camping Archives - Floradise

02/19/2018

5 Ways to Include Your Pup in Your Health Goals

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CheckYourPetFood #CollectiveBias

Health Goals for Your Dog

We consider ourselves an active family. We like to be outdoors as much as possible, especially if it involves camping and hiking. This quality time together is part of how we focus on our mental and physical well-being. I’ve recently shared my own fitness and well-being goals for 2018, but there’s one family member whom I also include in our wellness aspirations: our dog Capone. If you’re new around here, Capone has been with us since 2011, when my husband found him abandoned in the Phoenix heat. He had no owner and he was scared, hungry and thirsty. Since my husband fed him that first day, he never left his side, and since then he has accompanied us on many of our camping and travel adventures. (Now, he’s also our toddler’s trusted companion!) We need to keep Capone happy and healthy so he can tag along with us for a long time to come. This is why I offer this reminder: Include your dog in the health goals you set this year!

Health Goals for Your Pet

How to include your pup in your health goals:

1. Take your dog(s) along on your workouts. Besides walks, consider having your dog join any hikes, runs or beach/swimming trips you might have planned. You can also find fitness classes that include your dogs. In Chicago, for example, where we live, you can find stand-up paddleboard with your pup classes in the summer.

Health Goals for Your Dog — Hiking in the Sedona area a few years ago.

2. Make sure all family members have their regular checkups and get their preventive care done. Capone started this year by visiting the vet for his vaccinations and a checkup. He’s doing great!

3. In addition to tracking your own habits and progress, keep an eye on your dog’s moods, changes, symptoms, exercise, etc. A bullet journal is a great place for this. That way you can notice any patterns or behaviors that need to be addressed and keep everyone in good shape!

Health Goals for Your Dog

4. While reassessing what your diet looks like, take a look at what your pup is eating, too. Check your dog’s food label to make sure he or she is getting quality ingredients. Does your dog’s food contain real meat? Is it grain free? We like Purina® Beneful® Originals With Real Chicken Dog Food (12.5 or 31.1 lb) and Purina® Beneful® Grain Free With Real Farm-Raised Chicken Adult Dry Dog Food (12.5 lb) because both options help us feed Capone real meat and quality ingredients for the right price. You can find these two options, plus all the dog toys and items you need, at Meijer.

Health Goals for Your Dog

Bonus: You can save time by using Meijer’s Shipt or Curbside services. Shipt lets you order your groceries online and have them delivered to your home, while Curbside allows you to add items to your cart and select when you want to pick them up at the store in the curbside lane. Both are super convenient! Just be sure to verify whether your Meijer location offers these services by typing in your ZIP code when you check out Shipt and Curbside online.

You’ll also save on your next Purina® purchase with this MPerk offer: Dog Chow – $1 off 32 lb bag or smaller and $1 off any size of Beneful Dog Food!

5. In addition to watching what you put inside your dog’s body, keep the outside healthy as well with regular grooming, washing and looking for any abnormalities.

When’s the last time you checked your dog food ingredients? Do you like to exercise with your pup?

Connect with Purina®:

Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Pinterest | Instagram

Connect with Meijer:

Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram

MPerk offer:

Dog Chow – $1 off 32 lb bag or smaller and $1 off any size of Beneful Dog Food!

Pin this post:

Health Goals for Your Dog

08/07/2017

Warren Dunes State Park | Testing the Drone!

Recently I shared my camping and road trip essentials and prep list in anticipation of our weekend. We had planned to go to Indiana Dunes, but at the last minute we decided to change our destination to Warren Dunes State Park. It reminded us a lot of Nordhouse Dunes, where we camped last summer.

We tested out the DJI Mavic Pro drone for the first time, too! We only have a little bit of footage because the flying time is only 27 minutes, which was longer than most of the other drones we saw available.

