As a family, we love the outdoors. We love camping and hiking. A few days ago, we were able to take a trip to the Orlando Wetlands located near Fort Christmas. (We absolutely love visiting Fort Christmas, but that will be for another post.)
A few days before our hike in the wetlands, my son received his second adventure box from Think Outside Boxes. I had won a first quarter subscription from them through a contest on instagram by instagram @homeschoolon. Needless to say, we were hooked with our first box. (The Think Outside customer service was stupendous by the way! We ordered our subscription a few days before Christmas, and the first box came on Christmas Eve. Wow!)
Before I continue with our hiking adventure, I must give a review of what my son has received in their subscription boxes so far. He really looks forward to getting them.
His first box contents: (beginner box)
His second box contents:
I absolutely love that every box contains hiking or outdoor/camping items that my son can use himself, an activity workbook, stem project, hiking/camping safety advice, laminated cards with outdoor “how to” info, as well as supplies to add to his backpack. He has always enjoyed being outside, but now has a determination to take his hiking backpack on every adventure. Not only that, he enjoys learning new things to make for hiking such as how to tie knots, how to start a campfire, etc. while adventuring outdoors.
Now, on to our hike! If you live in or around Orlando, Florida, or are ever in the area visiting, it would be a good idea to put the Orlando Wetlands Park on your agenda. It has free admission and is absolutely beautiful! The variety of wildlife throughout the year is numerous and gators are plenteous. You can walk, bike, or go horseback on the main trails, and there is a great hike through the forest area. We decided to go the forest route this time. We usually go the main trails. The forest area was not too wet, but sometimes is this time of year. Florida tends to be a bit more rainy in our winter season. Here are a few of the pictures we took on our hike.
After our hike, we did a little geocaching. If you are not familiar with geocaching, then visit geocaching.com. It is a lot of fun. I compare it with looking for treasure. It adds a bit of thrill seeking to a hike.
First, we visited Fort Christmas (another must see in the Orlando area–free entry) to find one geocaching spot, then drove to our home area for another. We found the first one after a bit. Actually, my hubby located it first. We opened the container, signed our name, and closed it back up. We didn’t realize it was a coin exchange one. Usually, we take an object from the container and leave one in its place. Our son likes to leave plastic insects from his science jar at home. He likes to keep it “natural.” (However natural a plastic insect is…but it is an outdoor theme item. LOL) This time, we learned to have any type of coin with us just in case to trade. Our second search near our home, was unlucky. Sometimes that happens. We sent a message on the app concerning the difficulty we had on that one. We will try that spot again soon.
What places have you visited for a hike recently? or have you geocached before? I would love to get a list more places to visit. Let me know in the comments.
Happy hiking!
