Bring On Adventure

08/03/2026

Although we weren't able to stay the full night like we had anticipated, we once again were amazed (and still in love with) Palo Pinto Mountains State Park!!!

Spots are booking up fast, but if you can make it over, it is worth the trek! The campsites are very well done and even post-rain, the ground was solid. And the stars were jaw dropping! Definitely excited to have the parks one day certified as an International Dark Sky Park.

We are hoping to return again soon to once again walk along the trails and check out the brand new playground!



*Some older photos were added to the post since we were not able to stay as anticipated.

26/02/2026

Our posts have slowed, but our planning has not! We are excited to revisit Palo Pinto Mountains State Park upon the announcement of their soft opening! Stay tuned for more adventures!

17/02/2026

Celebrating our 2nd year sharing all of our travels. Thank you for your continuing support! We have had a blast swapping stories and meeting so many new people.

Bring on Adventure! 💪🏻

12/02/2026

We've talked about our pins, we've talked about our medallions, but now it's time to highlight our patches!

Little Man has been collecting park patches since before he could crawl! After finally finishing sewing on each patch to his coat, we have found we already need jacket #2 to continue his collection. It is absolutely amazing how captivating each patch is and how many memories they all hold.

Shout-out to Eisenhower State Park for being Little Man's favorite patch, and Brazos Bend State Park for being the overwhelming playground favorite!

We’d love for our Facebook friends to join in the fun. If you’ve collected park patches of your own, drop a photo in the comments. Let us know why it's your favorite! Tell us about the park, the story behind the piece, what draws you to that park. Let’s make this a celebration of all the beautiful, wild places that fuel our shared passion.

Can’t wait to see the parks through all of your patches!

28/01/2026

If you’re new here or you’ve been following along for a while, welcome! We want to get to know you and continue building a strong hiking/outdoors community, but we know that starts with sharing a bit about us.

Last week, we shared a bit about Zyan. Since they are inseparable, we are highlighting both Shipley and Little Man!

🐕Get to Know the Crew: Shipley and Little Man🧒🏻

Shipley was the first addition to our hiking crew. Shipley was found abandoned behind a Shipley Donut building. After being brought into his foster family, he donned the name Donut! After seeing his New Years Adopt Me photo, we fell in love! He no longer looked like a "Donut," so to honor his foster name, we swapped over to Shipley.

Shipley is a purebred mutt! Primarily mixed with Border Collie and Staffordshire Terrier, he is mixed with a million other breeds as well. His genetic testing also showed he has several aesthetic mutations (none of which are indicative of health issues). He is very strong and very energetic, but also loves a good rest day. Goose Island State Park was his first park, and was first tagged a 'bark' ranger at Daingerfield State Park!

Little Man came next, and what a blessing! From the very beginning, he loved being outside! At just 2 months old, Little Man visited his first park - Sheldon Lake State Park. He loved getting to feel the wind at the top of the John Jacob Observation Tower. His current favorite park activities are swimming and pointing out birds!

As of today, Little Man has been to 34/88 Texas State Parks. He often dons a coat covered in park patches. We are working on coat #2 since he is already out of room!

These two are best buddies and can often be found playing fetch or soccer. Shipley's favorite part of the day is saying good morning to Little Man, and Little Man's favorite part of his morning routine is feeding his puppy. Shipley is incredibly protective of his tiny human and does not hesitate to use himself as a barrier between Little Man and any dangers (including ledges and any handsy strangers). Shipley even joins Little Man every night for storytime before they share a hug and head to sleep.

Thank you for all of your support during our travels. We would love to hear more about you!
🥾Tell us your story
🌳Tell us what's next
⛺Show off your best photos

And no matter what life brings, don't forget to Bring on Adventure 💪🏻



As a reminder, we do not share Little Man's name or face for safety and his own privacy.

23/01/2026

If you’re new here or you’ve been following along for a while, welcome! We want to get to know you and continue building a strong hiking/outdoors community, but we know that starts with sharing a bit about us.

Last week, we shared a bit about Samantha. This week, Zyan will share a bit more about himself!

🎣Get to Know the Crew: Zyan🎣

Howdy everyone! As a kid, I loved playing outside with my family and friends. From playing imaginary games to exploring my back yard, there was always something to do. I remember not wearing shoes half of the time and trying to get my feet used to the dry grass or rocky driveway. My siblings and I were 'feral' kids through and through!

I grew up in Texas, but I wasn't familiar with our wonderful Texas State Parks until I left the state for college and met Samantha. She and her family loved to go and would offer to have me tag along on their trips. I'm grateful that I did! Being able to explore all of Texas over the last several years has been such a blessing in my life. You can never truly comprehend how much the state has to offer until you see the mountains, the deserts, the swamps, and all the other terrains.

My first trip to a state park was with Samantha's family at Huntsville State Park. I remember the lake being the exact kind of calm we need but don't get in the busy of day-to-day life. I am now a HUGE fan of parks with any kind of water feature; they are always so grounding! I have taken quite a liking to fishing as well. I may not always catch something, but I enjoy the peace received from simply being with nature

Ever get rained on while camping? Ever get rained on when the forecast showed no rain? Ever had that happen 3+ times in a row? Apparently I am a good luck charm for rain, but a bad luck charm for camping. Doesn't stop us (or me) from going. We have just learned to be more prepared!