About Warren Dunes:

It’s dog-friendly and the dog areas are clearly marked. They must be on leashes though.
Alcoholic beverages are prohibited and rangers/officers patrol the beach, citing anyone who has them.
You can rent kayaks and paddleboards!
You’ll need an umbrella, because there’s no shade.
Out-of-state residents pay $9 per day or $32 for an annual pass.
It’s only an hour and a half from Chicago, but it took us more than two hours to get home on Sunday evening.

Watch our video at Warren Dunes!

Please subscribe!

07/26/2017

Our Camping and Road Trip Essentials and To-Do List

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #RoadTripOil #CollectiveBias

The end of summer is quickly approaching and we still have one seasonal bucket list item to cross off: camping! Our last camping trip was about this time last year at Nordhouse Dunes in Michigan, and it was one of my favorites we have ever done. It was also the last camping trip we had with our dog Taylor, so it’ll always have a special place in our hearts.

For our next camping trip we’d like to try a different park because the memories and emotions might be too fresh, so this weekend we are heading to different park. The next camping trip will also be special because it’ll be a first with our toddler Victoria. (It’s been so fun to celebrate all of our firsts as a family!) Of course, we are a little nervous about camping with a toddler, but we have to get over that quickly because we love the outdoors and we intend to keep doing it as she grows up. Besides this trip, we also have to get ready for our upcoming road trip to Canada.

To save time, it’s a must for us to be prepared for our road trips and camping getaways. With that goal, I made a checklist that allows us to be both spur-of-the-moment campers as well as prepared travelers.

My camping prep list has to-do tasks, items to buy, as well as a camping trip meal plan section. I find that writing down what we will be eating for each meal helps cut back on shopping and packing time. I share the printable camping prep list below to help you do the same! (This list focuses on those items that often break or need to be replenished vs. essentials like your tent and sleeping bags. It assumes you have already checked that they are good to go.)

Our camping/road trip prep lists:

Choose a destination/find a campsite.
Make a list of camping or road trip supplies we need to replace or replenish.
Get an oil change.
Pack our bags. (Bring along our pet supplies or find a pet sitter/boarding if it’s not a dog-friendly place).
Download movies on the tablet for Victoria.
Water the plants.
Take out the trash.
Charge our cameras and phones.

One way we cut back on prep time is using our storage space in our Jeep to keep some camping gear ready to go, including our air mattress, snorkeling gear, floats and camping chairs. We always have these with us, which comes in handy for day camping at places like Indiana Dunes State Park. (The air mattress is helpful when we are taking a road trip to visit family that doesn’t have an extra bed for us.)

Before we can hit the road, we often need to shop for some of the camping supplies listed above. In addition, we must make sure our car can get us to our destination safely. We can accomplish both of those important tasks by heading to our local Walmart’s Automotive Care Center.

We ask for the Pennzoil Platinum®: Full Synthetic Motor Oil with PurePlus™ Technology for our Jeep, which helps clean out the sludge that lesser oils leave behind. Cars with more than 75,000 miles would benefit from the Pennzoil® High Mileage Vehicle® motor oil instead to keep their engines running cleanly and strongly. (It just so happens to be on Rollback right now for $35.88 vs. $39.88, too. Find your local Automotive Care Center on Walmart’s Rollback page.)

After dropping off our vehicle, we can then head into the store for our camping essentials, which are conveniently located right next to the Automotive Care Center.

We check out some camping gear to replace our broken or empty items, including headlamps, propane batteries, insect spray, a first-aid kit, sunglasses and sunscreen. If you’re going to a body of water, water shoes may be handy as well.

Next was the grocery section for necessities that I need for the camping meal plan I created. This includes cooking spray, burger buns and black-bean burger patties, our favorite soups, and a frozen potato skillet meal to mix with eggs. We make sure we have all the condiments we need as well. We already have coolers, but if you need one you can find one in the camping/fishing section.

For snacks, watermelon, bananas and grapes are musts for our toddler, and Graham and I also like munching on trail mix and oatmeal bars. We often indulge with cookies and chips and salsa as well ― let’s be real.

