It was a perfect “between the busy” moment spent with Hockey Bob. An opportunity to talk about the past week, share funny stories and just enjoy being together on our walk to the Chelsea Farmers Market at the new Palmer Commons event space (304 S. Main St, Chelsea, MI 48118).
There is nothing better than spending a one on one trip alone with one of my kids – getting to know them as an individual, bonding, making memories. Over the years I have noticed that the most memorable mother daughter trips have a few things in common…
1. A common goal or project
The easiest way to ensure that you spend your time together bonding and making memories, is to plan the trip with a common goal or project in mind. This common goal can be as simple as a puzzle that is worked on in a rural cabin after peaceful days of hiking, a location scavenger hunt or a photo challenge like the “11 photos you should take if you want to” that Riley and I created to rebel against an article indicating that you should not take these photos. The best thing about photo challenges is that the end result is a collection of photo memories. Google “photo challenge” for a premade list, or inspiration to create your own!
The requisite “jumping” photo for our annual photo challenge
2. Plan for rainy days/changes in plan
Even the best laid plans can be derailed by weather or other unforeseen circumstances. Always be prepared with a backup plan. When visiting Hocking Hills, our backup plan in case of rain was the same as our common goal – working on the puzzle in the cabin. We lucked out and it didn’t rain, but it was nice to know that no matter what happened we had something to do, together.
3. Try/learn something new together
Riley and I went rock climbing for the first time one our mother daughter trip to Hocking Hills, Ohio. Alex and I went paddle boarding in Santa Rosa, California. Be brave, be adventurous. Zip lines, haunted houses, cross country skiing – there are so many things to try! It doesn’t matter if you fail, or whether you ever do it again. What matters is that you experience something new, together. These are the life moments that you will never forget. Next up – a Segway tour. I have no idea where, but it’s on the bucket list!
Rock climbing in Hocking Hills, OH
4. Make time for familiar activities that you already enjoy
One of our “try something new” activities on a family vacation years ago was geocaching. It has now become an activity we do nearly every time we travel. Whether finding the physical “treasures” of a traditional cache or discovering the beauty of our travel location with an earth cache, geocaching is usually a can’t miss activity for a mother daughter trip. Whether it’s hiking, an Escape Room or mini golf, be sure to make time for familiar activities.
Geocaching in Hocking Hills, Ohio
5. Create traditions
Make your mother daughter trip an annual tradition. Make it a priority to spend at least a weekend together, with no responsibilities or distractions other than the plans you have made with each other. If you find an activity that you both enjoy that can be done anywhere, make it a tradition to do that (or a variation of it) each year during your scheduled trip. Or even as a small getaway for the two of you from a larger family trip. For example, always follow the same photo challenge list, or always try a famous restaurant or new food. Riley and I intend to do our “11 photos you should take if you want to” challenge during each new mother daughter vacation. 11 identical but different photos of our adventures, each with it’s own story or private joke.
Do sunsets look the same, wherever you travel?
6. Visit the same place every year…or make it a point to explore a new place each year
So far, my daughters and I have primarily visited new places each year for our mother daughter trips. Alex and I have had the places chosen for us by default, as her figure skating schedule dictates dates and locations (I am NOT complaining, as Portland, Oregon and Santa Rosa, California were gorgeous and so much fun!), while Riley and I have stayed driving distance but with more freedom to choose the final destination (Hocking Hills, OH; Silver Lake Sand Dunes, MI). When traveling to more familiar places with the whole family, we do have favorite places to “get away” to – one we would recommend is Ding Darling on Sanibel Island, our must see when vacationing at Nana’s house in Fort Myers, Florida. Whether you hike or drive, Ding Darling is well worth the visit.
A Ding Darling Sunrise, Sanibel Island, FL
7. Find unique/cool places to eat
Whether it’s VooDoo Donuts in Portland, or the best hamburgers in Michigan, be sure to check out the food recommended by locals. We have had ice cream for dinner, searched out food trucks, and eaten at festivals. Make it a point to seek out food that you cannot get at home. (And seriously, if you are in West Michigan, go to Brown Bear in Pentwater and get a burger)
Lunch with the Coliseum Comets at the block of Food Trucks in Portland Oregon. All that variety and Alex chose pizza – go figure.
