So far it’s been interesting to see a very different approach to outdoor fun. I’ll probably never be a convert to horse-powered backcountry exploration but there have been plenty of things I’ve seen that apply to my type of fun and I’ve met lots of great people in the process.

If you’re following along on my Overland Expo to TBEX adventure, I’m posting to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter regularly but I’ve also got a Flickr set for the trip going as well.

I’m going to leave it at that for today. Arizona winds are notorious and they’re not making posting from the road an easy task! Stay tuned…

A sea of overland enthusiasts.

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We’re once again putting Blubaru’s moxie to the test…

Thinking back to last year’s Geowoodstock and TBEX expedition, our plans did vary quite a bit even once we hit the road which isn’t surprising. Journeys of this length can’t help but take on a life of their own. And since this expedition will be even longer and more complicated, I thought it would be a fine time for a little Camp Granola experiment to see how close we stay to the actual plan as it stands the evening before we depart, which is as follows…

Stage 1…

This stage is what I think of as the “sanity-tester” based on the sheer… insanity of it. It’s on the order of 5,000 miles, crossing through 18 states over the course of 16 days.

This year’s TBEX event in Toronto will be very urban compared to the outdoorsy grooviness of Keystone last year…

• To Flagstaff: Two days hard drive to get to the Overland Expo. I don’t enjoy being that pressed for time but I couldn’t give myself more room here because of Fred’s birthday.
• Overland Expo: I’ll be attending solo while Fred and George are in San Francisco at Maker Faire.
• Los Angeles: After Overland, I’ll head all the way to the west coast to pick up Fred and George.
• Fluff Time: I’ve built in some squishy time to allow us to get from LA to Great Sand Dunes but still explore with some level of whimsy.
• Great Sand Dunes: I can’t possibly get this close to the Dunes and not go…
• To Toronto: Yes, that’s right! TBEX is in Toronto this year so I’ll be hauling our road-tripping selves all the way back east over the course of another two days(ish) hard drive.
• TBEX: We’ll spend 3-4 days in Toronto for the conference.

Stage 2…

One big difference this go-round… no Disapproving Beagle along for the ride. We’ll miss our little mascot but we’ll be much more able to travel freely without the limitations of having a pup in tow.

• Franconia Notch State Park, NH
• Screw Auger Falls, ME
• Baxter State Park, ME
• Schoodic Peninsula, ME
• Acadia National Park, ME
• Boston, MA
• Philadelphia, PA
• Washington, DC
• Kill Devil Hills, NC

Along the way…

Over the course of this lengthy journey, we will again be embracing the “No State Left Behind” policy for geocaching purposes. As a result, we’ll also be jumping back into Canada at times to get smileys in the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia.

Keeping up with Camp Granola…

Hope you enjoy following along… both on the intended path as well as our departures from it. Let’s see what happens!

For best results, be sure to follow on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and Flickr… and don’t forget to tell us what’s on our path that we shouldn’t miss!

And now for your moment of green…

Let’s see what magic happens this time around…

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He was born on Mother’s Day… late, just like his brother. But he’s filled with sweetness, a sarcastic sense of humor, and a creative mind that never ceases to amaze me. From being toted through the woods in a backpack to outgrowing his mom, we’ve covered lots of ground together both literally and figuratively.

As is the developmental process of the brain, now that he’s a teenager, his desire for independence is epic. So as we set off into the teen years my hope is that my efforts to raise a curious, open-minded, adventurous person has set in enough to stick with him. Let’s see what happens! I can guarantee you this ride won’t be boring…

Happy birthday Fred… keep living large buddy!

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A roomy creekside site at Elkmont.

So many choices…

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is home to ten campgrounds within its 800+ square miles and they’re fairly uniform in their amenities in my experience. The campgrounds are equipped with toilets and sinks but no showers, electric hookups (except for ADA sites), or campsite water spigots. Water is available at the dishwashing sinks outside of the rest stations so it’s typically only a short haul to take water to your site. The sites have raised, gravel-bedded tent pads along with picnic tables and fire pits/grills.