Getting this shopping done in advance will make taking off so much faster this weekend and will help us beat the Chicago traffic out of the city. We typically need to wake up around 5 a.m. in order for that to happen, making it that much more important to get our oil change or shopping completed ahead of time. That gives us more time outdoors in our favorite places near Chicago, including Indiana Dunes State Park.

A visit to Indiana Dunes last year.

A visit to Lake Michigan Recreation Area last summer.

I’ve provided a camping essential list below for ideas on what you might need for your next trip! Be sure to check that your tent (including poles and stakes), canopy, air mattress and/or sleeping bags are in good shape and don’t need to be replaced. My list concentrates on items that often need to be replaced or run out, in our experience. Also, you can add ease and convenience to your own road trips by visiting the Walmart Automotive Care Center near you.

Do you have any upcoming road trips or camping trips? Tell me about them below!

Grab your camping prep list!

Click here to download a PDF.

Connect with Walmart & Pennzoil:

Automotive Care Center | Pennzoil Facebook | Pennzoil YouTube

06/12/2017

Father’s Day Gifts for the Outdoors Lover

** This post contains affiliate links. I make a small commission on purchases through these links.

Graham loves the outdoors, so my gifts to him are usually things he could use when we go camping or when we travel. For his first Father’s Day, I know he would love nothing more than to spend the day outdoors with us. Sadly, we aren’t able to go on an adventure trip this weekend, but he is counting down the days until we can camp this summer. In honor of the day honoring dads, I’ve rounded up four gifts the nature-loving father would love.

Deuter Backpack: A good camping/hiking backpack will last him years, so it’s worth the investment. Any camping or trail lover would get good use out of this. Plus, you can also use it for traveling.

Stanley Adventure Vacuum Stainless Steel Bottle: Graham could get use out of this for camping and hiking, as well as his day-to-day job since it’s outdoors and requires durable gear.

Blue Ridge Camping Hammock: Graham would love this! We already are hammock lovers, and we’ve slept in hammocks instead of tents while camping in the Grand Canyon. This hammock looks much more comfortable to sleep in than a regular one, and it helps keep insects away.

Black Diamond Storm Headlamp: This is another gift that is handy for daily life, emergencies and outdoors activities. He can use this while riding his bike (which he hasn’t done in a while and misses) at dusk or dawn, while camping, or even when our power goes out at home. A quality headlamp is always appreciated by a nature-loving person.

What would you gift to an outdoorsy dad?

02/27/2017

Ways to Save Money for Travel

** This post contains referral links that I could receive compensation for. It helps me pay for travel!

In 2007, I decided I wanted to travel to a new place every year. I was inspired by the Dalai Lama quote you often see on Pinterest: “Once a year, go some place you’ve never been before.” Back then I had student loan and credit card debt, and I was living paycheck to paycheck. I worked at a newspaper that had furloughs or layoffs every year, too. (I loved the job, though!) Despite all that, I knew I wanted to make travel a priority, even if it meant traveling to nearby cities I had never been to and saving international travel for later. That’s how this blog started. It was a way for me to see new places and experience new things. Now I am in a better financial position, but I still take many of the same small steps to save cash throughout the year for travel.

Using Ebates for online purchases and transferring cash-back checks to savings. I only recently started using Ebates but I’ve already accumulated $111.06. Tip: If you’re headed to a store, try shopping online first using Ebates and then pick the order up! That way you earn for purchases you would already be making. Also, I only shop online if I get free shipping.

