Night Rider

I have a specific Spotify playlist titled “Night Bike Ride” for those warm nights I spent in Nashville riding my neon-lighted bicycle around the neighborhood. Isn’t it funny how certain songs are associated with a time or place in our lives? The songs on this list remind me of riding past my neighbors, music playing through my portable Sony speaker. Riding around the Kroger parking lot on the corner of Nolensville Rd. and Old Hickory Blvd. Circling the nearby streets, just as happy-go-lucky as could be.

I came across the playlist recently and all those good vibes came flooding back. It made me miss my neighborhood. Miss the night rides. My awesome old bike travels with me as I’m camping around the southeast, every once in a while flipping on the lights to brighten up the night in whichever campground I call home.

Do you have songs in your life that remind you of experiences and memories like this? How does hearing those songs make you feel?

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

Family Camping at Manatee Springs State Park

Hello there and thanks for dropping in today for a quick read about Manatee Springs State Park near Chiefland, Florida. I’ve been camping around the southeastern states this year with blog posts to prove it, see Camping Stories for more about all that. Next up on the list is the first camping trip to include my parents (although I’d camped with them and my oldest sister in Georgia, recap here), two sisters, brother in law, and four nieces. Oh, plus, my hounds and one of my sister’s family’s pups, the one that isn’t spooked by literally everything (shout out to Quincy, though!). They figured she’d be better to bring along on a trip with a lot of unknowns.

We all arrived on the day we arrived and adventure was dead ahead. Actually, I definitely should not phrase it that way because a scuba diver died over the course of the four days we were at the park. Crazy stuff that I’ll write about more in the near future. But untimely pun aside, adventure was just around the corner and boy, did we have a great time together (even if the teenagers won’t admit it).

One of the highlights for me was all the wildlife. In fact, the amount and types of wildlife is the sole reason some of the family didn’t swim or kayak! But I can’t ever resist getting a closer look so I just had to swim and had to kayak. Before I get to the photos, I should say we also gathered for dinner each night. That was fun. OK, time for photos. Here are an assortment from Manatee Springs State Park. Oh, also, it was on the very last day that we were graced with a swim-by from a big manatee. For those of us who were swimming, it seemed to come out of nowhere, definitely catching us by surprise.

-Out of the Wilderness

Fun Hummingbird Puzzle Part 2

Today is part two of a really fun puzzle that was created through Walgreens.com. honestly, I was so pleasantly shocked by the quality of the puzzle. Take a look at the original picture followed by a picture of the completed puzzle. If you go to the Walgreens website, be sure to check for seasonal discounts on the puzzle!

Thanks for dropping by…

-Out of the Wilderness

Awesome Customized Puzzles

This will be a short post today but I couldn’t NOT write about customized puzzles available through Walgreens. I’ve ordered two so far and both have turned out so well. I’ll post the image I used for the first puzzle tomorrow along with how the puzzle looked once finished.

UPDATE: click here for the big reveal 🙂

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

The Uncool Yeti Cooler Commercial, plus Cool Music

For the longest time I was trying to find an ad I had seen on TV so I could write about it. All I had to go on on was “Wear Your Cooler.” While this phrase doesn’t make much sense on its own, I thought at least I’d have enough to find out the product and company. But nope! The only two things I could work with are that tagline and the music from the ad. They used “Rides Through The Morning” by Michael Nau.

I didn’t have enough info to go on so days and weeks passed by and I couldn’t post a blog because I HAD NO IDEA WHAT THE PRODUCT BEING SOLD WAS OR WHO WAS SELLING IT! Gosh, sorry to get all all-capsy there. But it was frustrating me so much! But then… a breakthrough! I happened to catch the first 3 seconds of the ad which told me everything I needed to know for the commercial. It’s Yeti advertising a cooler you can strap to yourself like a backpack. Here’s the ad…

Music? Good choice. 

Visuals? Great. 

Effectiveness of commercial? A dud. 

If you have to catch the first few seconds of an ad to know what it’s for, that’s a fail. Yeti totally whiffs for this reason. I’d cut them some slack if they did a few things to highlight brand more, but they don’t. Watch the ad again and tell me if you see any clear logo or branding after the first 3 seconds. If I liked the cooler, I would have very little chance of finding it. How many consumers would spend much time looking for a random cooler they saw on a commercial without knowing the brand? Not many. 

Of course, working in Yeti’s favor is the fact that they don’t really need to advertise at all. Most people are aware they are a big-time name brand and even with high-priced items, people know them and keep buying. It’s kind of like Lamborghinis or Mexican restaurants. You never see commercials for Lambos or Mexican food, but both are doing just fine.

I’d love to know your thoughts on the Yeti commercial. Is it a fail? What could they have done better, or is it fine as is? 

Thanks for dropping in!

-Out of the Wilderness