For the Love of the Outdoors

My husband and I absolutely love the outdoors, which may very well be an understatement. If we had our way we would buy at least 25 acres of barren land in either Wyoming or Montana, dig our own water well, maybe build a small cabin, and escape to our own little oasis every chance we got. I grew up camping at least twice every summer, I love hiking, and love learning about everything outdoors. My husband is an Eagle Scout, was a medic in the army, and is 1/16 Native American so there is something in his blood that draws him out into nature. We are super passionate about everything outdoors and have decided that we want to learn more. As we watch these nature survival shows we are mesmerized by the amount of knowledge these people need in order to survive out in the wild, and we have now been inspired to learn everything thing there is to learn about surviving in the Rocky Mountains, which is where we live. We will both be keeping a blog to document our experiences, so you can check out his blog here. We would love to have you read and learn these things as we do. I have decided to take a different approach in my nature-learning/survival-training blog. You see, all throughout my adolescent years my dad was the Scout Master of our local Boy Scout troop. I constantly eves dropped on them to learn all the cool things that they did (I promise that it wasn't just to watch the boys;)). I peeked out the window to watch as they all learned how to start a fire with one match, I sat on the stairs as my dad explained how to administer first aid to someone who had been injured, and listened around the corner as my dad explained to them how to build an igloo. These were all things that I wanted to learn! These were all things that I wanted to be taught, but there just weren't programs like that for us girls. So, now to my point, I believe that women want to learn how to survive in the wild just as much as men do, and I believe that we are actually more equipped to do so! All of the products that we use on a regular basis are not only useful but in some cases are necessary for survival. Did you know that? For example, did you know that if you rubbed Vasaline (which we use on dry skin and chapped lips) on a cotton ball (used to remove makeup among other things) and it caught a spark that it would catch fire with a flame at least 4 inches high and that it would last 5-10 minutes? Did you know that tampons are excellent for bloody noses and as fire starters, or that feminine hygiene pads are perfect for bandaging up open wounds? You see? These are all things that we have and use on a regular basis, and I am going to learn how to use them. I am also going to learn how to care for and use a survival knife so that if I were somehow stranded out in the Rocky Mountains with only a knife, I would be able to survive long enough for someone to come and find me. This is going to be an amazingly fun journey and I am excited to bring you along with us!