Also, booking hotel rooms and airfare with Ebates and using deals sites! Example: I recently used Priceline via Ebates when it was offering 12 percent cash back. I booked an Express Deal, which was 30 percent off on a 4-star hotel. My room was even more affordable! (You don’t know which hotel you are getting with Express Deals, but I have practiced figuring out which hotel is the secret deal.) Orbitz, Expedia, Hotwire, Travelocity and Booking.com are also on Ebates, along with many other travel sites. When booking airfare I almost always use a site on Ebates.
Keeping a good old-fashioned change jar and enrolling in automatic transfers to savings. It works. You’ve heard it before because you really do build up some savings. When Graham and I saved for our honeymoon, we had enough loose change to pay for our car rental for about a week, plus some gas money! If I pay with something with cash, I put all or most of the change into the jar.
Sharing referral and affiliate codes and links with friends and family so that if they use a particular service you recommend, you get paid! For example, Booking.com offers a referral bonus of $20 for you and $20 for the friends you refer; I’ve used the booking site many times to find affordable lodging options. I try to reciprocate by using friends’ and fellow bloggers’ codes as well.
Freelance writing and editing. Do you have a side hustle? It could help you pay for travel!
Decluttering and selling extra items on eBay, Craigslist, Poshmark and other sites. I regularly sell books, clothes and handbags I no longer use. I use cash-back sites to sell old electronics, like laptops, cellphones and cameras. (I have used eBay and Gazelle.)
Participating in no-buy months for specific categories of items, such as makeup, clothing and books. Overall, things I don’t spend money on include getting nails done, shoes, books, magazines and going out to bars. Identify what you can go without. (I have only bought two or three pairs of shoes in the past year and I received my new running shoes as a gift. Also, I allow myself one or two brunches with friends a month, but during most months I don’t even go once.) I’m not saying these are bad items to spend money on, but I have found that I can go without them. I also find that good friends will let you borrow books when they are done with them.
Analyzing subscriptions and cutting back on them. I had an Audible subscription until recently, when I decided to put it on hold. I plan to revive it when a certain book is released soon. Cancel memberships you’re not using!
Save a portion of all bonuses, raises or overtime pay for travel. Whenever I get a bonus at work I use half for bills and half for fun.
Using Spothero to save on parking costs in Chicago. Paying for parking and transportation is unavoidable here, so I might as well find ways to save. I regularly get emails from Spothero with promo codes that I keep in mind when we need parking. I have found spots for $10 that are normally more than $25 in the Loop. Sometimes I take the train so that I don’t have to pay for parking at all (Train tickets are $3-6.).

Saving during travel:

Stay in accommodations that have kitchens so you can cook at least part of your meals.
Share accommodations with friends and split the cost.
Pack snacks and drinks in a cooler (if you’re on a road trip) and shop at grocery stores for at least some of your meals on vacation.
Bring a water bottle to refill.
Camp at your destination! Graham and I camped on Maui and it was amazing! It saved us hundreds on lodging.
Bring your own snorkel or beach gear to save on rental costs.

What are some of your tricks for saving money for travel or fun?

08/11/2016

Camping in Michigan | Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness

Graham and I love to camp. We camped together at Fossil Creek in Arizona for the first time after just a few weeks of dating and we’ve been doing it ever since. When we lived in Phoenix we would often camp once a month or so, but we had yet to camp in the Midwest since moving to Chicago in March 2015. We finally got a chance to remedy that when Graham had three consecutive days off work for the first time in months. We packed up our things (and the pups!) and headed to Michigan to find dispersed camping.

We do not like crowded campsites, and we had heard that you can camp anywhere on public lands as long as there are no posted signs prohibiting it. We chose Manistee National Forest as our destination and set off from Chicago on a five-hour drive. Graham and I kept asking each other if we were in Costa Rica when we saw the lush forests along the highway. It reminded me of the greenery we saw on our trip.

When we arrived at Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness, we didn’t immediately know where to camp. We drove around surveying the area before deciding to keep driving on the forest road. We drove north on 5356 until we found a spot near the Lake Michigan Recreation Area. While we had campers nearby, it was not on a developed campground and we had plenty of privacy.

We were so proud of ourselves for having out campsite set up so early in the day. When we camped in Arizona we had always rushed to beat the sunset. It was a nice change to have the entire day off and free to do whatever we wanted. We ate lunch and then set off to check out the Lake Michigan Recreation Area park. To park, you just need to pay $5 and deposit the fee into an envelope and drop it in the box. We walked over to check out the swimming area when we realized dogs aren’t allowed in the swimming area. We decided to walk up the stairs leading to the viewpoint instead. We later walked north from the park to a spot for a swim away from other people.

