If there’s one thing our adventure-filled life has taught us, it’s that some of the best memories are made when we take the scenic route or make an unplanned stop just for the sake of it. We’re always on the hunt for the next spot to capture incredible photos. But thankfully, we’ve been adventuring long before this blog got started. Our first date was Blake teaching me how to wakeboard on Lake Austin; within a month we were snowboarding together in New Mexico. Creating the stories on Gold Lion Style simply feeds into that lust for adventure and inspires us to push ourselves further. We’ve learned some tricks over the years for seeking out adventure in your backyard.
#1: Visitor’s Bureaus & Chamber of Commerce sites
These are the best for finding annual festivals and events in small towns. It’s how I learned about the Bluebonnet Festival in Burnet, TX each spring, and the Barrington Living History Farm that we visited in this post. I periodically check these sites for nearby towns to see if there’s anything coming up that I don’t want to miss. You can usually find a calendar on the site that shows all the events happening in the current and future months. It’s great for planning weekend day trips ahead of time. When you find something that you want to attend, remember to put it on your calendar! I use the Google Calendar app on my phone and computer, and I invite Blake via the app so it’s on his calendar too.
#2: Local Blogs
Another great source for finding things to do are local event blogs. Some of my favorites for Austin events are The Austinot, 365 Things Austin, and Do512. These sites are great for breaking events out into different categories so you can search exactly what interests you, like music, art & fashion, sports & outdoors, etc. You can follow sites like this on social media for daily ideas, or even subscribe to the blog to get a list of events sent to your inbox. I found out about the Summer Concerts on the Square in Georgetown via a monthly events calendar my realtor emails out. If you don’t know of any local blogs, simply google “things to do this weekend” or “[your city] events blog” and you’re bound to find something.
#3: Take the Scenic Route
If making your own adventures is more your speed rather than attending planned events, the best thing to do is simply “take the scenic route” and see what happens. Whether you cruise into the country with snacks and a picnic blanket, or make an unplanned stop along a route that you drive often, all you need is an open mind and willingness to have fun! We took these pictures on our way out to the lake house along a road we’ve driven countless times. We’d seen this mural wall in Bertram, TX so we stopped on the fly for some photos. We only had to round the corner to find the old fire department and masonic lodge that were quintessentially small-town. A little bit further down the road, we stopped at the walking bridge over Lake Buchanan that we visited a couple years ago in this post. To our delight, there was a new swing that had been added and it made for the funnest pics with Merritt. It was exactly the type of adventure that feeds our souls and keeps us looking for those neat, special stops along the road of life.
As long as you’re willing to see the possibilities of the places around you, there is adventure to be found everywhere! These are the simple memories that make our life ours, and the moments we’ll look back on knowing we didn’t waste any opportunity to have a little bit of fun at every chance. So tell me: have I inspired you to get out this weekend and see what adventures are hiding in your backyard?
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