8. Make time for nature/quiet time
This one is tough for me. I tend to feel like I always have to be planning something, going somewhere or “accomplishing” something, – when the whole point of the mother daughter trip is the person with me. All of the goals, projects and adventure are secondary to the relationship that those activities are intended to foster. So take a nature break. Hike. Make time for quiet togetherness. Walk together, sit together, talk, listen. Enjoy the beautiful person and relationship that your mother daughter trip is intended to celebrate.
Do you take annual trips with someone special? I would love to hear your stories, tips and suggestions – comment below!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Tressie Davis is a blogger and photographer located in Chelsea, MI.
For the last couple of years, I have made it a mission to stop purchasing so many “things” and to start giving the gift of fun, togetherness and time. In December of 2015, the Christmas gift to our family was an outing to see the Harlem Globetrotters at the Huntington Center in Toledo, OH. To date, this is one of the most fun we have had as a family with a Christmas gift!
I’m not a huge sports fan, but even I had a great time at the show. There is
Where in Ann Arbor, MI can you see an Arctic Fox, a Reindeer and an albino Alligator? The Creature Conservancy !
Warm sun on our faces, Alex and I entered and were immediately intrigued by the black swans floating gracefully in the pond directly in front of us. In the distance to the right side of the pond, Emus wandered down to the waters edge to get a drink. A gentle breeze created tiny ripples in the water, prompting me to take a deep relaxing breath.
Slowly walking to the right, Alex and I headed toward the main building. Immediately upon entering, we met Luna the albino Alligator. We watched Luna for quite some time, swimming back and forth in her enclosure. It never occurred to me that Alligators could be albino, or what they would look like – Luna is beautiful!
After visiting Luna, we saw countless turtles and snakes. As we wandered, a playful and talkative raven named Poe caught our attention. Poe loved to bob his head, and say his name – “Poe Poe!, Poe Poe!”. We saw a sloth, muntjac deer, crested porcupines, an armadillo, barnyard animals and more.
Animal Presentations
Sven the Reindeer was the featured animal the day that Alex and I visited, and we entered the center room of the main building to watch Sven on the stone stage. Sven proudly shook his antlers, and strutted the length of the barrier to show everyone just how beautiful he is.
Other presentations included cougar feeding, alligator feeding, and cougar play time.
Hands On
The best part of the visit, was how many opportunities there were for hands on, interactive moments with the animals. Everything was very up close and personal, and in many cases you could touch the animals.
The entire location – indoors and out – had the relaxed, homey feeling of a farm, and people who work there are clearly passionate about what they do. The animal handlers were friendly, outgoing and eager to talk about the animals they care for. Alex and I were only there for a couple of hours, but we learned so much on our visit and walked away with a greater appreciation of the creatures that we share this planet with (and the people who advocate for them).
If you’re looking for a relaxing, low key outing with your kids in the Ann Arbor area, the Creature Conservancy is the perfect place to spend a couple of hours.
The Creature Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that takes in injured, non-releasable wildlife and occasionally acquires individual animal ambassadors to meet their teaching goals. To learn more about The Creature Conservancy, visit their Website.=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Tressie Davis is a blogger and photographer located in Chelsea, MI.
What is Geocaching? Only my family’s favorite outdoor activity that can be done practically anywhere at any time!
According to dictionary.com, geocaching is “the outdoor sport or game of searching for hidden objects by using Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates posted on the internet”. This is at the same time everything that geocaching is, but explains nothing of how awesome it can be.
With more than 2.5 million geocaches in over 180 countries, you truly can geocache just about anywhere – we even found one on Castaway Cay, when we stopped on our Disney Cruise! Not only for vacation, geocaching is a great activity for killing time between softball or hockey games, and breaking up long car rides (we have found several at rest areas and picnic spots). Geocaching has also encouraged us to explore our own city, and brought us to places we may not have visited otherwise.
