ChaChaChanges

As I scan and Don digitizes our slides, we are often amazed at how many features are no more.  You heard about the collapse of the Wall Arch at Arches Natural Park in Utah?   The same thing happened at a sea cave at Thousand Steps Beach in Laguna Beach, California.   

During our 4^th of July holiday 2008 trip to Washington, we stopped at Lassen National Monument in northern California.  When we compared our 20 year old slide trip to our trip last month, we were amazed at the changes at Bumpass Hell and the geothermal activity.  Check them out and see how mother earth creates her very own makeovers.

Let’s go!

-Lisa 

How to Maximize Your Family Trip

When we went to Washington state over the 4^th of July holiday gas prices were at their highest.  We were averaging $4.85 per gallon for a trip log of more than 3000 miles in 9 days.  We got about 18 miles per gallon.  We experimented by keeping our miles per hour to 55 to see if we could stretch some extra mileage.  It worked.  We averaged about 17 percent more by slowing down.  Of course one month later, the same trip would cost us $300 less in gas.  Hummm. 

Camping most of the time saved us money.  In our nine days we spent two days at a hotel and one day visiting with my sister in northern California.  Using supermarkets along the way to stock up on food also saved a lot of money.  Purchasing an “America the Beautiful – National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass” saves money in the long run on numerous park and federally managed site fees.  By keeping (made-ahead) sandwiches in ice chests, we avoided fast food stops and ate healthier and saved money and time.

Another great way to economize is to enjoy the local flavor.  We had fun stopping at fruit stands along the way in Washington to purchase freshly picked Mount Rainier cherries, a real treat for the mouth and wallet.  We also stayed cool and hydrated by refilling our canteens at water fountains at rest stops along the way.  To help stay alert on the long drive we kept a cooler filled with caffeine drinks such as Starbucks coffee, Snapple Teas and Mountain Dew.  That alone, saved us a ton on convenience store impulse buys. 

Thinking about heading out for Thanksgiving?  Try some of these tips and you may have money left over for Christmas.

Let’s go!

-Lisa

Fossil Mountain Ice Cave, Wyoming

Where else to start but with one of my favorites and that’s Fossil Mountain Ice Cave in Wyoming. We did this cave in our prime and it was still quite the feat. Don and I were both raised by the beach, at sea level. Doing the great alpine cave with all its altitude took our breath away literally and physically. The cave is tucked away in the Grand Tetons carefully protected with a steep scree slope. With every step up, one slides down two. It’s much easier to enjoy this fine cave through this slide show. Taking camera equipment into high mountains to go underground into caves can add quite the pounds to a backpack, but seeing the photos, we’re glad to take the endeavor.

When you look at the slideshow you will see a spectacular ice cave. We couldn’t stay in it for longer than 15 minutes as our body heat raised the temperature of the cave and it started raining ice crystals on us.

Let’s go!

-Lisa

Welcome!

I’d like to formally introduce ourselves. We’re Don and Lisa DeLucia of California. Ever since Don and I got together, we have challenged ourselves in a good way. One was our addiction to caving and outdoors recreation. Our aim was to see a new place every weekend. Luckily our teenaged kids Daniella and Joshua didn’t mind having to grow up as cavers.

We are now in the process of digitizing our enormous photo collection to protect them from the elements and to share the memories nature holds underground and above. That’s how www.DeLuciaOutdoors.com came about. We named the site “Outdoors And Not…”

Don is immersed in the technology of this undertaking and I am vowing to catch us up by blogging about our “30 Years in 52 Weeks.” Either way it’s done, by foot or by scanning, it’s a lot of work, but as always…we’re up for the challenge. Join us. We think you’ll like it.

Let’s go!

-Lisa