Tag: Active Travel View All Tags
Tags: Boats / World Records / Active Travel / Rowboats / Cool Tricks / → All Tags
Cool Tricks: Two English Dudes Row Across North Pacific (Almost) Unsupported
After 190 days and 7,000 miles of rowing a cutting-edge rowboat across the North Atlantic, two British dudes arrived in San Francisco on Friday and promptly drank a couple of beers. The Golden Gate Endeavor, as the journey was called, left Choshi, Japan near Tokyo on Friday, May 8, 2009 and passed under the Golden Gate Bridge on Friday, November 13, 2009. The duo had hoped to be the first to row unsupported between Japan and the U.S., but they ran out of food about 100 miles from the finish and accepted an emergency helicopter drop. That doesn't make the trip any less cool in my book.
Tags: Alaska Travel / Animals / Fall Festivals / Fall Travel / Active Travel / → All Tags
All Hail The Bald Eagle At Alaska Festival
The sight of a Bald Eagle always makes us feel a little warm and fuzzy inside. Obviously we love traveling the globe to experience new countries and cultures, but the nifty fifty is where most of us call home. That’s why we were kind of excited—in a nerdy way—to hear about the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival. This isn't some cute little festival either, it's pretty hardcore when it comes to learning about all things eagle.
Things take flight from November 11 through 15 as folks and fowl head to Haines, Alaska to celebrate the festival’s fifteenth anniversary. The highlight of the festival is the Flight For Freedom Eagle Release on Saturday afternoon. Here lucky participants get a chance to release rehabilitated birds back into the wild blue yonder. There’s an auction to get the opportunity to do so, so bring the checkbook—it all goes to charity, so don’t be a cheapskate. For those who prefer a little art with their wildlife, there will be plenty of photographers, artists, and other creative types in attendance to share their secrets and to share their wares.
Tags: National Parks / Delaware Travel / Active Travel / → All Tags
Coming Soon To Delaware: A National Park?
Besides working on health care reform and extending the housing credit, members of Congress are working on another pressing issue. Those from Delaware’s congressional district are looking to get the ball rolling on the creation of the state’s first national park. We’re all for more national parks, but we’ve been through Delaware, and park isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. However, we hear the Delaware Water Gap is pretty nice and it’s already a National Recreation Area—too bad it's not in Delaware.
Senator Thomas Carper is the one pushing hard for the First State National Historical Park, and he wants $5 million to preserve land near New Castle and to probably build a cool gift shop. Things at the park would focus on the state’s early settlers from Europe as well as other stuff perfect for an elementary school field trip. Besides the attractions in New Castle, there will also be sites outside of town like the Old Swedes Church in Wilmington.
Tags: Halloween / Halloween Travel / Parades / Scary Travel / Freaks / New York City Marathon / Marathons / Active Travel / → All Tags
A Hell of a Halloween Weekend in New York
Halloween is always a party in New York, but this year several forces combined to make it even wilder than usual. First of all, it happened to fall on a Saturday this year, drawing that many more people out of their apartments and into the night. Second, the Yankees played the Phillies in Game 3 of the World Series - and won! - giving the barroom crowds a grand reason to order a few ill-advised rounds of shots. And third, the New York City Marathon took place the very next morning, giving the Halloween revelers some great human drama to wake up and soothe their hangovers to. Add to that the extra hour of weekend we got because of the end of Daylight Savings Time and you've got a city with every reason to cut loose.
Tags: Bridges / New York Travel / Architecture / Active Travel / Walking / → All Tags
New York State Welcomes The World's Longest Pedestrian Bridge
If you need somewhere to take in the sights of autumn this weekend, then you should consider New York’s newest state park. After rotting away for decades above the Hudson River, the Poughkeepsie Bridge has been reborn. Thanks to the time and deep pockets of local businesses, investors, and dedicated volunteers, the old railroad bridge that connects Poughkeepsie with Highland reopened earlier this month to traffic. The bridge has been transformed into a 1.25-mile pedestrian bridge—that’s two and a half miles roundtrip for the mathematically challenged.
The Walkway Over The Hudson is now the longest pedestrian bridge in the world, and it is certainly something for the Hudson Valley to get excited about. The walkway is totally free and visitors are encouraged to check out the view as it crosses the water about 200 feet in the air. Bicyclists, walkers, runners, and even the eight people that still rollerblade are welcome to take a trip across the Hudson. No need to worry about things being too crowded, the bridge is over 30 feet wide as it crosses the river, so you’ll have plenty of room to set up for some photo opportunities.
Tags: Ski Travel / Skiing / Ski Resorts / Snowboarding / Sports Travel / Active Travel / → All Tags
The Ski Season Is Already Underway In Colorado
Many people are still putting the final touches on their jack-o-lanterns, but it’s already time to break out the skis from the storage unit. Winter has arrived extra early in some parts of Colorado this year. Last week a baseball playoff game was canceled due to a little snow and sleet, and the Loveland Ski Area fired up the lifts for the first time this season on October 7. It’s been cold enough and they've had the snow-making machines running at full force to get everything ready for the beginning of the season.
The resort is about 50 miles outside Denver and this is the first time they’ve opened this early in about 40 years—guess there’s no trouble with global warming up on the slopes. Unless some other ski resort sneakily opened their facility without any fanfare, Loveland is the first ski resort to open in North America this year.
