Fun fact: I am a big fan of goals. I always have been, and I probably always will be. I love how it feels to write down something I want to accomplish and then trying my darndest to make it a reality. It has especially been fun to set goals since becoming a mama, because I love doing fun things with my kiddos in tow.
In November of 2019, I took my littles to Paris Mountain for a quick hike around the pond. They begged to go into the ranger's office / park store, so we dipped inside mid-hike to check it out (again). The ranger was actually in there at the time, and we started talking about how often we hike, etc., and he asked me if we had collected any of the park stamps yet. I replied that I didn't even know stamps were a thing at the parks, even though we regularly frequent them. In all my visits to the parks over the years, I had never heard of an Ultimate Outsider. When he handed me the book and I started to flip through, I had a thought: "This would be a fun thing to tackle as a family in 2020!"
So, I set a lofty goal: to visit / collect a stamp at all 47 SC State Parks in 2020 and become Ultimate Outsiders!
It sounded simple enough, because I thought that 2020 would be a year like any other. Big LOL! I'm not much of a hiker when it comes to cold weather (honestly, more of a hibernator in winter), so we only visited one park in January, one in February, and one in March. My intention was for April's Hike it Baby 30 Challenge to officially launch us into this challenge of our own, but thennnnn the world shut down.
By the end of June, we had only visited 14 out of 47 parks, putting us just over 25% of the way to the goal with only half a year left. We were visiting an average of 4 parks per month by that point, but it wasn't until the end of October when I finally became confident that we were going to meet our goal. After lots of intentional calendar-maneuvering and lots of gas money and countless hours spent in the car and packed lunches / dinners galore and maaaaaybe a day of playing hooky from school, we started December with only TWO parks left! We purposefully saved a trip to the coast for last because 1) y'all already know how much we love the beach and 2) it's not every year that we get to put our toes in the ocean in December! We planned a quick overnight trip and soaked in the time that we had together as we prepared to get that final coveted stamp (at the most mystical park of all, in my opinion).
We are SO proud and excited to share that as of yesterday, December 22, 2020, we are an ultimate outsider family! And although I don't know this for certain, I would think that Braxton and Bethany are among the youngest to earn that title. Proud mama!
We bought this State Park sign from Local Stature, a local GVL small business, back in April, and I've been plotting using it as a prop for the day we would celebrate being Ultimate Outsiders. The park ranger loved it, and lots of people from Instagram have asked about it since I posted it last night on Instagram, too. A sign that represents something of great value to our family AND the opportunity to support a small business during a hard season? Yes please!
The vision occurred November 2019, and the completion was December 2020.
Let's go on a quick trip down Memory Lane to increase our gratitude, shall we?
1) Paris Mountain State Park
November 21, 2019
2) Musgrove Mill State Historic Site
January 20, 2020
3) Croft State Park
February 17, 2020
4) Rose Hill Plantation
March 22, 2020
5) Oconee Station State Historic Site
May 1, 2020
6) Oconee State Park
May 1, 2020
7) Sesquicentennial State Park
May 4, 2020
8) Chester State Park
May 4, 2020
9) Huntington Beach State Park
May 16, 2020
10) Sadlers Creek State Park
June 5, 2020
11) Lake Hartwell State Park
June 16, 2020
12) Table Rock State Park
June 18, 2020
13) Myrtle Beach State Park
June 26, 2020
14) Lee State Park
June 27, 2020
15) Keowee-Toxaway State Park
July 2, 2020
16) Devil's Fork State Park
July 9, 2020
17) Hamilton Branch State Park
July 16, 2020
18) Baker Creek State Park
July 16, 2020
19) Hickory Knob State Park
July 16, 2020
20) Calhoun Falls State Park
July 16, 2020
21) Dreher Island State Park
August 11, 2020
22) Charlestown Landing Historic Site
August 18, 2020
23) Kings Mountain State Park
September 7, 2020
24) Andrew Jackson State Park
September 7, 2020
25) Lansford Canal State Park
September 7, 2020
26) Lake Wateree State Park
September 7, 2020
27) Lake Greenwood State Park
September 18, 2020
28) Caesar's Head State Park
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