High Five National Parks_Alaska Inside Passage
Alaska Marine Highway, Inside Passage, 2018

Hey there!

Hi! My name is Dieneke and this is my blog/journal about my husband and my adventures around our beautiful state of Michigan and our beautiful nation of the U.S.A.  I am mildly obsessed with our National Parks and it is my life’s goal to visit all 63! But, as some of these parks are rather remote, you’ll also find adventures around our home state of Michigan and the greater Midwest.  Since our first national park visit to Crater Lake in 2008, we’ve decided that we can spend our entire lifetimes exploring the U.S., so you won’t find international itineraries but you will find both simple outings along the shores of the Great Lakes and complex logistical travels involving planes, trains and automobiles (scratch that, bicycles) coast to coast.

High Five National Parks_Crater Lake National Park
Crater Lake National Park, 2008; gosh were we young!

We read a lot of blogs about extreme adventurers who go fast and far with no fear.  While I gain great inspiration from their professional photographs and write-ups, my goal for this blog is to document our domestic adventures that are accessible/customizable to a wide range of normal humans.  My hope is you’ll find something relatable on this site that will inspire you to explore in your own way!

You should also know that we have full-time jobs!  We are an architect and engineer who work hard and play hard; our motto is “half-planned” so we make up a lot of stuff along the road/trail since we don’t have a lot of time to plan everything (this hurts my ocd/a-type personality, but I’m learning it makes for far better memories).  We’re also very frugal, so if you like/must travel on a budget, we’ll be right alongside you in coach/adventure class, sleeping outside and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  So, this isn’t a blog about #vanlife (though that would be so cool and we are refurbishing our 1984 Burro) or #oneyearofbackpacking.  We survive our day jobs but long for adventure in the great outdoors.  We are still trying to figure out work-life-balance but plan for one larger vacation/year and as many weekend getaways as we can muster.    

Thank you so much for visiting and please reach out if you feel so inclined!  Have you been to a park not yet “pinned” on our map? Have you done a fun multi-modal adventure with boots/bikes/canoes? I’d love to hear about it and the same goes if you’re looking for advice on your next adventure!

Most kindly,

Dieneke (and Brandon)