Tags: Naked Travel / Nude Travel / Active Travel / Hiking / Nature / Germany Travel / → All Tags
German Naturists Pretty Psyched About New Nude Hiking Trail
It seems like we're doing a naked travel or nude hiking post every few weeks now, with today's story courtesy of the 11 mile naturist hiking trail opening up in Germany. The eagerly anticipated path goes from Dankerode to the Wippertal dam along the Harz mountain range in central Germany.
Apparently enthusiasts have been lighting up naturist chat rooms over it for months. The Reuters writeup was very specific on this: "Naturist chat rooms."
So scientists believe we started wearing clothes some time between 100,000 and 500,000 years ago. Do you know why our grunting ancestors decided to cover themselves with animal pelts? Because they realized that dirt is dirty. It must have been a radical insight at the time—"hey, all this sticky stuff doesn't get on my skin if I cover myself, and I even feel warmer"—but nevertheless they were able to apply their chimp-like analytical skills to the problem and crack that nut. Not so much with these hippies.
Tags: Space Tourism / Space Travel / Cirque du Soleil / Activism Travel / Active Travel / → All Tags
Cirque Du Soleil Founder Becomes Latest Space Tourist For A Cause
Cirque Du Soleil founder and "I'm so rich I could go to space" mega-billionaire Guy Laliberté has—fittingly—taken off from Kazakhstan on his way to the International Space Station. Now that he's entered orbit, he's officially become the latest in a slowly increasing list of space tourists. Unlike other space tourists, though, Laliberté isn't just going for pleasure. He's bundling his trip into a broader program of environmental and anti-poverty activism.
Here's where things get a little bit dicey for us. Laliberté seems really sincere and the organization he's promoting, the One Drop Foundation that he founded, literally does the Lord's work getting water to people who don't have it. But we can see how the particular way he's chosen to highlight his cause might engender, in a certain kind of person, a potential... snideness:
Tags: Marathons / Active Travel / Fall Travel / Sports Travel / Connecticut Travel / → All Tags
Run Through The Leaves At The Hartford Marathon
We love taking in the sights of the season from the comfort of the car. It’s nice to get out and breath in the cool crisp air, but usually it’s best to do that when stopping for lunch or refilling our cup holder with a pumpkin spice latte. However, we do recognize that there are a large number of citizens that enjoy the fresh air that the fall season brings. That’s why we’re suggesting the ING Hartford Marathon for a solid active travel option for the autumn season.
Connecticut’s capital city is pretty sleepy after the workday ends, so it’s population will swell when thousands of runners hit the streets on October 10. There’s even still time to register, just head out to packet pick-up on October 9, and they’ll be happy to sign you up. You’ll enjoy cool weather, peak foliage, and some nice scenery as you do your best to keep your pace along the banks of the Connecticut River. Overall the course is pretty flat as well, so you might just be able to reach that personal best. After all, this marathon can get you into the Boston one if you go fast enough.
Tags: Strange Scuba Spots / Halloween Travel / Scuba / Florida Travel / Active Travel / → All Tags
Pumpkin Carving Is Even Better Under The Sea
We’ve shed some light on strange Scuba spots across the globe, but we’ve never seen a strange Scuba contest before. However, that’s exactly what you’ll find if you’re headed down to the Florida Keys around Halloween this year. Amy Slate’s Amoray Dive Resort has been running an underwater pumpkin carving contest for a few years now, and this year’s competition is set for October 25.
Divers will do their best to carve out the most creative designs while avoiding reef fish and other critters at the bottom of the sea. Contestants will get pumpkins that have already been hollowed out and are just waiting for some creative carvings. Of course there will be prizes awarded to the top three jack-o'-lanterns, so plan something good. We’re thinking that designs inspired by the ocean probably have a good chance of winning. After all nothing screams Halloween more than a spooky dolphin or ghoulish fish.
Tags: Travel Gear / Gear / Hats / Jam It or Slam It? / Active Travel / Fashion / → All Tags
Jam It or Slam It: My New Brazilian Cargo Truck Tarp Hat
So I got this new hat, and I think it's pretty neat. It's a Tarp Hat from a company called The Real Deal and it's made from the recycled tarpaulins of Brazilian cargo trucks that have traveled from the Amazon to Sao Paolo and back again. It's sturdy and has a nice wide brim, which is why I like it, as I'll take as much sun protection as I can get.
Tags: Cycling / Florida Travel / Biking / Bike Tours / Key West / Active Travel / → All Tags
Bike Down US Highway 1 From Key Largo To Key West During BubbaFest
November is a tricky travel month, because the onslaught of cooler weather usually puts quite the damper on any outdoor endeavors. That’s why we say to follow millions of others and head down to Florida. We’re not going to play bridge all afternoon and then head out for the early bird special; we’re going to ride our bicycles. Thanks to retired police sergeant Bubba Barron, we have the BubbaFest Bike Tour. It’s a 200-mile cycling event from Key Largo To Key West, and you don’t have to be Lance Armstrong to do it.
Bikers are encouraged to go at their own pace and make frequent pit stops to swim, snorkel, and snooze away part of the day. The whole course over US Highway 1 is pretty flat, so if you can ride a bike and have some patience, you should have no problem pedaling the approximate 45 miles per day. If you do get a little tired, or just lazy, support vehicles follow the whole time and can give you a free ride. Things kick off on November 7 and wrap up on November 13, with a few layover days to soak in the sun.
