Family selfie at Big Thorn during our camping 🏕 adventure.

Living our best outdoor life 🔥

 

Kickapoo State Park

September/October, 2021.

Every fall, typically the first weekend in October, we venture to our hometown for a family cookout. This year, we discovered the tradition has been going strong since 2003.

Family members travel in from Missouri at various times between Thursday and Friday. This year a handful of us camped at Kickapoo State Park. On Friday we ventured to Georgetown, IL where we ate dinner and enjoyed the outdoors at Big Thorn Farm and Brewery.

On Saturday, we visited Royal Donut before heading to the soccer fields to watch our niece play. Then we shopped and ate at the Muncie Fall Festival before resting back at the campground. Saturday evening was the family cookout where we relaxed and enjoyed conversation around the fire.

Sunday is when we visit the Newport Antique Auto Hill Climb. We do a really good job of eating our way through the food vendors, buying items we don’t really need and watch the antique cars race up the hill.

Clear skies 🌌

Full hearts ♥️

Can’t lose.

xox, abbi

  • 6th & Peabody

    6th & Peabody is an indoor/outdoor venue for Ole Smokey Distillery and YeeHaw Brewery. They offer several different food hall options including dogs and mexican inspired dishes. There is an outdoor stage with live music, outdoor games and a huge indoor screen which boasts as the best place to watch sports.

  • Belle Meade Historic Site & Winery

    We toured the Belle Meade mansion and learned of the family history in relation to horses. Nora loved this bit of information. We had a glass of wine on the back patio where rocking chairs and climbing trees were our entertainment. Then we walked the grounds, toured the slave quarters and horse stables. Afterwards, Justin and Chris participated in a whiskey tasting.

  • 12 South

    Many, many instagrammable walls in Nashville.

  • More of 12 South

    Our friends Doug and Sarah recommended Frothy Monkey for coffee and 5 Daughters Bakery for donuts. Both were amazing.

  • 5 Daughters Bakery

    Nothing is Sweeter Than Family.

  • Downtown Nashville

    We only committed to 1 event which was a concert at the Ryman Auditorium. It was a Sunday in March, so we decided if there was any time to take the kids downtown Nashville it was now. Carter entertained himself from the rooftop vantage point by searching for unique cars.

  • Randy Houser + Ryman Auditorium

    Dierks Bentley made a guest appearance and summed up the performance by Randy Houser by saying, “Your voice was made for this space.” I still get transported to our experience at the Ryman when I listen to Randy’s music.

Tully: all shined up, cleaned out and prepped for winter storage.

Family selfie one last time for the 2021 Camping 🏕 Season.

 

2021 Camping Season #4

November, 2021.

Every fall we intentionally clean out and scrub Tully in preparation for winter storage. Typically, we store her from late October until early March. Winter allows us to plan at least a few trips we can look forward to.

Experiencing various cities including their unique contributions to their community is a family value we implemented in 2018. During the 2021 season we visited: Louisville, KY; Dyersville, Iowa; and Kentuckiana, IL.

Off Shore RV Park, Bellevue, Iowa

📸 : by N. L. Strader

Family photo op from the front porch swing handing at the Field of Dreams farm house.

 

Field of Dreams Camping Trip

July, 2021.

Every spring we intentionally plan a few camping trips for the upcoming season. Visiting Field of Dreams was a YES for the whole family. Justin found a full hook up campground about 45 minutes from Dyersville, Iowa. Offshore Resort included paved roads, fire pit, water features and on property dining. Bonus being on the water! The weather was gorgeous which allowed us to fully set up. I was able to put out the tablecloth and hang the bunting while Justin was able to organize his grilling + bar area.

Our first full day, we ventured 45 minutes through winding rounds to find Field of Dreams. Settled amongst vibrant green acres of corn, the well manicured baseball field was just asking for a game of catch. Wooden bleachers stood on the first base line with a second set in the left field. While standing on the top row of the left field bleachers we could see the progress being made on the temporary MLB field. Justin, Carter and Nora played catch and even got a few bats on the field to run the bases.

We took a break at the concession stand and sampled hot dogs, chips, beer and soda. The trip was complete when we made our own video of walking out of the corn. Maybe it was made even more complete when we visited the Baseballism merch shop.

On our way back to the campground, we toured Dyersville and found the sweetest brewery called Textile. Historic newspaper clippings were framed along the walls in chronological order to tell the story of the building and business.

On our second full day we played at the campground beach before venturing into downtown Bellevue to the ski show. River Ridge Brewing held the perfect location to enjoy local brew, homemade soft pretzels while experiencing the water ski show.