All too often I find myself scrolling through my Instagram feed and seeing pictures of people running, hiking, and biking through the mountains and I immediately begin to question why I chose to live here in Texas. It seems as if everywhere else is where I want to be and where I am just doesn’t offer the grand landscapes that my heart desires. It’s easy to get caught up in this type of thinking and it just kind of snowballs into the idea that there is nothing around me worth exploring. Let’s be honest, there are probably more than a few people out there reading this that are in complete agreement.
Since that little trip that we took on a whim we have taken many mini-adventures to local state parks and anything that is within driveable distance. We realized that there is so much around us and we have been sitting around pouting because we aren’t back in Glacier or Yosemite National Park. It’s easy to get caught up in day-to-day life and wonder why we aren’t all living in cabins up in the mountains running trails everyday. I still sometimes think about it. What I encourage you and anyone that reads this article to do is to get out and explore your local state parks. It doesn’t even have to be a state or national park, it can be a local park that offers neat trails and a close getaway. I recently found a nature center 20 minutes from my cabin that has become my go-to training trails. Stop wasting time wishing you were somewhere that you aren’t. There are untapped resources all around us. Get out and explore, be spontaneous, and take rad mini-adventures.
Two years ago my wife and I took an epic road trip that took us through ten states and nine national parks. I had recently just left the Navy after eight years and we wanted to take advantage of my time off before I started my current job at Martin House Brewing Company in Fort Worth, Texas. We packed up our Nissan Cube and hit the road. We saw mountains, canyons, deserts, glaciers, lakes, and even a few bears. We hiked, explored, visited craft breweries, and I ran in some of the most beautiful mountains I had ever seen. It was magical to say the least. That was until we were on the last day of our trip and we pulled into our driveway and reality sunk in.
Time went by and we both sunk back into the work grind. We each began our training for our yearly trip to Los Alamos, NM where I run the Jemez Mountain Trail runs and she bikes the Santa Fe Century. We had been looking forward to hitting the road the day we returned from our road trip. We went and raced and had a blast and on our nine hour drive back we decided that we would no longer sit at home wishing we were somewhere else. We would take “Mini-Adventures” that would tie us over until our next grand adventures. It didn’t take long before “The Itch” set in. We began to research local parks, trails, anything that was within driving distance that could help us make that “Itch” go away. We set out one Monday to explore Colorado Bend State Park which was only about a three hour drive. Pulling up to the park we didn’t think too much of it but when we made it further into the canyon and we saw the Colorado River for the first time since we camped on that very same river in Utah on our road trip two years prior, we were blown away. We set out to hike one of their many gorgeous trails and discovered hidden canyons, waterfalls, creeks, and all kinds of natural beauty that we did not expect to find in Texas. After a day of hiking and exploring we were determined to explore more of our surrounding areas for adventure. From then on we dubbed these expeditions “Mini-Adventure Mondays”.
Since that little trip that we took on a whim we have taken many mini-adventures to local state parks and anything that is within driveable distance. We realized that there is so much around us and we have been sitting around pouting because we aren’t back in Glacier or Yosemite National Park. It’s easy to get caught up in day-to-day life and wonder why we aren’t all living in cabins up in the mountains running trails everyday. I still sometimes think about it. What I encourage you and anyone that reads this article to do is to get out and explore your local state parks. It doesn’t even have to be a state or national park, it can be a local park that offers neat trails and a close getaway. I recently found a nature center 20 minutes from my cabin that has become my go-to training trails. Stop wasting time wishing you were somewhere that you aren’t. There are untapped resources all around us. Get out and explore, be spontaneous, and take rad mini-adventures.
Written by Guest Blogger: Mike Coutu
IG: _ijustfeltlikerunning_
