Did Ft. Clinch State Park wow me like I thought it would? 

I won’t beat around the bush in this post. I really, really, REALLY wanted to like Ft. Clinch State Park! In the days and weeks leading up to my 4 day camping trip, I had a lot of anticipation. I mean, what is there not to look forward to? Exciting things like being near the beach, finding sharks teeth, and a fort that goes back hundreds of years were at the forefront of my mind as I drove 3 hours from Tallahassee, Florida. 

I guess I’ve sort of beat around the bush, haven’t I? I’ll say this… the fort was really cool! Visiting and walking through it is where I got my best pictures from the whole camping trip. I enjoyed ocean kayaking. As far as wildlife, I saw dolphins and an alligator (in the ocean, yikes!). But besides that, I was underwhelmed for a few reasons…

1. The campground is very spread out. To see the fort or explore trails from your campsite, you need a bike or car. I like being able to walk to the adventures, and this is not that type of experience. 

2. There are 2 campground areas. One on the Atlantic side has no shade, but it does have gravel sites. I was parked at the campground closer to the fort. It had shade (a major plus), but the sites were dirt. I HATE DIRT SITES. For the first few days it didn’t rain and dirt still got everywhere in the trailer. On day 3 it rained and of course, that multiplied the dirt being tracked in from my shoes and my pups’ paws.

3. In 4 days, I found 5 sharks teeth, and this was after searching a couple of times each day. A pretty big disappointment. I’m not good at sifting through shells, I get that. Some people can find more in a short amount of time, but I was frustrated with the lack of success on my part!  

Overall, my expectations were not met. It’s not necessarily any fault of the park itself (except for the dirt sites that, again, are absolutely no fun especially when it rains). My take-away is the great preservation of the fort. I enjoyed reading some history, walking where soldiers once trained, and getting a glimpse into what life was like so many years ago in the south. OK, enough talk! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the trip…

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

The New Publix Back-to-School Father Daughter Commercial

Publix is known for having great commercials. In fact, one my all-time favorites is a Publix holiday ad from 2005… do you remember this Valentine’s Day tear-jerker? Well, Publix is back now with a timely “back to school” commercial and it’s as sweet as you’d expect. Check it out then scroll down for more info…

Is the fridge gonna close itself!? Spoken like a true adult. But the daughter has the last laugh when she repeats the line as her dad holds a prepackaged meal he retrieved from the refrigerator. Touché, young one.

Alternate version. Publix used an X before it was cool! But the Latinx community can enjoy the back-to-school ad in Spanish, too. A few differences… the English version includes the sassy “fridge” comment, but the Spanish version below doesn’t. In fact, you’ll only see one of the two actors speaking in this version. The daughter has a conversation at lunch, which is in English.

A couple of other differences… when Dad is at the bedroom door, he says, “Baila conmigo.” This translates to “Dance with me.” In the English version, he says, “Remember this?” Both sticky notes from Dad say that he’s proud of her. Her sticky note says, in English, “Proud of you, too,” but in Spanish her note translates to, “and I of you.”

But wait, there’s more. Backtracking to the beginning of both ads, the English version starts off with “First day!” spoken by an excited dad. The Spanish ad, Dad says the daughter’s name. Looking back over it, the Spanish version actually says nothing about it being the first day of school, unless it’s inferred by how she’s preparing a lunch and sitting in the cafeteria in front of a poster that says, “Welcome students.”

What do you think about the ads? Has Publix maintained their reputation of having fantastically heartwarming commercials? Comment below!

-Out of the Wilderness

Free like birds

In church this morning there was a song with lyrics about freedom. It reminded me of the three “non-churchy” songs that always pop in my head, two of which are about birds and freedom. What can I say, I love birds. But surprisingly, not one of the songs is “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Go figure! 

From singers you might possibly may have barely heard of before, here are three songs about wanting to be free.

Elvis Presley “I Want To Be Free”…

Sia “Bird Set Free”…

Queen “I Want To Break Free”…

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

Do dogs know when they’re getting old?

I was petting and snuggling with my dogs the other day and thinking about when Piper the beagle was a puppy. This was before we got Asia the mix heeler beagle. So many afternoons Piper and I would run around the back yard chasing each other. Barking, tussling, play fighting. It’s been a few years since then and now Piper is content to sniff things, chase rabbits when she sees one, and be sneaky about snatching up people’s food if they leave it out! So I started to wonder: do Piper and Asia think about when they were young? Do they wonder about the future?

My best guess is that they think mostly about what’s going on right now. They’re always in the moment. They aren’t remembering when they were puppies peeing on the kitchen floor, running through the water at low tide, barking at other dogs at a Nashville dog park. Similarly, and unlike humans, I don’t think they’ve thought a single second about their age, what happens in the afterlife, or how they don’t move as quickly or playfully as they used to. Well, Asia still plays and runs around like a pup.

It makes me happy to know they’re living each day as if they’ll live forever. In their minds we are together now and for the rest of time. And ya know what, they’re right.

Together now and for the rest of time.

-Out of the Wilderness

Old Navy’s New Back-to-School Commercial – The Music

It’s that time of year again! Kids, parents, and money-loving businesses are prepping for “back-to-school” sales. Old Navy has a new ad promoting their must-have school items (although, don’t they just sell clothes?), take a look…

The Music. The soundtrack for this ad is a song called “Back With My Bestie (Best Day)” by All Talk. Here’s the full track…

Does the Old Navy commercial bring happy thoughts to anyone gearing up for a new school year? Chime in below! Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness