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Home » grateful

Continuing Our Adventure…What’s Next?

August 15, 2016 by Kristin

It was just a little over one year ago, that we left behind our “perfect” life for an “imperfect” future. I use quotation marks because our life looked perfect, and even felt perfect…with thriving careers and a beautiful home. But our priorities had changed. We evaluated what was important to us (spending time together, travel and the freedom to do both – how and when we wanted to) and we made huge changes to craft the new lifestyle we desired for ourselves.

We sold our house, sold or gave away most of our stuff, and implemented a one year plan to travel full time in an RV and support ourselves with our small business.

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Our home and workshop on the road.

Our Goals:

  • Travel throughout the country EXPLORING the USA, including the vast expanses of our national parks, rugged coastlines, towering mountains, green forests and arid deserts! We crave experiencing new places and creating new adventures together.
  • Grow our online business, Destination Tree! Do what makes you happy, right? Well, we’re passionate about making cool and unique custom artwork. And we believed we could do what we love, the way that we wanted to, and make a great living at it.

We had a few doubters. We had a lot of supporters. And we have no regrets. We accomplished exactly what we set out to do.

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One of our many views on the road.

Our Success:

  • We visited 34 states. We hiked and explored over 40 National Park Sites. We have an even deeper appreciation for the beauty and majesty of our planet.
  • We retrofitted a 10×10 space into a mobile workshop. We created and shipped hundreds of custom orders all around the world while traveling all across the country. We grew our business beyond our wildest expectation
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One of our many shipments from one of the many locations we created artwork across the country!

Of course, there were challenges and sacrifices along the way. But they were all part of the journey. They were learning lessons and reminders that anything worth doing isn’t always going to be easy.

So now, more than a year later, a lot of people have asked:

“WHAT’S NEXT??”

Well, we’ve confirmed two things over the last year. We love to travel and we love being entrepreneurs. Traveling for an entire year fueled our desire to continue exploring both our country and the world. And the freedom, flexibility and joy we get out of entrepreneurship is priceless.

As we enter into this next chapter of our adventures, we have NO intention of settling down. However, we ARE going to restructure how we manage our two passions. Our business has grown so much over the past year that it is physically impossible to continue managing it in a 10×10 space while simultaneously traveling.

We’ve always loved Northern Michigan, so we’re leasing a warehouse in Petoskey in order to have the space to continue growing Destination Tree over the next several months and through the holiday season. We’ve also leased an inspiring little place to live for the same time period where we’ll develop our plans for our next phase which involves an exciting balance of entrepreneurship and continuing to travel the world.

Life really is like a Choose Your Own Adventure book. And we’re going to keep living, enjoying the twists, turns and unexpected challenges along the way, but also making conscious choices to LIVE INTENTIONALLY…setting the course and steering the direction we want to go and exploring new places across the globe.

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I’ve struggled with how to close out this blog post. Because our journey isn’t over. So, I’ve decided to leave you with my recent thoughts from our 365th day on the road:

If there’s one thing I’ve learned on this journey, it is to believe in yourself. Believe in yourself and your abilities. Believe in yourself and your sense of adventure. Believe in yourself and the decisions you make. Believe in yourself and the mistakes, challenges and mishaps you learn from along the way. And believe in yourself enough to follow your dreams. It’s a big fat risk, but it’s worth it. And so are you.”

Cheers!

Kristin & Matt

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Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Blogs by Kristin, Inspiration, On the Road Tagged With: adventure, choices, cross country, dare, decisions, destination tree, dream, driftwood signs, grateful, inspiration, national parks, road trip, travel, wanderlust

Colorful Colorado

June 28, 2016 by Kristin

Welcome to Colorful Colorado! That’s what the sign said when we crossed the border from New Mexico to Colorado on our year-long road trip, and after seeing the landscapes Colorado had to offer, we now understand the fitting nickname. Just take a look at our highlights and you’ll understand too. It’s a state full of white capped peaks, purple mountains, green trees, red rocks, impossibly blue skies and flaming orange sunsets…

Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs, CO

First stop, Garden of the Gods, just outside of Colorado Springs. These gorgeous red rock formations are dotted with greenery, framed with blue skies and as the day progresses from dawn to daylight to dusk, they present an evolving beauty with the changing light. A paved trail winds through the central “gardens” and plenty of other trails run in all directions all around the park.

