Where To Go

How do you decide where to go on your adventures?

This is a question we ask ourselves every time we say we want to go somewhere for the weekend.  Where should we go? 

Recently, we have been using an Iowa state map and the Iowa's County Conservation System Guide to Outdoor Adventure to help us.



A Fun Way to Use Your Map

• Cut out the state (use a free DOT map - not guilt!)
• Place it on your table.




Our Iowa map on our table protected by clear vinyl.


• Cover it with a thick clear vinyl cover
• Makes for great conversation starters such as...
• "Mom, look, there's a little blue dot here" (Mariposa Lake...we didn't know existed until then)

• "I didn't know that was there." - Husband
• "Which route are we going to take?" - Me
• Can also be done with a map of the USA...even more fun!
• Wait...side-tracked...back to the topic at hand!



A circle drawn on the vinyl for our chosen travel time.



What To Do

• Figure out how far you want to drive (1 hour, 3 hours, etc.)
• Tie a string approximately equal to that length to a whiteboard crayon
• Draw a big circle with the string.
• This is the area you can go.
• Begin to research fun things to do and places to stay inside that circle.

An up-close view of our travel "boundary."

Using the map this way has helped us find our more recent adventure destinations: Mariposa Lake Park, Bankston County Park and Colwell County Park.  I wonder where it will take us next...

How does your family figure out where to go and what to do?