The groovy things about the Smokies is that the mountains are rife with streams and many of the campgrounds boast creekside campsites as a result. You really can’t go wrong with any of the campground offerings in the park, creekside or not, but we’re partial to Elkmont due to it’s location right smack in the middle of the north side of the park, between Gatlinburg and Townsend. It’s a great jumping off point to the trails at Elkmont, to the Cades Cove and Tremont areas, and to Sugarlands and Hwy 441 that runs back south towards Clingman’s Dome.

And while Elkmont is the largest of the campgrounds in terms of number of campsites, the layout is such that it doesn’t feel crowded unlike other campgrounds in the park… especially compared to the chaos of the very popular Cades Cove campground or the tightly packed walk-in sites at Deep Creek. The campground also plays host to a variety of park programs throughout the year and you can stock up on basic supplies at the concessions stand without having to go into town.

If you do find you need to go into town, you’ll see that Gatlinburg is more accessible from Elkmont but be aware that it’s extremely crowded and touristy. If that’s not the experience you want out of your visit, the town of Townsend lies to the west and is a much more low-key option for the likes of stocking up on supplies and doing laundry. It is a little further away than Gatlinburg but the drive is fantastic as the road winds along the banks of the Little River.

An important reminder…

As of last summer, the Emerald Ash Borer has been officially confirmed to have been sighted in the park. This presents a serious threat to the park’s ash tree population and there is a ban on firewood brought from quarantined areas. Firewood is readily available at the Elkmont concession booth so please do not bring your own from outlying areas. For more information, please visit Don’t Move Firewood.

An Elkmont visual…

To get a better sense of Elkmont, here are a few more images. Also click on over to my Great Smoky Mountains Flickr set for more on the park.

Fred and George never fail to find humor in our adventures… even at a campground. They found this sign positioning at Elkmont particularly amusing.

Our campsite backyard last fall at Elkmont.

Closer view of site setup at Elkmont.

The Elkmont area is ripe with the history of the Smokies.

Other goodies…

And just in case you’re wondering, my other non-southern favorite campgrounds are Great Sand Dunes (CO), Custer State Park (SD), and Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit (ND).

Be sure to check out the favorites of these great outdoor bloggers as well:

• The Best Provincial Park Campgrounds in Southern Alberta from Rockies Family Adventures
• Sandflats Recreational Area and Campground [Moab, UT] from The Kid Project
• Camping at The City of Rocks from Climb Run Lift Mom
• Top 5 Backcountry Campgrounds in Banff National Park from The Campsite
• Yellowstone Campground Review from Traveling Mel
• North America’s Best Campgrounds: Cloudland Canyon from yours truly over at GA Family Camping
• My Top 5 Favorite Campgrounds in the Moab Area from Adventure Tykes
• North America’s Best Campgrounds: Dolly Copp Campground in Gorham, NH from Adventurous Moms
• Best Family Campgrounds of Washington from Odyseey Outdoors
• San Elijo State Beach Camping for Urban Nature Fun from Walk Simply
• Camping in Ontario from Active Kids Club
• Our favorite campgrounds in the Western U.S. from Outside Mom
• Family Camp: Alaskans Share Their Favorite Campgrounds from AK on the Go
• Best Campgrounds in North America: Western Colorado Edition from The Brave Ski Mom
• West Coast Campground Review – Sweet Summer Spots to Relax & Recharge! from Mommy Hiker
• The best of West Coast Camping from Family Outdoor Adventures
• Classic Campsites: Murphy Hogback Campground, Canyonlands National Park from Adventure Parents

And now for your moment of green…

Come unfurl your cares in the Smokies…

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“When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.” ~William Moon

There is an intriguing truth to this quote. Although it’s not something I’ve ever articulated for myself, I have always had this feeling… the clean slate, the freedom from the baggage of your history, to be stripped down to the moment you’re in and be yourself with bare honesty because the people you meet have no preconceived notions of who you are or what you’re about.

That respite from your history allows you to return and face your past, both good and bad, with fresh perspective.

No yesterdays on the road…

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One of the most frequent questions I get about the program is why I chose to do it. Well for one, I’m a nature nerd at heart so learning all of this simply makes me happy and excited. It’s an enriching experience so why not right? But it’s also because this is a captivating place that pulls you in and learning it’s secrets leads only to more questions. It’s the beautiful cycle that happens when you fall in love with a place.

And if you follow along here regularly, you know I cover a lot of ground as I travel the country with Fred and George. We’ve seen a lot of tremendous things in those travels but this particular endeavor has allowed me delve deeper into the Smokies. To get to know this one place on an intimate level is a completely different experience than our more whirlwind adventures. That level of intimacy isn’t achieved without repeated, mindful visits… ones where you challenge your own curiosity to go beyond the surface and see a place from every possible angle, ones where you lose yourself in the enchantment and beauty so much that you ache when you leave.

Beyond those reasons, I do have a long-term vision for all of this immersive exploration. Eventually, Fred and George will be off on their own, leaving me to my own devices. By that time, I’ll have had plenty of time to hone my naturalist skills and hopefully be ready to take on the Smokies as my home and build my next career from that knowledge.

So that’s the long answer…

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. – Henry David Thoreau

Because when you fall in love, you want to know every detail…

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But I need to back up because, you see, we live in a world of metrics… numbers rule our lives. We’re constantly measuring our success with the likes of website statistics, the number on our scale, or the amount of money in the bank. Our children are subject to the same scrutiny through constant testing to see if they measure up. That little gem is one of the reasons we choose to homeschool (or roadschool, or hackschool,or whatever you want to call it…).

As a parent, of course I want my boys to grow and learn and become great adults with vision and passion. But of course I also worry… am I giving them what they need, are they indeed growing and learning, am I pushing them too much or too little, are they building the tools they need to go out into the world and do what they ultimately decide they want to do with their lives? Over the course of our days, these questions are constantly with me yet I’ve learned to embrace a different system of metrics to evaluate our success together as a homeschooling family. It involves paying very close attention to what they’re saying and doing, and watching for the little clues that let me know they understand something without having to quiz them… as well as noticing when they deliver something unexpected that we haven’t necessarily been “studying” in the classic sense.

So this week when George handed me a stack of drawings out of the blue, it sent me over the edge and into cliche’-dom of mom-gushing. He’d created a series of geographical pictures… a scene from Texas, one from Minnesota, and another from the Rocky Mountains, etc. They were all interpretations of the places he’s seen with his own eyes thanks to our travels. His pictures showed a wonderful understanding what he’s experienced and the characteristics of the locations we’ve visited. And that’s how I know we’re on the right track by learning through real life experiences.

It takes a broader vision of the world and what marks success to change what metrics define your life…

Don’t let school interfere with your education. ~Mark Twain

George’s vision of southern Georgia’s history and landscape.

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The interminable forests should become graceful parks, for use and delight. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

From the towering spruces to the delicate trillium, delight is everywhere in the Smokies… even in the rain.

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an epic vote is at hand. The fabulous Georgia Conservancy has the opportunity to become the official charity of Dragon*Con. I’ve mentioned before that here at Camp Granola we have a bit of a mashup in terms of interests. Yes we love our nature but I have two boys who very much love their Sci-Fi and Fantasy as well.

So it won’t surprise you that this opportunity to blend those passions is close to our hearts. The Georgia Conservancy works across the state through advocacy, land conservation, and sustainable growth initiatives. Obviously that’s a simplification of the role they play in this state, but time is of the essence and I need to get the word out quickly. Basically they work for a better Georgia on all fronts so if you’re a Georgian, have ever visited, or plan to one day, this vote should be on your agenda too…

Vote every day from now until April 28th and help The Georgia Conservancy keep up the good work!

And now for your moment of green…

The Georgia Conservancy is one of the reasons Georgia is awesome. Vote for The Georgia Conservancy!

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There is nothing so American as our national parks…. The fundamental idea behind the parks…is that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

How do our parks enrich your life?

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