Not only is this place magnificently beautiful, but it’s also free. The land was given to the state of Colorado in 1909 with the provision that it would be a free public park. We were so enthralled with the Garden of the Gods, we came back twice within the same day. If you’re ever in the Colorado Springs area, make sure to visit this stunning park. It truly does feel like a Garden of the Gods.

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The main pathway from the central gardens parking area gives you a glimpse of the beauty of The Garden of the Gods.
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Hey!! Whose big heads are those blocking the Garden of the Gods?! Oh, that’s just us taking a selfie. Excited to be here!
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Incredibly scenic hiking, but also perfectly wonderful to stop, sit and enjoy the view.
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Doing a little bird watching…yeah…scroll back up and check out those white tipped wings!
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Even Lucy loves Garden of the Gods.
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There are designated rock climbing areas for those with proper equipment and skills. And there’s also guys who don’t listen to caution signs 😉
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Blue, purple, red, green. We love all the colors of Colorful Colorado.

Pikes Peak

We left the warmth (and oxygen) in Manitou Springs and took the Pikes Peak Cog Train to the summit of Pikes Peak. Now, regarding elevation, many people visiting Colorado from lower elevations need to be cautious of altitude sickness. Denver is famous for being the “Mile High City” with an elevation of exactly one mile: 5,280 feet. And Manitou Springs is a bit higher at 6,358 feet. But, the easiest way to prevent altitude sickness is drinking lots of water. However, we had just spent several weeks in Santa Fe, which is almost 7,200 feet. So, traveling to Colorado didn’t require any extra adjustment and we were consciously staying very hydrated on an ongoing basis.

However, Pikes Peak is another story. The summit of Pikes Peak is 14,110 feet. FOURTEEN THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED AND TEN FEET! Officially, it’s the highest peak of the Southern Front range of the Rocky  Mountains. So, we over-hydrated the day before and morning of our journey. We boarded the cog train in warm, sunny Manitou Springs with full bladders and climbed nearly 8,000 feet to the cold, snowy, windy summit. Green trees transitioned to alpine tundra…the air was thinner, the skies were bluer and the scenery was out of of this world. And thank god there was a bathroom at the top.

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Part way up, at about 12,000 feet, we paused and then continued to climb to the summit.
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We made it! Super excited to reach the summit. But holy moly is it COLD!!!
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Hoods up! Not only is it cold, but the wind was really whipping at the top of Pikes Peak…can’t beat these views though!

The view from the top. 😮#destinationtreeontheroad #pikespeak #pikespeaksummit #pikespeakorbust #colorado #coloradosprings #coloradogram #fivestates #mountainsformiles

A video posted by Destination Tree (@destinationtree) on Jun 5, 2016 at 7:04pm PDT

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This is becoming a classic sightseeing pose of Matt’s 🙂
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We told you it was cold. And there was seriously a LOT of snow up top!! At least six to ten feet of snow! But some genius decided it would be a good idea to make homemade donuts at the top of a 14,110 foot peak, and we indulged, and agreed, GREAT idea.

Royal Gorge Bridge and Park, Canon City, CO

We had never heard of Royal Gorge before, but fortunately it was one of many great recommendations from our good friend Kelly who has lived in Colorado for several years. (She also has a bumper sticker on her fridge, “Not a native, but I got here as fast as I could!” which always makes me laugh, because she was born to live in Colorado!)

The Royal Gorge is obscenely beautiful all by itself, but the Bridge and Park gave us a birds eye view of this massive gorge. The bridge is over 1,200 feet long and it’s nearly 1,000 feet down to the Arkansas River below. You don’t have to be afraid of heights to feel a little uneasy looking over the edge of this bridge. We actually took a gondola ride across the canyon (you can also zip line across) and then we hiked along the edge and walked back across the suspension bridge. It was incredible. And windy. And exhilarating. And completely gorgeous.

