Tuesday, January 6, 2009

99 Outdoor Sorts of Things to Do



In this picture, I am near some great virtual caches in Sequoia National Park. I just crossed a stream full of chilly snow melt. Getting outdoors is key in geocaching. Barb, Harmony Art Mom, also runs a "blog accompaniment" for Anna Comstock's _Handbook of Nature Study_ here. It includes an Outdoor Hour Challenge, similar to a movement called No Child Left Inside.

She writes:

My husband and I were inspired by another meme to make up own of our own. We sat under a blanket one cold morning over the winter break and compiled a list of:

99 Outdoor Sorts of Things to Do. It was fun to randomly list 99 things we have done or would like to do. We decided to narrow the list to things to do in the United States so feel free to use our list or come up with one of your own! We have not done or experienced all the things on the list *yet* but it is fun to think about how we could check some of the items off the list in the future. If you take the list and post it on your blog, please leave me a comment so I can come and see which things you have completed. We marked our completed items with a star.
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I think the list is perfect. I am filling out the list for the times I've been out in nature, not a zoo (fake nature, I call it -- re: sea lion, bats, etc.). The list would be filled out differently for each member of my household. Take a look, then challenge yourself to get all the items done. It may take me time, but I aim to do all of these fantastic things. My completed items will be in blue.

Outdoor Hour Challenge
99 Outdoor Sorts of Things to Do
United States Version


1. Make maple syrup.

2. Stand under a redwood/sequoia.
3. Ski down a mountain.
4. See a saguaro cactus.

5. See an alligator in the wild.

6. Find a shell on a beach.

7. Skip a rock on a lake.

8. See a sunrise.
9. Pick an apple from a tree.
10. Grow a sunflower.
11. Sleep under the stars in a sleeping bag.*
12. Find the Big Dipper.
13. Climb a sand dune.
14. Walk in the rain with or without an umbrella.
15. Find a fossil.
16. Take a photo of the Grand Canyon.

17. Go to the lowest point of North America-Badwater, CA *
18. See a raptor fly.
19. Be able to identify ten birds.
20. See a mushroom.
21. Visit a tide pool.
22. Visit a volcano.
23. Feel an earthquake.
24. See a tornado.
25. Experience a hurricane.

26. Catch snow on your tongue.

27. See a deer in the wild.
28. Touch a dolphin.
29. Go ice skating on a pond.

30. Go fishing.
31. Go snorkeling.
32. Whittle a stick.
33. Gather chicken eggs.
34. Milk a cow or a goat.

35. Ride a horse.

36. See a moose.
37. Gather acorns.
38. Pick berries and eat some.
39. Watch a lightning storm.
40. Build a campfire.
41 Press a flower.
42. Use binoculars to spot a bird.
43. Identify five wildflowers.
44. Take a photo of Half Dome.
45. Find a piece of obsidian.
46. See a tumbleweed.
47. See a wild snake.
48. Watch a spider spin a web.
49. Climb a tree.
50. Get lost on a hike.
51. Watch ants in a colony.
52. Hatch a butterfly.
53. Climb a rock.
54. See the Continental Divide.
55. See the Northern Lights.
56. See a bear in the wild.

57. Dig for worms.
58. Grow a vegetable and then eat it.
59. See a bat flying
60. Feel a sea star.
61. Swim in the ocean. juliecache notes that she has waded in both Pacific and Atlantic, but it's always been too cold to swim.
62. See a geyser erupt.
63. Walk in the fog.
64. Observe a bee.
65. Find a bird’s nest.
66. See a beaver’s den.
67. Go whale watching.
68. See a banana slug.
69. Stand on the edge of a cliff.
70. Blow a dandelion.
71. Throw a snowball and build a snowman.
72. Cook an egg on the sidewalk...can you actually do that?
73. See a lightning bug. Or do you call it a firefly?

74. Visit a cave.
75. Make a sandcastle.
76. Hear a cricket.
77. Catch a frog.
78. Watch for the first star in the evening.

79. Smell a skunk.
80. Feel pine sap.
81. Feed a duck.
82. Learn to use a compass or GPS.
83. See a buffalo. juliecache's note: we call it bison.
84. Get wet in a waterfall.
85. Swim in a lake.
86. Walk on a log.
87. Feel moss.
88. Jump in a pile of leaves.
89. Fly a kite.
90. Walk barefoot in the mud.
91. Hear a sea lion bark.
92. Hear a coyote.
93. Pan for gold.
94. Crack open a nut.
95. Go snowshoeing.
96. Feel a cattail.
97. Smell a pine forest.
98. Sit under a palm tree.
99. Walk across a stream on rocks.

3 comments:

Barb said...

Hi Julie, thanks for playing along.

We debated over bison/buffalo and decided buffalo....shaggy, ugly things in my book. My dh is more favorable towards the beasts.

You are the first one that has made maple syrup so far that I have read. Both my dh and I want to do that soon.

Northern Lights are high on my personal list as well.

I enjoyed your blog...we geocache as well, although we haven't done many lately. Maybe we should dust off the GPS. :)

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

GP & GM Campbell said...

What fun we will have to see how many we have done, am sure you have done more than we have!
Love ya, Grandma

Heather's Moving Castle said...

How cool! Thanks for the cool list! ;)