Grand Opening
I am so excited to announce to launch of my new online business. For The Outdoor Enthusiast has been a dream of mine for quite sometime now. I grew up in Michigan and my parents had two homes since before I was born. One in the city (greater Detroit area) and one in Norther Michigan (“the cottage”). Many families in Michigan have two homes like this. As such, we never did much camping because we had a second home where the family would go on weekends and in the summer to get away. I recall seeing the campground on the other side of the lake. Needless to say, I graduated highschool and started at Michigan State.
The summer of 1994 I took an intern position in the Washington DC area and with boyfriend in tote, took off for the summer. I can’t recall why, but we started camping all over the area. A lot of time in the Smoky Mtns. We camped while we rafted the Gauley River. I knew after that summer, I was hooked on everything outdoors.
Returning back to East Lansing for my senior year, I made the conscious effort to apply to graduate schools that would get me to where I could spend more time in the woods. I ended up in Northern California at UC Davis. The best move I could have made. The amount of time I spent in the woods camping, hiking and fishing was just amazing. Mostly due to the fact I was dating, and eventually marrying, Mr. Outdoors. I was lucky that he drug me around with him. In the future I will share some of our amazing hikes and stories.
Fast forward…. All of a sudden we are in Northern Michigan, and no, not the same as when I was growing up. Growing up I use to think of my parents Lakehouse/Cottage as Northern Michigan. But in reality it wasn’t even close. The lakehouse/cottage was about 3 hours north of Detroit, still in the lower peninsula. Now I moved to the Upper Peninsula-which is the real Northern Michigan. Now I was about 10 hours from Detroit and essentially in the middle of lake superior. A wonderful town called Houghton. We had kids and 32 acres, so we mostly walked around the property, but not a ton of hiking/camping.
In 2011 we moved to Colorado and the kids were old enough we were back out in the wilderness. The entire family enjoyed time away from the city to see the stars and breath the fresh mountain air. A ton of camping, hiking and fishing again. I’m so excited to share these stories and more in future blogs.
During this time, both my husband and I were University Professors, balancing the Research, Service and Teaching workload with our desire for work/life balance.
Fast forward again…. After a series of events, including moving to Massachusetts, the kids graduated from highschool and went to college, I divorced and moved to Memphis, TN. I am no longer a professor and so this was the perfect time for me to start “For The Outdoor Enthusiast”! I finally get to share with you all my trips and experiences, all the while getting you the right equipment so that your camping experience can be as great as mine has been. I want you to feel like that night under the stars is way better than any spa day followed by a dingy hotel stay. If you have the right gear, camping can be better than a luxury hotel.
Whether your going to camp out of the of your car, or load up the backpack and hike 10 miles into the woods, then set-up shop, we have the gear you will need. No matter what, start with a good tent that will keep you dry, and enjoy the peace of the outdoors.