Geocaching on Castaway Cay, Bahamas
How to get started Geocaching
Geocaching can be done with a GPS unit, or a Smartphone. I know there are some geocaching purists out there that snub their noses at the use of a smart phone…but it’s my preferred method and I’m sticking to it. To get started, register for a free basic account on Geocaching.com, download a geocaching app to your phone and sign in to your account through the app. Geocaching.com provides their “official” app for free (Apple & Android), but we much prefer Cachly – yes, Cachly is $5, but well worth it in terms of functionality and ease of use. The Geocaching Junkie already did a great comparison of the apps HERE, if you want to weigh the pros/cons of which app to use.
Once signed into the app, you can look at the map which will show you where you are, and all of the Geocaches around you. Select a geocache to see the type, description, difficulty level, and terrain – make sure you know what you are in for before attempting to find a cache. If the description says there are mosquitos, bring insect repellant. If it says bush whacking is necessary…maybe don’t wear flip flops. Also, when you are just starting out you may want to stick with a difficulty of 1 or 2, and work your way up to the more difficult caches.
Once you have selected your cache, take the option to “Navigate to Cache” and head that way!
What are you looking for?
There more than a dozen different types of geocaches, and a “hidden object” can be just about anything. Our favorites tend to be Traditional Caches, which are actual physical containers of some sort, and Earth Caches, which take you to beautiful and/or interesting places that you may not have found on your own.
And when I say that traditional caches are “containers”, I mean that they can be absolutely anything that will hold a paper log. They can be very small and contain nothing but a paper log, like the tiny plastic tube of an eyeglass repair kit or as large of a container as can be hidden. One of our all time favorite caches was a repurposed newspaper dispenser – yes, you needed a quarter to get into it, but you got it back from the little orange holder at the top – inside was a bucket full of awesome trading items. To date, the largest traditional cache we have ever found!
Alex, with the largest geocache we have found to date!
While some geocaches are hidden in relative plain site like the newspaper box, some are very cleverly hidden. We have found them in trees (with a pulley system to get them down), in hollow logs, and in containers that are made to look like other items. A very common “trick” is containers like magnetic bolts that unscrew to reveal the log inside.
Our first magnetic cache find, in a “rusty bolt”
What do you do when you’ve found it?
Half the fun is finding the cache, but there is still more to do! All traditional caches will contain a log. In the smallest caches, the log will be the only thing inside. You simply put the date and your geocaching name on the log and replace it. In larger caches, there may be trading and/or collectible items inside. If you do choose to take something from the cache, it is expected that you will leave something of equal or greater value. On many occasions, we will leave treasures without removing anything from the cache – our way to pay it forward to other geocachers. You will also want to log your cache find on geocaching.com, using your chosen app. When logging online, you may write a story, give helpful information to the cache owner (needs new log, etc) or upload photos. Please be sure when uploading photos that you do not ruin any surprises for geocachers that come after you! Note: trading/collectible items are different than TRAVEL BUGS. Travel bugs are intended to travel from geocache to geocache, and not to be kept by a cacher. If you do not know what to do with a travel bug, please leave it for another geocacher, or read a simple explanation of what to do with them HERE.
Souvenirs and Milestones
Souvenirs are virtual badges collected in your Geocaching.com account, and are earned for different activities. Each different U.S. state that you geocache in will earn you the souvenir for that state. Souvenirs may also be issued for events – for example ‘Haunted Hides’ near Halloween, and ‘International EarthCache Day 2016’ near Earth Day.
Outside of souvenirs, it is fun to track geocaching “firsts” and milestones such as your 10th, 50th, 100th (and more), geocaches. Our family recently commemorated our 100th find with a poster and family selfie at the site of the 100th geocache!
The day we found our 100th Geocache
Geocaching is FUN, you should do it.=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Tressie Davis is a blogger and photographer located in Chelsea, MI.
