Category Archives: Cal & Mike Outside
My Blog Has Abandonment Issues
Now that we are over half-way through 2017, I guess it’s time for the first of my bi-annual blog posts. Heh. So far, the year has been, well, something. It got off to a rather rough start. I don’t want to go into details, because it was shitty, and now it’s in the past. Then,
Valentine’s Weekend Winter Backpacking
Mike’s birthday falls the day after Valentine’s, so typically I try to plan something fun and special to cover both of those occasions. This year, we decided to test our mettle and do a weekend in the backcountry that involved snowy camping, and a snowshoe trek in. We’ve been out to The Point many many
Backpacking With Children: A Week On A Remote Island
All through the spring we worked on getting the kiddos ready for our big (secret) backpacking trip of the year: a week on Flores Island. Mike and I have been there before, and since we were going to Vancouver to see my brother and his lovely fiancee get married, we decided to make a vacation
Backpacking At Lake Minnewanka
Determined to get the most out of backpacking season this year, Mike and I started hitting the trails earlier than usual. A mild winter and incredibly early spring meant that we had almost now snow by mid-April, which allowed us to start spending nights outdoors before May long-weekend. Very early in May we found ourselves
Backpacking With Children: Our First Time
On May long weekend we loaded up 5 backpacks, the kids, their dad (Jason) and headed for the mountains. It was raining lightly, but we’d already booked The Point for two nights, and I was determined that all my planning and packing was NOT going to waste. So off we went, stopping for brunch on
Hiking With The Younglings In Peter Lougheed
Over Easter weekend we decided it was time to hit the trails with the kids. We want to take them backpacking this summer, but it won’t do to just load them up and hope for the best. So, we got out their daypacks, filled them with water and snacks, and drove down to Peter Lougheed
Recipe: Banana Leather (Flattened Dried Bananas)
While researching our future hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, I kept reading about these flattened dried bananas from Trader Joe’s. Since we aren’t Americans, I couldn’t just go pick some up to try. However, the concept seemed simple enough, and apparently they are delicious, so I did a bit of poking around online and
Gear Review: Fozzils Solo Pack
Gear Type – Dishes Volume – 1.4 fl.oz. (Plate) & 600ml/20.4 fl.oz. (Bowl) & 350ml/11.8 fl.oz (Cup) Trail Weight – About 4 oz or 1.4 oz per piece Includes – 3-piece set includes plate, cup an bowl. Cup and bowl have measurements marked on exterior. Materials – High quality, food grade, polypropylene Additional Specs –
Oh Hai, It’s Me Again!
Right, this blog, I had sort of forgotten about it, and then 2014 was the year of “maybe next month will be better” and of course next month never was. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t terrible, but it definitely had it’s moments. Mike worked away, which was wonderful and terrible all at the same
I Used To Be Better At This Blogging Thing
And then I got ridiculously busy with other projects. However, I can finally tell you about them! First, Mike and I, along with three of our very good friends, are launching our own LARP. This is very exciting for all of us, as we are bringing an entirely new flavor to LARP in Alberta. Albion
In Which I Remember That I Have This Website
I know, I have been slacking in the updates department. Primarily most of my time has been eaten up by a couple of major projects that I am working on (in partnership with my fantastic comrades) and while I can’t talk about what they are, yet, they are very exciting and time consuming right now.
2013: A Year In Review
The new year is just a couple of days away, which is cause for mulling over the year that has just passed, and evaluating how it went. 2013 wasn’t a bad year, but there were definitely some challenges along the way. The beginnings of the year saw a visit from Mike’s mom and dad, skiing,
A Long December
With Mike in school (he finally finished yesterday, thankfully) for all of November and most of December, things have been a bit crazy at Chez Get Outside. I have been hand-making many of the Christmas gifts for our friends and extended family, which means my kitchen often looks like a frat house, and my hands
Summer Vacation In Ontario
The heavy snowfall we’ve had recently has me longing for the lazy days of summer. I was browsing photos from the warmer months, and realized I hadn’t gotten ’round to writing about the wonderful trip we took to Ontario this summer! I even got to accomplish a couple of list things, thanks to Mike’s really
Mike Harvests His First Deer: What To Do With All This Meat?
After our deer was gutted, skinned, and allowed to relax overnight in a bath of salted ice water, it was time to do something with it. I drained the water and we set the fan up so that the deer would stay plenty cool, as it was going to take some time to get the
Mike Harvests His First Deer: Whitetail Hunting In The Alberta Foothills
** NOTE ** This post contains graphic photos of a deer being gutted, skinned, and processed. It all started with a Remington .308 and some yellow tags. In the spring, Mike and I obtained our firearms permits, via Nelson Firearms Training here in Calgary (we HIGHLY recommend them, they were awesome) with the intention of taking
Pickling Turnips And Carrots From The Garden
After all the success we enjoyed with our first, small foray into the world of gardening and the concept of urban homesteading, we had to do things with all of that awesome produce we harvested! The first, most obvious choice was to eat it immediately, both cooked and raw, but we also wanted to preserve
A Weekend In Radium Hot Springs With My Grandma
My Grandmother was fond of taking us on trips when we were young. We (meaning my siblings, cousins, and myself) spent a great deal of our childhoods at my grandparents farm, near Sundre, Alberta. There we would while away the hours riding around on trikes or horses, picking eggs, tormenting the chickens, attempting to befriend
Bringing In The Garden Harvest
I spent a great deal of time late last week harvesting, washing, and finding homes for the considerable volume of vegetables we grew over the summer. Late in the winter Wendy and I began scheming, and while I didn’t get around to planting ALL of the things I wanted to, or even half of them,
The Summer That We Didn’t Go Backpacking
It all began on June 6th, when I wandered over to my house on my lunch break, as per usual, only to find that Mike had pillaged the leftovers for his own lunch. “You didn’t leave me any potatoes!” I texted him, while rooting about for alternative options. “I’m in an ambulance!” came the reply.
When The City Mice Moved To The Country
Well, we have moved, sort of, which is why I haven’t posted anything lately, due to the lack of time, and frankly, the lack of internets out here. Neither of those things are really going to resolve themselves anytime soon, but at least I can borrow a bit of signal from my bosses house, so
Our New Two-Horse Herd!
Early last week Mike and I were very excited to finally have two horses delivered to the farm, courtesy of my wonderful Grandfather, along with my Mum and Dad. This pair will be living in our care for the foreseeable future. The bay (reddish brown) and white one is called Little Lucky, and the darker
Winter Camping At Dinosaur Provincial Park
Last weekend, having taken leave of our senses, Mike and I decided to take a preliminary expedition into winter camping. Not so long ago we picked up a reasonably priced 4-season tent from MEC (more on that in an upcoming review) and the forecast was mild, which seemed like the best time to give it
Mike Turns 30, Skiing Lake Louise, And Eating At Banff’s Grizzly House
On February 13th Mike’s Mum and Dad flew in to spend a few days with us! We’ve been looking forward to their visit for several weeks now, and we had plans to do some skiing, wander around in Banff, and celebrate Mike’s 30th birthday at The Grizzly House! Mike and I had to work on
Urban Homesteading
Moving to the country has presented us with a unique opportunity to live off the land in ways we’ve never experienced before. Plans are in the works for chickens, and growing vegetables, and canning, and all sorts of wonderful things that we couldn’t really do in town. I mean yes, you certainly are able to
