Covid-19 Challenge
Coronavirus, COVID-19, quarantine, and social distancing — none of those words were in my daily vocabulary a week ago. Now they seem to be everywhere! How about you?
The Johnson kids–all thumbs up!
How are you doing during this crazy time? Health check from back in the days of the Adventure Learning Center–Thumbs up? Thumbs down?
- Physically?
- Emotionally?
- Spiritually?
- Mentally?
If I’m being honest, I’ve been all over the place. I wish I could draw on my magical powers and make it easy to get through these social distancing days, but the truth is — I can’t!
The Johnson family is figuring it out day-by-day just like everyone else. The one thing we’ve stuck to doing is getting outdoors. Every. Single. Day.
Honestly, I think I would be in a much worse state if we weren’t spending 2-3 hours a day outside, moving our bodies. My kids would be a total mess, too.
My husband created the “19 Trails in 19 Days for #covid19” challenge last week; we are six days in. The first day we hiked The Four Mile Creek Greenbelt, and since then we’ve looked forward to it each day. We’ve seen some really neat, new-to-us places–all within 40 miles of home!
Yes, there have been days when I didn’t want to go (too cold, too windy, too tired, too many dishes in the sink…) but I went anyway – and I’m so glad I did.
The fresh air and open space is refreshing. Our kids burned off some energy. And we had fun!
My family, and we here at Next Step Adventure hope you stay safe and healthy! And we want to encourage you to get outdoors. On the days you don’t feel like going out…do it anyway!! I promise you won’t regret it.
I guess I had some advice for you after all – “Get outdoors! Every day! Even when you don’t want to!”
Shelly and Sara developed the content for Iowa’s #99Parks Funpack. Check it out.
So far we’ve visited the Ledges State Park, Easter Lake, Greenwood/Ashworth Park, Chichaqua Valley, Tedesco Learning Corridor, and Cherry Glen Recreation Center. Days 7-19 are still up in the air; please share any ideas you have in the Comments!
What a great way to make good memories. There were a lot of smiles. So far, my favorite picture was walking on the boulders in the bubbling brook.
19 Trails in 19 Days for #covid19 is a brilliant way to help families manage this time! Thanks for sharing your adventure in such an honest way to inspire all of us.
Update: please make sure you are being safe and following the Iowa DNR recommendations before heading outdoors. A few quick tips from our family: make sure everyone uses the bathroom (or at least tries 😜) before leaving home, take some hand sanitizer or sanitizing wipes with you so you can wash your hands off when you are finished hiking, and be sure to take your water bottles and a little snack if you want. Have fun!! Also, many of you have sent us trail recommendations and we really appreciate that. 👍
[…] were six days into my family’s #covid19 challenge when I wrote this post. That was early in the experience of social distancing and learning and teaching and working from […]