Spring Break 2017

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minnesotamatt

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Champlin, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States
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Matt
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Hi Fellow Overlanders,

My family and I are complete newbies to Overlanding, although we feel very compelled to do it. My wife and I have three daughters (1, 4, and 7) and we are wanting to plan a few trips for 2017. Our oldest is in first grade and she has Spring break off March 13 - 17 so we figured it would be a great time for a first trip. However, we're not sure where to go as it's our first trip and we don't have much experience, we have three little ones to worry about, and that time of year can be unpredictable (and safe to say generally cold). We're from Central Iowa and used to the cold, although we sleep in a warm house each night, so the thought of sleeping outside with potentially 30F temps (or less) seems a bit daunting. I've looked over a map of different National Parks and have looked up average temps for March for the Southern parks and most of them run the risk of being unpredictable and cold in mid March.

Being from Iowa there's no obvious choices as we don't have the greatest natural destinations here in our state, however the upside is that we're in a bit of spring board being centrally located in the US we can get to many places fairly quickly (1 - 2 days).

Any suggestions for us where to go, or would you suggest for our first time out together that we plan something later in the year?
 

w_m_photo

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Try Drummond Island, Michigan... Part of the allure there is that it is so remote. You will need to check ferry schedules. But, there are over 100 miles of trails that are fantastic... I've literally done the entire Island with my family and they loved it. here are a few pics from the last time up there. _MG_1876.JPG _MG_1885.JPG _MG_1927.JPG _MG_1941.JPG _MG_1947.JPG
 
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w_m_photo

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Pathfinder I

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Gahanna, OH
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Walt
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Middleton
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I would think it is a crap shoot... It's north... so colder maybe...
 

minnesotamatt

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Champlin, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States
First Name
Matt
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Beglinger
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2881

You decide on anything? Still going spring break?
Thanks for checking. We ended up deciding to "ease" into it a bit. My uncle and his family live in Kentucky. I haven't seen them in years and my daughters have never met them so we're going to make a trip out of it. We're planning on doing some pretty tame camping at a KOA or two. The last time my wife and I have camped was when we were kids so we've never camped together or with our girls so we figured we'd take it easy this time. Also we don't have a ton of gear, just the essentials. We're thinking of visiting Mammoth Caves and possibly seeing a few national parks like Hoosier and Daniel Boone and doing some hiking. Should be fun. I'll post pics after we return.
 

TrailWhale

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Lynn Center, IL
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Thanks for checking. We ended up deciding to "ease" into it a bit. My uncle and his family live in Kentucky. I haven't seen them in years and my daughters have never met them so we're going to make a trip out of it. We're planning on doing some pretty tame camping at a KOA or two. The last time my wife and I have camped was when we were kids so we've never camped together or with our girls so we figured we'd take it easy this time. Also we don't have a ton of gear, just the essentials. We're thinking of visiting Mammoth Caves and possibly seeing a few national parks like Hoosier and Daniel Boone and doing some hiking. Should be fun. I'll post pics after we return.
I hear ya, we might be going down to AL this weekend to run with some guys on a weekend trip- If we have a sitter for the 10 month old. It's more to figure out what we'd need and see how my wife n two older boys get along. If we do get to go it'll be great to see how the older kids hold up (4 and 2 year old) to two 10 hour truck rides in 3 days with more riding in the truck in between. However it looks like rain and the low is 36 degrees Saturday night, might not be the best weekend to go.
 

minnesotamatt

Rank III
Launch Member

Enthusiast III

684
Champlin, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States
First Name
Matt
Last Name
Beglinger
Member #

2881

I hear ya, we might be going down to AL this weekend to run with some guys on a weekend trip- If we have a sitter for the 10 month old. It's more to figure out what we'd need and see how my wife n two older boys get along. If we do get to go it'll be great to see how the older kids hold up (4 and 2 year old) to two 10 hour truck rides in 3 days with more riding in the truck in between. However it looks like rain and the low is 36 degrees Saturday night, might not be the best weekend to go.
I can totally relate -- our girls are 2, 4, and 7, so they are somewhat limited by what they are able (and willing) to do. We're planning on breaking our trip to and from Kentucky (from Iowa) into 2 days of about 4-5 hours each day. Where in Alabama are you heading?
 

TrailWhale

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Lynn Center, IL
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I can totally relate -- our girls are 2, 4, and 7, so they are somewhat limited by what they are able (and willing) to do. We're planning on breaking our trip to and from Kentucky (from Iowa) into 2 days of about 4-5 hours each day. Where in Alabama are you heading?
Hoping to meet these guys.

Weekend trip Northern AL, Southern TN!

https://www.overlandbound.com/forums/index.php?threads/Weekend-trip-Northern-AL,-Southern-TN!.4763/


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