Adventure Meets Relaxation
- By Steven Rankin
I grew up doing day hikes along the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania and having fun doing various rock scrambles and bouldering along the trail. I also spent time camping with my Dad in the Delaware Water Gap region of Pennsylvania, and learning to ski with my brother in the Pocono Mountains.
I moved to San Diego and met some new friends that surfed, kayaked, snowboarded and went mountain biking, so I also picked up on these activities. We went backpacking and hiked Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.
I got to enjoy a lot of different outdoor activities and it defined what I considered to be my favorite hobbies as a young adult. However, as my career became more important and I was attempting to prepare for my future financially, those activities became much less frequent.
A few years ago, I moved to the Lake Tahoe area and attempted to reembark on those hobbies I used to love so much. Being a little older, not quite as in shape as I once was, and finding myself much less willing to take big risks, I decided to enjoy these activities at a slightly slower pace for now.
Along with age, came a lot of experiences with travel and trying new foods and drinks. So I decided to combine some of these concepts. Since most of these activities are not the easiest to perform while packing food and cooking equipment, I thought it would be most convenient to do these outdoor activities, stop to make a cocktail on the way that seems fitting for the environment or activity, and find an excuse to take a pause and enjoy the outdoors.
Hopefully, you can learn a new drink to try or be inspired to try an outdoor adventure of your own.
