Take a Road Trip

When on the road remember your car will run smoothest on sinclair gas.

Usually I promote activities that you can do in Plymouth, but with this kind of weather sometimes all I can think about is hitting the open road! So I have compiled a list of great destinations within a days drive of Plymouth, because there's nothing like loading up the fam in the station wagon and pumping up the jams for a long and exciting road trip! I started with the nearest and ended with the farthest.

Taylors Falls - 1 Hours Drive

Taylors Falls is real close by, a great place to camp, swim, jump off rocks, canoe, in the winter you can ski! Its set right on the St. Croix river and is extremely picturesque. I highly recommend the Interstate State Park, and the Pothole Trail for hiking.

North Shore Lake superior - 3 to 4 Hours Drive

The north shore is one of my favorite areas in Minnesota. It has a mountainous feel to it, and the Lake looks like an ocean. As you can see my favorite activity is cliff jumping, but there is lots more to do: hiking (superior hiking trail), skiing, swimming, golfing, eating, lots of scenic drives, the light house, waterfalls, camping, cabins, museums, parks, restraunts (betty's pies, yum). Its the best. I highly recommend the beach front camp sites at Lamb's resort. Also SURFING! (WHAT?) yes I've seen it with my own 2 eyes and I went so wild I was scouring craigslist for surfboards after that until I realized becoming a full time lake surfer just wasn't going to be in the cards for me but I can dream right?

This is a must watch, then go there and see it yourself:

Milwaukee, Wisconsin - 5 Hour Drive

tailgating paradise

Milwaukee is fun. Best tailgating scene in the major leagues, hands down. Watching a game at miller park is well worth it. With their retractable roof, sometimes your watching an outdoor game sometimes your in a dome! Pretty cool! The nice part is if your driving from Plymouth to Milwaukee your guaranteed not to have a rain out. I havn't actually done anything in Milwaukee other than watch the Brewers play but I hear there's a sweet Harley Davidson Museum.

Chicago - 7 Hours

Beware of toll booths! Everytime I drive to Chicago I run out of loose change and have to scour my car for some way to satisfy the toll roads. Other than that Chicago has tons to do. Great food, 2 baseball stadiums (Wrigley is a must see, "Comisky" is a bit dicey). Everyone has a friend in Chicago so there's always a free place to stay. I would like to see the river on St. Patricks day before I die.

South Bend, Indiana - 8 Hour Drive

With Notre Dame Making a return to relevance this year Seeing a football game at Notre Dame is well worth it, whether your rooting for the Home or Away team.

Black Hills, South Dakota - 9 Hour Drive

Contrary to popular opinion the Dakotas are sweet. The badlands, the black hills, Mt. Rushmore, they are all must see's in my opinion.  You may have seen Rushmore on TV but in real life, Man, is it cool. Go check it out, lots of camping options nearby.

Cliff Jumping in the South Dakota Black Hills

Nashville, Tennesee - 13 Hour Drive

The home of Country Music and the Birth state of Davey Crockett. It seems far, but if you start driving at 7 you'll be there by about 9pm with a few breaks in there. Its really historical and really fun. They've also got a good zoo.

Wyoming - 10 Hours to the State Line

But 15 hours to yellowstone, 17 hours to Jackson Hole

Wyoming is where the wild wild west is alive and well. The snake river is ready to be ridden, Old Faithful explodes every hour, Cowboys ride the ranges, yodelers singing, chuckwagon dinners, antlers decorate everything. Its just good old fashioned fun. There are plenty of mountains and all the recreation that they bring as well.

Utah - 18 Hours

This is really the farthest I know of anyone driving in one day, when my sister and my friend took off bright and early and didn't stop till they made it home, and then again when my uncle brought a van full of friends from Utah to see me and my wife get married in St. Paul. Both completed the trip in under 18 hours, I have a feeling some caffeinated beverages were involved.  But anyhow, as far as I'm concerned Utah is the outdoorsmans paradise with very accessable skiing, hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, etc. The people are extremely friendly and the atmosphere is fun. Salt Lake's historic temple square is amazing and well worth a visit.

Make a snow cave... and sleep in it!

Well everyone knows a good igloo rules.  They are usually very fun to make, then when they are done its kind of like you sit in it for a couple minutes and then say "Ok on to the next item on the docket." However, not everyone has actually spent the night in a snow fort, and if you can handle sleeping the whole night through in your cave you get instant bragging rights and tons of street credit.

There are a lot of ways to make a snow cave. In the picture above every little ice block was a milk carton that had been saved up for many months, then one night we filled em all up with water and left them on the porch, Next morning: BOOM! thousands of ice bricks, and when we stacked them up and sprayed water on them they were cemented in place.

Heres the old pile up chunks of snow.

 

This is the classic dig into the snowbank.

This next snowcave is a true backwoodsman's cave! The methodology was to make a huge heap of snow, let it all harden up over a couple days, then come back and hollow out the inside! Technically speaking this particular cave was made by my cousins and buddies when I lived out in Utah, however we have all the necessary equipment (snow/coldness) right here in Plymouth, MN to recreate their methods right in your own backyard.

Anders, Grant and Nic chilling out around the campfire preparing to brave the cold in their cave.

Nic Hogan, a true man of adventure, enters the cave. Unfourtunately for his compadres, I heard that on this night Nic was a true man of flatulence, unleashing alarming amounts of noxious methane gas into the extremely tight sleeping quarters!

Grant enters the cave.

As you can see they enter the cave as mere wandering drifters but in the morning they emerge as victorious true men with unlimited bragging rights and a truly inspiring tale to tell.

Yes sleeping out in a snowcave is possible! Make sure to take all the necessary precautions, caves can collapse or run out of air! Do not put yourself in a dangerous situation.