A Busy Start to the Summer Season

The Get Out More Tour has been on the move! Since our last post, we’ve been at the Asheville Mountain Sports Festival, and had events in Spartanburg, SC, Columbia, SC, Jacksonville, FL, Gainesville, FL, Apopka, FL, Columbus, OH, Livonia, MI, Peninsula, OH, and Victor, NY. Needless to say, Amy has been getting a workout!

Kim and I would like to extend a special thanks to Kathy and Michael Silverman, the owners of The Local Hiker in Spartanburg, SC. Not only did they bring out a huge crowd of over 120 people, but they brought out three television news stations and the local newspaper! Kim and I were able to make our television debuts in SC – we just hope we didn’t appear as awkward on camera as we gelt when we were being interviewed.

After South Carolina, we spent nearly a week at Little Talbot Island, a barrier island that’s on the Georgia-Florida border. The island has a unique feature in that the entire is a state park, meaning that there is no development on the island. We spent hours exploring the pristine shores and using the best opportunity yet to break out our Invert stand up paddleboards as we explored the salt marshes that surrounded the island. We both wrote about on our respective blogs, and you can read Brian’s appreciation for some downtime and Kim’s account of searching for manatees in the salt marshes.

Then it was off to Apopka, FL and our first Saturday event at Mosquito Creek Outdoors. Despite the 100 degree heat (note to self: don’t wear jeans in Florida during the summer ever again!), we had another 100+ person turnout at the event. It was great to see such support during the event, and even the local Boy Scout troops came out and grilled hamburgers and hotdogs for everyone.

Then it was north to Ohio and Michigan. Another first time store, Appalachian Outfitters in Peninsula, OH, brought out the big crowds. Our Thursday night event had over 110 people – a great turnout for a first-timer!

And while I’m on the subject, Kim and I want to give a big thanks to the people of our home state of Ohio. In our three events there, we’ve averaged nearly one hundred people per event. Buckeyes surely know how to blow out an event!

Now we’re in upstate New York. We’re sitting in our Sylvan Sport, waiting out a light afternoon shower in a nearly vacant campground. These kinds of moments are what Kim and I have come to love about the Get Out More – being out-of-doors with nearly no one around. Our days slow down, we take the time to enjoy the small things, like the bird songs and laugh at the dusty raccoon paw prints on our cooler.

Tomorrow, we start the first of our three events in New Jersey, then we head up into New England. We’re hoping New Jerseyites can outdo our Buckeyes and bring out MORE than 100 people per event. That’s right Garden State, I’m challenging you – and I know you won’t back down from a challenge!

We hope to see you at an event near you soon! Until then, happy hiking.

-Brian and Kim