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After taking a gondola from one side, we hiked along the edge of the gorge and walked back across that very bridge! Ahhhh!

Don’t watch this video if you’re afraid of heights!!! 😱 #destinationtreeontheroad #royalgorge #royalgorgebridge #lookdown #dontlookdown #colorado #coloradogram #holymoly #suspensionbridge

A video posted by Destination Tree (@destinationtree) on Jun 3, 2016 at 11:01am PDT

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All smiles, before clamping down a hand on his hat and glasses. We had to guess that there are a countless hats, glasses and cell phones that been swept away by the wind and down to the Arkansas River.

Castle Rock

In addition to packing in as many Colorado sights as we could, we were also slam-bammed busy with Destination Tree orders. I was fielding custom order requests and questions non-stop and Matt was furiously trying to catch up on the engraving work for a corporate order and countless Father’s Day gifts. While he caught up, it gave me an opportunity to have a girls weekend with my bestie, Kelly, in Castle Rock. And it was one of those weekends where we had so much fun talking, laughing, hiking and hanging out, we never remembered to take pictures!

We hiked the town’s namesake, Castle Rock, which was a fun hike and a short climb to a 360 degree view of the adorable town of Castle Rock and surrounding landscape. It almost looks like a fake, model city with the mountains, green grass, trees and perfect little town below. We also burned our quads at the mini-incline at Phillip S. Miller Park, hit the trails, and then did more hiking at Castlewood Canyon State Park. We absolutely earned our margaritas, sunset cupcakes and hours of laughter. We’re kindred spirits and it felt unreal to spend so much quality time together. And then I photographed, packaged and posted a LOT of orders. 🙂

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At Castlewood Canyon State Park we did stop to admire the view en route to the canyon…

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What’s better than a colorful, Colorado sunset? Sitting on the back porch, eating decadent cupcakes, with an amazing friend, laughing and talking, while watching a colorful, Colorado sunset. Boom!

Rocky Mountain National Park

I always get super hyped to visit a new National Park, since that’s been one of our primary focuses on this year-long trip. And while I was hyped about Rocky Mountain National Park and towering snow covered mountains, Matt was hyped about The Stanley Hotel, famed for being the inspiration of Stephen King’s The Shining, and infamous for being exceptionally haunted.

The drive to Estes Park, the small town at the entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park, and home of The Stanley Hotel, was more scenic than I even imagined. Once again, we were focused on our destination, but the journey proved to be just as wonderful. We took route 34 from Loveland, which hugged the Big Thompson River through twists and turns at the base of a huge rocky canyon.

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The drive along the Big Thompson River to Estes Park was unbelievably beautiful…and we hadn’t even made it to Rocky Mountain National Park yet!!
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We arrived in Estes Park and got our first full on glimpse of Rocky Mountain National Park!
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The Famous Stanley Hotel! Matt was like a kid in a candy store…only he was a ghost hunter at a paranormal hotbed! You better believe he’s got a paranormal blog post coming soon about this!!

“The mountains are calling and I must go.” -John Muir #destinationtreeontheroad #rmnp #rockymountainnationalpark #findyourpark #themountainsarecalling

A video posted by Destination Tree (@destinationtree) on Jun 10, 2016 at 10:48am PDT

 

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SO excited to visit Rocky Mountain National Park!
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Rocky Mountain National Park did not disappoint.

After a whirlwind 2 day tour of Rocky Mountain National Park, we went back to base camp at Horsetooth Reservoir, where there was no shortage of Colorful Colorado sunsets.

Mother Nature has the best box of crayons. #destinationtreeontheroad #camplife #sunset #mothernature

A photo posted by Destination Tree (@destinationtree) on Jun 12, 2016 at 5:33pm PDT

 

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At Horsetooth Reservoir in Fort Collins we caught up on Destination tree orders, soaked in the views and got ready to head to Wyoming.