That night was spent relaxing and catching up. It seems as though I don’t see Graham a lot even though we live together because of our crazy schedules. I loved spending that quality time with no one else there besides the dogs. Dinner was our version of Mexican street corn plus black-bean burger patties on a bed of salad (from a bag) and topped with Colby-Monterrey cheese and salsa. We just hung out. I had limited to no service, so I was not distracted by social media at all. It was perfect.

The next day we drove to a nearby country store to get Graham his morning coffee, which was only 50 cents! We made egg burritos for breakfast and then set off for a hike at Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area. This park is dog-friendly so Taylor and Capone could join us on a hike to the beach. Each way was about 2 miles. We chose a less-frequented trail than most people seemed to be doing, but we’re OK with that. It led us to a section of the beach that was not crowded at all, and we swam and played with the dogs for hours. The water was clear, cool and refreshing, and I could not believe the views.

Later that afternoon, we headed back on another trail that was on top of a hill. You can see impressive views of the lake and the forest and we did not see one person on that trail. It was even a little nerve-racking because we didn’t know where the trail was heading at first. We later discovered that it rejoins the main trail but was a more scenic route. What a wonderful surprise!

We finished that day back at Lake Michigan Recreation Area, where we made dinner. I had black bean and vegetable soup and Graham had canned pasta, and each had a quesadilla. We then watched the sunset from the top of a hill above the beach. After all, Graham says one of his goals in life is to watch the sunset over as many bodies of water as possible.

I was in awe of the fact that the sun sets around 9. I had forgotten that Michigan is an hour ahead of Chicago and thus has so much sunlight late in the evening. It was incredible. As a lifelong Arizonan who never had to observe daylight-saving time, that is new to me.

Sunday was spent relaxing and cleaning up before returning to Chicago. The drive back took a lot longer –6 hours — because of construction and accidents. We were exhausted, dirty and tired of being on the road, but we had a wonderful time in Michigan. I can’t wait to go back!

Watch a video of our Michigan camping trip!

June Goals

May was a big month in Floradise. We learned some important news about our family, we moved into a new apartment and I ran my half-marathon. I am excited to see what June has in store for us. The weather in Chicago has finally changed, and it seems so fitting as we start a new chapter in our lives. I can’t wait to share more about our journey!

But first, accountability.

May goal check-in:

Declutter a bit more, pack and move into our new apartment! Done! It was difficult and exhausting, but we moved! We already love our new apartment much more than the previous one.
Find freelance writing and editing work. I found a few sponsored opportunities and will have an editing project later this summer. I kept applying for freelance work only to have the project turn full-time, meaning I couldn’t do it along with my full-time job. I will continue to look for more opportunities. I even reached out to a company I regularly blog about and hope we can work together soon.
Continue half-marathon/marathon training, and beat my previous half-marathon time at the Chicago Spring Half. I wanted to set a PR, but I was 5 minutes off. I did beat my previous time, so I am happy! I am confident I can PR in the fall if I keep up with training.
Limit personal spending to $50 a week. Fail, except for one week. It was nearly impossible with travel I had to do and changing apartments. Moving meant eating takeout a lot more than usual while we set up our place and get groceries.
Grow my blog community and social media presence. Success! I have grown my blog community by joining Blog Boss Babe and a couple more Facebook groups. I love finding new blogs to read. Leave a comment with your blog link; I’d love to check it out!
Live in the moment despite the anticipation of what’s to come. I did the best I could. Now that I know what is coming our way I am happy to make preparations for all the changes. I am happy to be in our new place and ready to move on from our first apartment experience in Chicago, which I plan to write about soon. My half-marathon is done and now I can start training for my full marathon and my next half. It’s going to be a fun summer!

June goals:

Prepare for a major life change that I’ll share more about soon.
Pay off one of my student loans.
Plan a summer camping trip.
Find freelance writing and editing work and sponsored posts.
Continue to grow my blog community.
Start marathon training!

