Backpacking Believers

  Sometimes the best adventures aren't the ones you plan. They're the ones God puts in your path. This weekend, Jennifer and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary with a little getaway to the mountains of North Georgia. After six hours on the road, we arrived at Black Rock Mountain State Park , ready to do something we don't always get enough of—slow down, relax, and simply enjoy being together. Greetings from North Georgia                                 A Weekend in the Mountains Black Rock Mountain was the perfect place to escape for a couple of nights. We set up camp Friday and Saturday and spent our time exploring the area, including a hike along the lake trail. But honestly, the biggest part of the weekend wasn't how many miles we hiked. It was the opportunity to rest. After all the miles we've traveled and adventures we've experienced, there is something special about sitting around a campfi...

   Hi, Friends and Family, this is Jennifer  I know it has been a long time since I have written or posted anything. Traveling life as we have known it all these years had to come to a complete stop for the time being. This has been a difficult time for us trying to adjust to our new life off the road.  I have had health concerns and more health concerns that have taken over our lives for this time in our lives. We had to get off the road last August due to an injury I had at work while we were traveling around the country. You see at first, we thought it was just a torn I T Band but after several painful months and lots of physical therapy for the wrong thing it was discovered to be a worse injury. While we were off the road waiting to see how long it was going to take to heal, we started teaching at our daughters Christian CO- OP   homeschool.  The school was short lived and had to come to an end. I was sent for an MRI which showed I h...

Hello from somewhere on the road, We are still traveling and still enjoying the life given to us. Our hopes are that we will start blogging again and quit being sooo lazy. Lol!  We still haven't written our book or done any videos or much else that we should have. BUT we have become grandparents, purchased a large camper and truck, embarked on many career opportunities, taken 1000's of photos and seen all but 5 states. So why not share our experiences with others? We will share some stories, photos and of course some wonderful memories that have made us who we are. We hope to help others who are considering a life on the road and encourage others through our travels and faith. So get ready for some unforgettable tales from Backpacking Believers, if we can quit being sooo lazy. Blessings, Chris and Jennifer

Mosquito Meter in Congaree National Park. The park officials told us that although funny it is also very serious.   Congaree National Park near Hopkins, SC  Now, we are heading back to Nebraska to visit more with family and go on another Christmas vacation. So we always look ahead to see if there is anything we want to see that is not tooooo far out of the way. Well a days drive is never too far. We mapped it and found some good barbecue and a couple of National Parks. Flooded boardwalk in Congaree National Park First stop, Congaree National Park. I must admit I had never heard of Congaree and I sure didn't know South Carolina had a national park. They do have one and it is worth visiting if you like natural wet lands and swamps like we do. We were both raised around areas like this with gators and mosquitos and birds galore. Most of the trails were closed due to flooding and even the boardwalk was not immune to nature's wrath. The interpretive cente...

  The Sands Boardwalk Point Royal, SC   Greetings to all, Ok, I know the last blog wasn't up to par with what we normally blog. Don't worry, I will not cut anyone short on this section of our journey. This will be a longer blog than normal. Now off to South Carolina from Branson, MO. We headed to South Carolina to visit more family and friends.  We headed south through Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia before getting to South Carolina. Why? Diamonds, baths and the Natchez Trace. Bathhouse Row Hot Springs, AR The Grand Promenade  Hot Springs, AR        First stop, Hot Springs National Park, Hot Springs, Arkansas. We have been to Hot Springs before, but it has been over 17 years ago. So, we decided why not make another trip. Hot Springs NP seems different than other National Parks I have been to. It seems to be out of place, almost like it should be on the National Mall in D.C. instead of in the Ouachita Mounta...

     Look who we found in Branson, Missouri, well we actually met them there for our annual family vacation, This has been a tradition for our family for many years now. We decided not  to participate in the hustle and bustle of Christmas gift giving when our daughter was a young  child. It was then we made the decision to make memories every Christmas season for as long as we can. So this is our vacation for Christmas 2018 in Branson, MO.  Just a selfie on Table Rock Lake. Such a beautiful day in a beautiful place. We started our vacation with a trip to Table Rock Lake. Here is Jennifer looking for arrowheads. They still wash up to this day. Of course she could just be looking for rocks. She has been known to pick up a rock here and there. Of course you can't go to Branson without a trip to Silver Dollar City. This place is awesome all year long, but it is absolutely amazing during the holidays. With over 6.5 million lights and the best...

Good Morning,      Or whatever time it is where you are. It is time to be back on the road and have some fun and relaxation. We have a busy 2 or 3 months planned so maybe we will have time to blog, who knows. Well we have left Colorado and headed to Nebraska and then down to Missouri and Arkansas. Not much relaxation yet, but I know we will have some one of these days. So lets get started!      Ok so first I will talk about our mode of transportation. We have had a Subaru Outback for a couple of years, but we were still having to tent camp or rent lodging since we travel mostly in the colder months. So we bought us a teardrop camper that would not limit us on destinations. This is the Outback edition. Funny huh? We wondered if we should change our blog to Outbacking Believers. LOL! These stickers represent many of the places we have driven to and from. The stickers at the top are from National Parks we have visited. There are 58 national parks a...

Greetings from the road, I know, we haven't blogged for an entire year? Well I have a whole bunch of excuses, but the truth is we have just been lazy and life happens. Oh did I mention we have been busy? Katlyn married the love of her life and that took a toll on us. Lol We have talked about blogging though if that counts for anything. Well anyway we are back on another road trip and enjoying each day as if it was our last. Here are some photos of the last year, then I will move on to what we have going on now. Stopped by here on our trip to Mexico This is Newspaper Rock, they sure had much to talk about back in the day. This was their social media Notice how sunny and warm it looks in the middle of winter All of the rocks you can see are petrified wood.  This is part of the Painted Forest. This was such an awesome place. This is Monument Rocks in Kansas, YES Kansas! I had to take this picture just in case I needed to show it to Jennifer. Tho...

Hello to all, and Happy Spring! We said we would start traveling on December 1 st and we did until now. Again we have seen some amazing things and we have met some amazing people also. Oh yeah, and KatyDid got married! Well, I think I will have to break up this blog up in to multiple parts, since we have seen so much. So here we go. We started out by going to one of our favorite places for Christmas, Branson, MO. We started by going to a few shows. First the Dixie Stampede where to food is always great and the action is even better. Second we went to the Sight and Sound theater where the play the Miracle of Christmas was showing. If you have not been to a Sight and Sound theater before, you should put it on your bucket list now. Then of course we went to Silver Dollar City where there are shows behind every door, and roller coasters to ride between them. Silver Dollar City is an 1800's themed park with people dressed in period dress and others preparing the most ama...