We didn’t spend a lot of time in Colorado, but we packed in as many beautiful sights as we could and enjoyed every moment. We bid farewell to Colorful Colorado with gratitude and unforgettable memories.

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Our “morning commute” leaving Colorado and heading north to Wyoming.

Next up…Wyoming! Grand Tetons and Yellowstone here we come!

Cheers!
Kristin

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Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Blogs by Kristin, On the Road Tagged With: adventure, cross country, destination tree, grateful, inspiration, national parks, paranormal, road trip, travel, wanderlust

New Mexico. Not Really New – Not Really Mexico.

June 11, 2016 by Kristin

I saw this saying on a bumper sticker while in New Mexico and laughed out loud.

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Because it’s true, right?! But I never consciously gave that much though to the name “New Mexico” before. To be honest, I never actually gave much thought to New Mexico at all. I hardly knew anything about it. Fortunately, Matt did. He had a long bucket list of New Mexico destinations he was interested in. And fortunately, we’re on a year-long road trip discovering and exploring our beautiful country. Turns out, my ignorance has transformed into a true appreciation of the natural wonders of New Mexico. It’s not really New. It’s not really Mexico. But it is really awesome. And here’s why.

White Sands National Monument

Holy Moly. I did not know this place existed. Did you? Well, maybe you did if you watch the Today Show, because they were there a few days after we were! We were amazzzzed by the powdery white sand flanked by purple mountains and blue skies.

After running up a sand dune, I’m not exceptionally eloquent, but it WAS pretty awesome! #destinationtreeontheroad #newmexico #whitesandsnationalmonument #newmexicoskies #newmexicobeauty #whitesands #optoutside

A video posted by Destination Tree (@destinationtree) on May 5, 2016 at 5:40pm PDT

Although, per usual, we arrived early in the morning because the sun is BLAZING hot. I’m not wearing long sleeves and pants because it’s cold. I paired those with a hat, glasses AND sunscreen because I was sure my skin was going to turn crispy.

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Dogs love sand dunes. At least Lucy does. She had the best day of her life running up and down the dunes like a crazy dog. Dobie thought it was fun for two runs and then he wanted a nap.
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No words. Just amazement.
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We were here! And we are so grateful to have experienced such a beautiful and special place.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

This place is amazing. And it may seem like it’s out in the middle of nowhere, but that’s probably because it is. But it is SO WORTH IT. I would never have guessed that underneath the Chihuahuan Desert existed over 119 caves (that we know of…who knows how many more could possibly exist).

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Carlsbad Caverns and Crazy Blue Skies.

We took a self-guided tour down the 1.25 mile Natural Entrance trail which descended more than 750 feet to an enormous cavern known as “The Big Room” where another 1 mile trail loops around an enormous cavern which Will Rogers described as “The Grand Canyon with a roof over it”. Yeah, that’s pretty accurate. 3.5 miles isn’t a very long hike, but the decline and incline in and out of the cave makes this a worthy workout trek.

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The natural entrance to Carlsbad Caverns…and there’s little ole’ me to help show the scale of this steep switchback path that goes down and down and down…

Each evening, hundreds of thousands of Brazilian free-tailed bats leave the caves to search for food (bugs!). However, they return to the caves before dawn, and since we were there early in the morning, we did see several bats still returning. We figured they were the teenagers who were out past curfew, sneaking in late and hoping no one noticed…

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And here we go…goodbye natural light, time to do some cave exploring!
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The caverns are absolutely massive, and while the trail is paved, your shins and toes feel the brunt of the downhill descent, and the whole way down, you’re conscious of the fact that you’re going to ascend all the way back up to get back out!
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iPhones can take some pretty great pictures. They cannot take pictures worth a darn inside a cave though. So, to help show the gorgeous formations inside Carlsbad Caverns, this professional photo of Doll’s Theater, a feature inside The Big Room at Carlsbad CAverns (Credit: NPS Photo/Peter Jones) does a pretty darn good job.
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As if an incredible hike down and up out of Carlsbad Caverns wasn’t amazing enough, on our drive out of the park we drove past a family of desert Bighorn Sheep! They were so cute!

