As some of you know, my family and I have a tradition that we engage in eachCamper in carport New Years Eve in which each family member lists her/his accomplishments over the past year (a taking stock as it were) and then sets a number of goals for the New Year. For the past few years, I have also set specific camping and travel related goals which I have traditionally shared with our readers in my final post of the year. My husband and I initially developed this process as a way of helping ourselves to look at the progress we have made over the past year when it seemed as if there was none (i.e. transitioning from two children in diapers to only one, for example!); then involved the children in the process as they became old enough, initially writing their goals as they dictated them to us.

In 2012, we made a major move from our home state of Wisconsin to our new home in New Mexico. As a result of this major transition, our camper has been parked for the second summer.

Ryan celebrating atop Mt. Shavano

Ryan celebrating atop Mt. Shavano

The only trip it has taken in the past two years is to move from Wisconsin to New Mexico where it has resided in our carport to protect it from the intense New Mexico

sun. The past two summers, still recovering from the cross-country move, we have limited ourselves and our family to day trips. It is now time to venture further from home. We are now sufficiently emotionally adjusted to our move to hit the road again, so a number of my New Years’ Goals will again involve travel.

2013 Achievements:

  1. Terry and I hiked at least once a week and discovered many new scenic trails near our home.Snowshoeing in New Mexico
  2. In addition,we cross-country skied and snowshoed to remain active and enjoy the lovely area in which we live.
  3. In August, we drove up into Colorado during one of Ryan’s trips home and hiked one more 14’er (14,000 foot peaks), Mt Shavano at 14,231 feet.
  4. We also began dabbling in downhill skiing as one more way to enjoy the beautiful mountain terrain near our home.
  5. In addition, we have supported our children in their endeavors (Kate and Meghan have both done a bit of hiking; Ryan completed another 52K Birkebeiner Cross Country Ski Race in Wisconsin in February, 2013and also ran his first marathon on the Birkie Trail this past fall)

2014 Goals:

  1. To get the camper out for at least one trip this year, hopefully two.
  2. To camp as a family for at least one weekend.
  3. To hike three or four more 14ers. We are thinking of attempting Mounts Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln and Bross, all in one trip as they can be done in one loop.

    Diane, skiing at Taos Ski Valley, NM

    Diane, skiing at Taos Ski Valley, NM

  4. To get out hiking and enjoying the outdoors near our home every week during which we are not traveling.
  5. To travel to Des Moines in May for Ryan’s graduation from college and to help him move to graduate school next fall, hopefully just north of us in Colorado or Utah.

These comprise our camping/outdoor goals for 2014. I would love to hear yours. I challenge all who read this to develop at least one new goal for enjoying the beautiful country we live in during the upcoming year. Please feel free to share them with me in the comments section.

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