Packing for a Weekend Adventure

By Vanessa Park

So, you have decided to take an Excursion trip.  You have read our Lynchburg issue and have decided you would really like to see Sharp Top and experience Lynchburg's beautiful fall colors.  Your significant other is ready for a weekend away, you have made a fresh batch of our Best Ever Fall Trail Mix and you are looking forward to a weekend away outside.  But, other than clothes and toiletries, what should you pack?  Here, I will give packing tips for both those of you who will camp out and those of you who prefer the comfort of a hotel.

No matter where you are staying in Lynchburg, you will want to bring rain gear.  Lynchburg is beautiful, but known for having the occasional rainy day.  Secondly, be sure to use an online map service (such as Map Quest) to map out your route and to print directions for the places you know you want to go, this could include trails, restaurants and the locations of different events on our calendar. As you are planning what you will do, make a list of gear you might need (appropriate shoes for hiking, water bottles, sunscreen, etc.) and then use the list to pack your backpacks.  A packing list can save you from forgetting things and, in the end, save you valuable time and money on your weekend adventure!  If you plan on taking pictures, be sure to grab your camera and some extra batteries, just in case! Last, but certainly not least, grab the issue of Excursion Magazine featuring the place you're going.  Flip through it again in the car, and you may find something else you want to do or somewhere else you want to go! 

A Look Ahead

By Vanessa Park

As you probably know, each month Excursion Magazine focuses on a different area in our region.  For the Fall 2012 issue, we showed you the best of outdoor activities in Lynchburg, Virginia.  In our Winter 2013 issue, we will focus on the city of Asheville, North Carolina and the surrounding area.

The issue will contain features on winter activities in Asheville like the best places to ice skate, as well as maps for little sightseeing day trips you can easily take in the surrounding area.  Because this issue will be coming out in January, we also plan to have a feature on how to keep that New Year's resolution by exercising, with tips for ways you can keep your workout outside as well as ways to spice up your usual run routine.

Remember, if you took a trip to Lynchburg and tried some of our suggested activities, you can submit your photos to be considered for our new expanded Letters to the Editor section! Just email photos, your name, and a statement that it is ok for us to use them to excursionmag@gmail.com by December 10, 2012.

Our staff has been working so hard on the Asheville issue and we can't wait for you to see it!

Autumn is Awesome

This is another post by Excursion staff member Kelly Teufel.  Here, she shares her thoughts on Fall in Virginia and the city of Lynchburg. 

By Kelly Teufel

My experience of autumn in Lynchburg has been awesome. I am from West Palm Beach, Florida so I am used to beaches and 80-degree weather during fall. Excursion sent me to visit Lynchburg for a week and experience the area with our readers.

In Florida there are not any seasons it is just hot all the time. So the change was definitely needed and now, after living in Virginia for four years, I love seasons. Autumn is my favorite probably just because of what it brings and the holidays it leads to. In Florida its weird to carve pumpkins and drink hot chocolate. I just love that in Virginia, we have the opportunity to do the simple things like apple picking, pumpkin patches, festivals and hiking. 

When I think about these things I think of fall. I enjoy being outside and when you are outdoors in autumn the cool air is so wonderfully refreshing. I believe Virginia has made me want to keep living in a place where there is more than one season. Virginia has one of the best falls I have ever experienced.