With the weather warming up camping season is upon us. Time to get the trailer out and go completely through it. A few suggestions check all of the tires including the spare. Check water system for leaks and then run plenty of water through the system. By spending a few hours now you can save a lot of headaches later.  Colorado Parks & Wildlife is recommending that you make reservations now for summer camping. You can make your reservation by calling 800-678-2267 or online at coloradostateparks.reserveamerica.com.

Great News-The Colorado Fishing Report states that fishing on the Blue River below the Dillon Dam is very good (great place to try if you have not fished it before). As the ice comes off of the streams and lakes fishing will continue to improve. Just a reminder there is only several weeks of good fishing this time of year. As the spring runoff increases good fishing decreases. Good Luck!!

 We are going to a gun show this weekend in Loveland at Centerra. I like to go to gun shows. Not that I buy much at them. My real purpose is to see new items that vendors are displaying. Also there is a wealth of reliable information that you can get from the vendors. There is one booth that I always stop by. That is the Colorado Division of Wildlife. They always have new information regarding the upcoming hunting and fishing seasons. Hope to see some new stuff-Stay Tuned

I can not wait for Saturday. My geology class is heading on an expedition up the Big Thompson Canyon to Rocky Mountain National Park. We will be looking at stream structure and the damage the flood last September did in the canyon. When we get to the park we will be looking at rock formations along with glacier formation. Should be an exciting and educational trip. Anything in the outdoors makes for an exceptional Day!

Started to plan our first camping/fishing trip today. We as a family love to go to Red Feathers, Colorado to enjoy the outdoors. One of the best lakes to take your family to is West Lake. Access to the lake is very easy and the camping spots and the facilities are pristine. Fishing has always been good and you can walk from your camp to the lake. The one drawback is that I am not the only one that thinks it is a nice place. Therefore you need a reservation. Google West Lake for further information and instructions to make a reservation. Enjoy!

Diversity In the Outdoors

As an avid outdoorsman, I love to talk about the outdoors and share stories with others. Meeting people that you do not know at the campground, on the trail, and in the field is always fun and educational. In my many trips I have often wondered why there are very few African Americans and Hispanics that are enjoying the outdoors.Check this NPR video this is good stuff. Thanks to NPR for the video!

I can hardly wait to start camping again. First things first. Need to go get trailer out of storage and bring it home. Before moving it, I start my list of things to check. Fist, check tire pressure, and inspect tires for cracks or damage. Next, check the exterior of the trailer for any damage from winter. Check license plate to ensure current registration. You will want to plug in your trailer lights to vehicle to ensure they work properly. Now we are ready to pull trailer home to continue inspection and cleaning.

 

Weather is beautiful today. Time to start going through my summer equipment. I will start with my fishing equipment. I grab all of my gear and spread it out on the garage floor. I go through every piece of equipment. I check to ensure that each item works well (do any maintenance as needed) and clean off what winter has left behind. I make a list of items that I need to purchase or replace. When complete I put all of my fishing gear on the shelf and now I am now ready to go fishing!

Please follow this link to get more information regarding geocaching. Fun video that gives you a good idea what geocaching is about. Thanks to Geocaching. com for the use of their videos!

As I mentioned in my last post. I would like to share other activities that  my family and I enjoy in the outdoors. The first activity I would like to introduce is geocaching. You ask what is geocaching? Geocaching is using a GPS to locate hidden treasure by entering map coordinates into the GPS unit. GPS stands for global positioning system. A little history first. This technology is used for many things today. It was first developed for the military to determine exact location, and for weapons guidance systems. Today we use the technology for navigation in cars, planes, boats cellphones, ect. The first item you will need is a GPS. Most people already have one in there smart phone. Now we can get started. Let me recommend that you now go to geocaching.com as a source to get more information and helpful hints and caches to find. When you go to geocaching. com you can find a list of the hidden caches. Grab the wife and kids and "Lets Do This." More to follow.

  

Check out my new video on YouTube.


  http://youtu.be/H7GJiXhpsTo

This video takes you on a photo journey of some of my family's outdoor adventures over the years and some of the activities that we enjoy. The photography is provided by my wife. My children and grandchildren are the "extras" in this video. As you can see we have outdoors activities that span all four seasons. Never a time of year that you can not enjoy the outdoors! The video provides some insight into the things we enjoy doing as a family. We have more, so stay tuned to Rea's Place. 

Let us now take a look at the " My Great Outdoors." I would like to share some of the experiences and activities that my family and I have done over the years. Check out the video!

http://digg.com/user/501b6f3a148340c689c9d5fb82e10d9c/diggs.rss

https://www.diigo.com/user/reaplace

The Great Outdoors!

The term outdoors means different things to different people. To me the outdoors is camping, hunting, fishing and spending time with the people that I enjoy! The purpose of this blog will be to share my experiences and to learn from others and their experiences. Let's Get Started!

 First things first. To do anything right starts with proper planning. Nothing ruins a trip in the outdoors quicker than poor planning. Ask yourself where are we going and what activities are we doing? From there make a detailed list. The list should start with transportation. Start with an inspection of your vehicle from the front bumper and stop at the back bumper. Truck problems are no fun. From there the list should include clothing and gear. Do a thorough check of all of your gear and clothing before packing it for the trip. Make a daily list of the things that you are going to do. Match the daily list to the first list so that you are sure you will be taking everything you need. You do not want to be the one that is stopping at the local hardware store in a small town to buy a can opener because you forgot yours at home.