Thank you, all, for being here!
🥾Tell us your story
🌳Tell us what's next
⛺Show off your best photos

And no matter what life brings, don't forget to Bring on Adventure 💪🏻

14/01/2026

If you’re new here or you’ve been following along for a while, welcome! We want to get to know you and continue building a strong hiking/outdoors community, but we know that starts with sharing a bit about us.

Last week, we shared a bit about our family's story. This week, Samantha will share a bit more about her!

🌺Get to Know the Crew: Samantha🌺

Howdy, everyone! My love of all things outdoors started young. As a kid, I always wanted to be outside playing with my dogs, climbing trees, and having fun with anything I could get my hands on. I grew up going to city, country, and state parks in both Texas and Louisiana. Anytime the weather permitted, my dad and I were at a lake with lure in the water. Even now, whenever fishing is on the table, my answer is yes!

Tyler State Park is what I consider to be my "home park." I have, without a doubt, gone to this park more than any other. I've made amazing memories of fishing, hiking, camping, swimming, catching up with family, and being amazed by watching my mom and grandfather make their way out to the diving block.

The hussle and bussle of college put a bit of a halt on my park visits. During a holiday break, my parents drove us over to Brazos Bend State Park. Let me tell you - I have never needed a hike more! It was such a relief to be out and breathing fresh air, and seeing an alligator just hanging out along the trail helped ground me back to the real world. Every following invite was an automatic YES!

Zyan started tagging along (making these wonderful hikes even more enjoyable), and the first Christmas we were married, my parents gifted us the best gift I have ever received! The Texas State Parks park pass and passport really amped up our passion, and I can honestly say there is so much more in Texas than I could have ever imagined. Texas Parks and Wildlife has truly done an incredible job!

Our travels have ignited a few other passions as well. I love nature photography. All the tiny details on each plant, animal, and rock coming together in one masterpiece of a landscape - God did some amazing work in our state! And oil pastels. I would've never thought that our park travels would spark the love of a new medium, but I have started to recreating some of my photos into artwork of my own.

As mentioned in our last post, our travels were paused a couple of times because of medical, work, and relocation situations, but with each pause I was only more excited to pick back up our travels. Don't let life stop you from doing what you love - rest and recover as needed, but come back stronger and KEEP GOING!

I am honored you are all here!
🥾Tell us your story
🌳Tell us what's next
⛺Show off your best photos

And no matter what life brings, don't forget to Bring on Adventure 💪🏻

07/01/2026

If you’re new here or you’ve been following along for a while, welcome! Bring On Adventure is all about saying yes to new adventures.

In the interest of building a strong community, we want to share a bit about us and our story, and we would love to hear yours!

📖Our Story 📖

When we first got together, we were broke college students whose lives were seemingly always taking unexpected turns. Instead of letting the pressure get to us, we would remind each other "it's just an adventure."

Fast forward to 2023, we were now married, and Samantha's parents gifted us a Texas State Park Pass and a park passport. We had already been regular park goers, but this gift ignited our passion for travelling. We were determined to check off all Texas State Parks that same year!

We started strong with a concrete plan for the year that included a new (and furry) hiking buddy! Shipley Donut joined our mission, and by July 2023, we had managed to go to 47 of the 88 parks (including a bonus visit to Fairfield Lake prior to its closer). Halfway! Nothing would stop us!

God had other plans for our big adventure, and we were blessed with Little Man (for his privacy we do not use his name or face pictures on our page). Unfortunately, the pregnancy was hard on Samantha, and the severity of her hyperemesis gravidarum made any travel dangerously impossible. We squeezed in two more parks that year totaling out at 49/88.

After Little Man arrived safely in our arms, we set out again and checked off 9 more parks! Then tragedy hit our family again when Samantha broke her back (at-home accident unrelated to park travels). Though we weren't working hard on hikes, Samantha worked hard to recover, and Zyan worked hard to be the caregiver for both Samantha and Little Man.

Recovery has been long and difficult, and life kept coming. But through job changes, cut hours, moves, and lay offs, we kept pushing.

And today? We have been to 85 currently open Texas State Parks, we have been to 2 bonus parks (one closed, one soon to open), we only have 3 parks left, and are already planning out of state trips to continue this incredible adventure!

We are so glad you’re here!
🥾Tell us your story
🌳Tell us what's next
⛺Show off your best photos

And no matter what life brings, don't forget to Bring on Adventure 💪🏻

02/01/2026

02/01/2026

And our first day hike comes to a close! Palo Pinto Mountains State Park, what a phenomenal park! I am absolutely thrilled to come back again at the grand opening. You can bet we will be some of the first few to arrive.

We hiked along the Tucker Lake Trail, Ben's Trail, and a few smaller pathways and MAN what a hike! We logged a little over 5.5 miles, and enjoyed every inch of it! Thank you so much to Ranger Kate for the end of month updates - please keep them coming! - to Texas Parks and Wildlife & Texas State Parks for another memory-maker of a park, and to all the rangers and volunteers who have worked so tirelessly to make today what it was!

01/01/2026

Guess what...

23/12/2025