Winter Blues? Here Are Some Things You Can Do To Beat Them

We all get excited for Fall and Winter – the lure of the infamous pumpkin spice latte and the thought of curling up in front of a roaring log fire all sounds very romantic, but in reality, we are often faced with soggy grey days that feel anything but, and long nights that seem to go on forever. There is little wonder that many of us end up with the ‘winter blues’, and can’t wait for Spring to appear so we can get back to doing the things we love. If you feel a bit ‘meh’ when the nights draw in and the temperatures plummet, here are some things you can do to keep your spirits up.

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Plan your dream vacation

Ok, so in an ideal world, you would be actually on your dream vacation, but that doesn’t often happen. Instead, while away the days planning your dream holiday. Mooch on Pinterest or even make a wanderlust scrapbook, filled with pictures of things you want to see and do. You never know – next Winter you may have the chance to experience it for real!

Attend a concert or a show

Music and theatre can do wonders for the soul. They can make you laugh, cry, and feel all the emotions in between. Shows can be expensive, but if you plan ahead and check out what is on Broadway Shows NYC, you may find some great deals to help put a smile on your face and a spring in your step.

Sign up for a class

Use the dark, cold days wisely and allow your mind to bloom. There are plenty of classes for all sorts of interests and skill levels. Whether it is to improve your existing cooking skills or learn a whole new language for that dream vacation that you have planned, make sure you sign up for something. You may also make some new friends with similar interests, which can be great for getting you through Winter.

Check out local museums and galleries

It has probably been a long time since you last visited your local museum or art gallery, and the chances are, a lot has changed! Go online to see if there are any new exhibitions or collections that catch your eye and go and see them. If nothing else, most museums and galleries have superb cafes and restaurants to grab a bit to eat at.

Visit a new restaurant

Talking of places to eat, a dark winters evening is the perfect chance to get dressed up the nines and visit that restaurant you have always wanted to go to. Make a proper weekend of it – maybe go and see a show first, and head to a swanky hotel for the night! It is amazing what good food and being waited on for a night can do for your spirits.

What are your favorite things to do to beat the winter blues?

Visitors in Abundance

Camp life continues to roll along and we are shocked to realize it is already nearly mid-September. Along with hundreds of guests, we have been fortunate enough to have plenty of our own visitors in the form of family and dear friends. It’s no secret that in large part our decision to return to Oregon to work was the opportunity to be able to spend more time with our tribe and believe me, our hearts are full!

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Settling into Small Town Beach Life

Life has taken on a comfortable routine. How long we’ll be happy with small-town beach life remains to be seen as we have notoriously itchy feet. But after nearly five years of almost non-stop motion, it’s fantastic to establish a routine. My favorite part~ how unexpected it all is. If you had told me 6-months ago that I’d be embracing life in a small coastal town back in Oregon I would have scoffed at the idea.

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Striving for Roots and Wings in Oregon

One of my favorite quotes from “Sweet Home Alabama” is when Reese Witherspoon’s character is told “You can have roots and wings”. This is a difficult concept for me. Those who follow our social media are well aware we followed the road back to Oregon and the questions have been many. In truth, we never planned on leaving Clio’s and the stunning Sierra Nevada’s early. We loved the managers and our co-workers and the chance to explore a new region. However, the truth is also that for two years we have been searching for a paying camp job in Oregon or SW Washington, something that is far harder than you might imagine.

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Exploring the Lost Sierra’s

Upon arrival here in Clio (pronounced Klio if you’re wondering) we were awestruck by the extraordinary beauty of this area, known as the Lost Sierra’s. Within 20 miles of the camp is a bevy of sights to be explored including mountain vistas and endless lakes. As the weather has once again turned to summer temperatures these last few weeks have found us taking full advantage.

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Never a Straight Road

Our friends, Bryan and Jen along with their wonder dog, Karma, AKA The Dangerz, have a philosophy. Each day they wake up and ask themselves “Are we perfectly happy where we are with what we’re doing?” If they don’t like the answer they make changes…immediately. As we have followed their eventful journey these last few years we have been forever inspired by their willingness to completely change up their circumstances in search of happiness. This general outlook on life has served us well.

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Campground List ~ Winter 2018-2019

64. That is the number of different campsites we experienced between October 14, 2018, and April 7, 2019. If you’re doing the math you’ll notice we moved on an average of every 2.8 days. When you consider we spent nearly two full months lazing in Los Barriles the numbers are too exhausting to calculate. A truly crazy busy last six months saw us traveling through eight states (two of them twice) and up and down Baja twice. It was also an amazing winter filled with friends both old and new, many places both old and new, and grand adventures. However, we are, needless to say, road weary by now.

Here is our annual, and this year exhaustive, list of where we stayed from the day we left Coeur d’Alene to our arrival at our new camp in the Sierra Nevada’s. Because of the number of stops I’m breaking this down into more than one blog post. We begin with the fall adventures from our departure in CDA to our arrival in Los Barriles.

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The Road North Beckons ~ Week Two

Our fantastic road-trip with Dave & Anne continued into week two. We pulled away from Paso Robles and enjoyed a stunning drive back to the Pacific in Monterey. The forecast was iffy but our luck held with sunshine and clear skies.

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Changing Routes

No one who knows us, or follows us, will be surprised to hear that we did NOT head north through Arizona and Utah National Parks as planned but instead road tripped California to find our way back to Oregon. Ever flexible, when the mild winter turned into a raging spring, our thoughts turned to warmer temps. When Dave & Anne and presumably Max, our road-tripping partners, expressed a desire for warmer and sunnier the original plan was scrapped and we began to route west.

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Another Baja Winter in the Books

As we sit on the Colorado River in southern California it is time, once again, to reflect on another winter on the Baja. This year brought an entirely new adventure because of our first caravan trip with Baja Amigos.

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