Monthly Challenge – April

 

If you don’t know what the challenges are about, please read the first one. :-) 

Are you enjoying the challenges?  I’m finding it quite…well, challenging, but in a good and sort of exciting way.  I’ve made a long list of possible challenges, so it’s also interesting to decide which ones I should use each month.

This month’s challenge is a little different.  The point in this one is to get us to expand our local horizons a bit, to learn a little more about our own local area.  If you have kids, grandkids or nieces and nephews old enough to enjoy the challenge you choose to do, I recommend you take them along and expand their lives too.  You could also do this with a friend or your spouse or, in some case, with your pet.  The more the merrier. :-)

Here’s the challenge.

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Explore a road or street you have never been down before.

And/Or

Visit a shop, park, cafe or a small museum that you have never been in before.

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When I was a kid my dad would every so often say, “Let’s go on an explore.”  Sometimes he would do this spontaneously when he saw a road he wanted to investigate and he had an idea where it ended up.  Other times it meant he was going to take us somewhere that he had been recently where he found something interesting.  Occasionally it was a longer trip that took up more of the day and a picnic lunch was involved, or maybe eating out somewhere.  It was always more or less exciting, though sometimes I felt a little uncertain about it as I got older, being a rather unadventurous type myself. :-)  But, in retrospect I know it was good for me, and I saw some things that were really neat and even awe-inspiring.  Our family found some favorite places due to his eagerness to “explore”.

I remember some of them well.

Sailor’s Pines near Croton, Michigan was breathtaking.  It is an old growth forest of white pines that is privately owned, but the public is welcome to come and see this living history.  [Photo from Plants Amaze Me.]  We found violets blooming there in autumn!

Camp Newaygo Wetland Trail near Newaygo, Michigan was a favorite destination because it was close and not overly long.  We took friends there more than once.  [Photo from Plants Amaze Me.]

I don’t remember for sure who first found the Roane County Park near Harriman, Tennessee, but it became a favorite place for my family to go when we lived near there.  My husband and I had our first date there.  (I like Texas, but I do miss that park.)

My dad and mom were also inclined to explore some shops and try interesting restaurants.  I remember a few places, including an amazing toy store in Michigan, some great restaurants, Indian and Asian shops, and a fascinating small town museum.  Then there was the Roy Rogers Museum that we used to visit when we lived in California.  Lots of great memories.  :-)

In March 2014 my husband and I explored some of the country roads in our own local area.  One that was a little farther afield was really interesting.  After growing smaller and smaller and rougher and rougher, it opened out into a nice street with a number of large modern houses on it.  Those people are probably not bothered by a lot of unwanted traffic out at the end of that country road! :-)  (See photo at the top of this post.)

We also accidentally turned onto a dirt road right behind a water truck, which, as it turned out, was going to spray the road!  Yuck!

This is what our car looked like when we got home.  At least we got a laugh out of it. :-)

So get out there and do a little exploring this month, if you’re up for the challenge.  You may find a treasure, some great memories, a great “special spot” for repeated visits, or a funny story. :-)  Even if you’ve lived in an area for a long time you may find some little nook you never knew about before.  If not, you can share something you know about with family or friends.

Enjoy!

Ecclesiastes 3:11  He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.