What are your goals for June? Share them with me in the comments!

12/11/2015

Mount Rushmore, South Dakota

We almost didn’t make it to Mount Rushmore. It wasn’t part of our loosely pulled-together road-trip plans. But we had just left Badlands National Park, and I kept seeing signs for Mount Rushmore. It can’t be too far out of the way, I said. Graham wasn’t convinced it was a good idea. He wanted to get back on the road, but I insisted. This is what road trips are for, after all. Plus, who knows when we’ll ever go back to South Dakota. Graham wanted to take an alternate route to our next destination and I wanted to visit Mount Rushmore National Park. He thought I was agreeing to his alternate plans, but I actually thought I was agreeing to drive to the park. This miscommunication worked in my favor, because I typed in the park name in Google Maps and directed him there. We discovered we hadn’t been on the same page quickly but he came around to my way of thinking.
You drive through the Black Hill National Forest to get the Mount Rushmore. You also pass through a tourist destination town called Keystone that was nearly empty that December day. When we hit one of those switchbacks, I looked up to see Thomas Jefferson’s face. We drove to the parking entrance and stopped to get a better look. Admission to Mount Rushmore is free, but you have to pay to park there. It’s $11. We decided we got a good enough view from where we were so we kept driving. The surrounding area has campgrounds and plenty of places to picnic. You can get a profile view as well. I had no idea this type of terrain could be found in South Dakota. It’s a beautiful state. Even if you don’t have time to take a short walk toward the monument, add a stop at Mount Rushmore to your road trip list!

We pulled over for a look at a frozen lake, too. As an Arizonan, I haven’t seen much of this.

Have you been to Mount Rushmore? Was a stop along the way or the destination?

12/09/2015

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned over the past few years thanks to yoga has been to be open to the possibilities. I am typically the planner, but for our most recent road trip I left the route decisions up to Graham. He chose a route that took us through Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota. He had a stop in mind: Badlands National Park. Other than seeing a few images of the landscape, I knew nothing about it.
The plan for the first day was to drive from Chicago to Rapid City and rest for a night in a hotel. In typical Flora fashion, we got a late start, so we instead drove to just east of Rapid City. We awoke around 7 to continue the trek. In about 15 miles, we arrived at the park entrance; there was no one at the ranger station. We drove on to the viewpoint for our first look.

This is actually at the exit of the loop, because I missed the Badlands National Park entrance sign.

Driving into Badlands National Park

We continued driving into the park, and within 2 minutes, we spotted bighorn sheep and deer. I snapped picture after picture of the animals, which didn’t seem spooked by our presence. We drove on, stopping frequently to take more photos of the geologic formations. The wind has shaped the rocks into peaks in many places. Snow was spread throughout the land and the park was peaceful and quiet. We saw maybe two cars the entire scenic loop, and one of them was a ranger’s truck. Again, we spotted bighorn sheep. As we drove away, I said, “I want to see a ram on a cliff!” About 10 seconds later, that’s exactly what we saw. (Is ram the correct term?) I was elated to see so much wildlife. I have never seen that many animals at a national park. We kept driving to see even more deer. As we left the park, I saw prairie dogs scurrying about. It was a nice little sendoff before we continued on our road trip.

Badlands National Park, South Dakota, Bighorn Sheep

Badlands National Park, South Dakota, deer

More bighorn sheep.

Ram!

One last view before leaving Badlands National Park.

Prairie dogs.

Whether you are passing through the area or camping at the Badlands, the park is a must-see. Add it to your list!

05/29/2015

Flashback to Havasu Falls

Some of my most popular posts have been about the Havasupai waterfalls. It’s easy to see why; it’s one of the most beautiful places on Earth. For today’s Flashback Friday, I’m sharing a roundup of all my Havasu Falls knowledge and experiences. This was inspired by this video of our last trip to the waterfalls (I was reminded about it thanks to a Throwback Thursday post).

It’s been two years since I went to Havasu Falls for the third time. I wish I could be there right now.