her.  It would be like getting rid of a family member.  An end of an era.  Either way, I don’t have to make that decision now and it is always nice to dream about what could be.

Wherever your travels may take you this Easter Holiday season, I hope that you have a safe and wonderful time.  Enjoy the traditions that you have created and enjoy the company that you keep

From our family to yours.  Happy Easter!  Until next time.

Josh and Erin

Snowed In

What’s up everyone body?

I have to apologize for our brief hiatus.  It has been kind of wild out here in the Chicagoland area.  We have been dealing with crazy winter weather.  Over the past weekend we have received over 10 inches of snow and it is still falling.  This weather has limited our adventures to our couch and watching tv.  Sad, I know, but sometimes you have to take one for the team.  I’m sure there are plenty of you out there that are saying the weather shouldn’t be an excuse.  It just adds to the experience.  98 percent of the time I would agree with you.  

Several years back, a group of us decided to go on a night run.  It had been snowing the previous day, but we didn’t care.  We threw on some warm close and packed up our Jeeps and head to a local off-road play area, that was about an hour from where we lived.  We played around for some time and once we had our fill of the excitement we headed home.  I had my fill after getting stuck in some deep snow and had to get winched out.  Not my best moment, not even by a long shot.  So I’m no stranger to adventuring in the snow, but you have to realize when it’s worth it and when it’s not.  When the temps have fallen well below freezing and visibility is limited,  sometimes it’s best to stay home and enjoy yourself from the comfort of the couch.

Well at least one good thing came out of being snowed in.  I was able to sit down and start trying to plan out our adventures for this year.  After scouring over the internet I’ve come up with the top ten things I would like to see this year.  I’ve divided them into two groups of five: Local (within an hour drive) and Non-local (more than an hour).  I will have to say that most of these will have to wait until it gets a little warmer but that’s ok.

Local:

1. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore:

Courtesy of nps.gov

This one is a little more than my hour time limit, but I’ll let it slide.  Just across the border sits Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore near the town of Porter.  This National Lakeshore is composed of 15 miles of shoreline on the southern tip of Lake Michigan.  You can explore 50 miles of hiking trails that will take you through sandy dunes, forests and wetlands.

2)  Chicagoland Speedway:

I’ve been a fan of racing since I was little.  It started out watching local races at a little local track.  As I grew up I became a fan of NASCAR.  We didn’t have a major tack close enough to us to actually see them in action, until they built Las Vegas Motor Speedway that is.  It still took us about 6 hours to get there though, but now Chicagoland is just down the street from me.  About 15 miles away, that is, and it’s been several years since I actually seen a NASCAR race is person.  It’s about time I go.  Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland will be over the weekend of July 1st.  Hope to see you there.

3)  Six Flags Great America:

Ahh yes, the exhilaration of thrill rides.  I will admit that I am one that loves rollercoaster and thrill rides in general.  If it will get my heart pumping then I’m in.  Six Flags has always been known for it rides and Great America has its share of them.  Located in Gurnee, Illinois about 25 miles north of Chicago.  Locals have told me that it worth the trip and its pretty fun.  When it gets warmer we’ll have to find out.

4)  The Field Museum:

Courtesy of adlerplanetarium.org

With so many different museums in Chicago it is hard to narrow on down.  I could probably make a top ten list just for the museums, but the top of my list would still be the Field Museum.  Originally known by the Columbian Museum of Chicago, it has been around since 1893.  The Field Museum has dedicated its existence in the pursuit of scientific world.  Which sound right up my alley.  I have always been fascinated with the natural world and learning about it.  This definitely someplace I will have to make it to.

5)  Adler Planetarium:

This one was a toss up between Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium.  I’m a fan of both subjects, but in the end I’m a astronomer at heart.  The universe has been one of my favorite things to study for as long as I can remember.  I have several books on the subject.  We had a small planetarium back in Salt Lake that I enjoyed going to as a child.  It will be interesting to see what a big city planetarium would be like to explore.

Non-Local:

Courtesy of nps.gov

1. Mammoth Cave National Park:

Mammoth Cave has been on my radar for along time now, even before we moved to the Midwest.  It’s a place that I have always wanted to see.  We had a trip planned last year and two days before we planned on leaving our pup got sick and we had to cancel our trip to take tcare of him.  I will get there one day.

Located not to far from Cave City, Kentucky.  Mammoth Cave is the longest known cave system in the world.  It boast over 400 miles of explored caverns.  I’m sure there is more to be discovered.  There is more to the park then just the cave.  The Green River runs through the area lending to many water related activities.  Several hiking trail make their way through the rolling hills and forested areas within the park.

2) Effigy Mounds National Monument:

This is another place that is run by the National Park Service.  I happened to stumble upon this monument not to long after we moved to the Chicagoland area.  I was doing some research on what there was to do around here and found this little gem.

Located near Harper’s Ferry, Iowa and overlooks part our f the Mississippi River Valley.  The mounds were built by ancient peoples.  The 200 mounds in the monument are considered sacred to many Native American Tribes.  The monument works with 20 tribes to maintain it cultural and spiritual nature.  There have been many speculations about why the mounds were built most are based on local legends and some archeology.  While there take a minute to ponder on their meaning and enjoy.

3)  Garden of the Gods:

Not to be confused with the one out in Colorado.  This one is located in the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois.  3,318 acres has been set aside, designated as wilderness area.  As you traverse the 5.5 miles of interconnected trails, you will be awe struck by the stunning rock formations that were sculpted by the wind and rain over millennia of erosion.

Courtesy: longhollowcanopytours.com

4)  Wisconsin Dells:

As the name implies, the city of Wisconsin Dells is located in Wisconsin.  The city is known as the the water park capital of the world.  As the website states “home to more water parks per capita than anywhere on the planet and the biggest, fastest, and wettest water rides and slides in the world.”  I have never been too keen on water parks but this place sound pretty fun.  Everybody that I have talked to say you have to go.  We’ll just have to see if it’s worth the hype.  If water attractions are not your bag, don’t fret for the town has plenty of other attractions that will keep you entertained.

5) Long Hollow Canopy Tours:

I have to admit, this one is more for me than Erin.  She’s not to fond of height and will have to take some convincing to get her to go.  I think I can get her to go though.  I mean who doesn’t want to go flying through the trees at 40 miles an hour.  Located in Elizabeth, Illinois.  The staff at Long Hollow will take you on a 2 and a half hour tour through the tree canopy.  The tour consist of 6 zip lines of varying lengths and heights over the forest floor.

These are some of the place that we would like to see.  I don’t know if we will be able to see them all but we’ll do are best.

As always thanks for stopping by.  Until next time

Josh