Santa Fe

Santa Fe is a beautiful city with a small town vibe. It’s full of pueblo style architecture, museums, art galleries, and has no shortage of restaurants featuring authentic New Mexican cuisine and their famed red and green chile, both FULL of flavor. Sounds pretty wonderful already, but an added appeal is the opportunity for exploration in the mountains and wilderness surrounding this city already perched at 7,000 feet.

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Santa Fe is full of beautiful churches and architecture, including the Saint Francis Cathedral, built in the late 1800s.
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A beautiful and unique element outside of the cathedral was this labyrinth (added in 2003). We learned that labyrinths were often built into the floors of medieval cathedrals and that this one is built in the style of one in Chartres, France.

We loved the symbolism of this stone path, “The Labyrinth’s path is like the path of life. There are twists and turns, feelings of being lost, encounters with others on your path, the thrill of accomplishment at the center, and sometimes a flash of insight before returning.” And honestly, it’s just fun to walk the narrow, winding path, feel the warmth of the sun on your back, and smell the wafting spring blossoms in the breeze.

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Take a deep breath and inhale the sweet smell of fresh blossoms.
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Strolling along Canyon Road there is no shortage of beautiful galleries and local artisans.

Our favorite stop along Canyon Road? Wiford Gallery. We were literally hypnotized by their gorgeous wind art.

Totally mesmerized by the enchanting wind art at @wifordgallery! #destinationtreeontheroad #santafe #santafenm #canyonroad

A video posted by Destination Tree (@destinationtree) on May 15, 2016 at 11:57am PDT

Chaco Culture National Historic Park

CHACO CANYON! This was a biggie on Matt’s bucket list, and I was fully unprepared for the beauty and ancient architecture preserved here. There weren’t just ancient ruins, there were MASSIVE ancient ruins. Ruins you could wander through for hours or days, getting lost in a labyrinth of doorways, rooms and buildings. A self-guided tour brochure gave some explanation, which seemed mostly speculation, on the way of life of the Pueblo culture. Imagination was better at filling in the possibilities of how they built these massive structures and lived in this barren land.

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Chaco!! We arrived!! It was quite a journey just to get here, and after a long, bumpy dirt road we had to hop out for an arrival pic 🙂
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Ruins so enormous, they don’t fit in the frame of the picture…need some scale? Look at those tiny people in the center/right of the ruins, and then imagine building these walls, circles and structures thousands of years ago…

 

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On one of the many hiking trails in and around the ruins.
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The exterior ruins of what was truly a labyrinth of rooms and doorways inside.

The (tiny) doors and rooms go on and on and on…

Take a little walk with us through Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon! #destinationtreeontheroad #chacoculturenationalhistoricpark #chacoculture #chacocanyon #ancientruins #pueblo #pueblobonito #findyourpark

A video posted by Destination Tree (@destinationtree) on May 20, 2016 at 8:14am PDT

A 360 degree view helps do Chaco Canyon justice…

We were in awe over the ancient ruins at Chaco Canyon. The Pueblo culture and architecture preserved here is amazing. #destinationtreeontheroad #chaco #chacocanyon #chacoculture #chacoculturenationalhistoricpark #ancientruins #pueblo #findyourpark

A video posted by Destination Tree (@destinationtree) on May 19, 2016 at 4:41pm PDT

Bandelier National Monument

Less than an hour drive from Santa Fe is Bandelier National Monument. If you’re like me, when you hear “monument”, you may think of some kind of statue or single structure (i.e. The Statue of Liberty). However, as I’ve learned on this year long road trip, a national monument is similar to a national park, just a different designation, and isn’t just a single “monument” but can be any particular area that is protected, owned and managed by the federal government. (Bonus: Our national park pass is valid at all National Monuments, Historic Sites, etc….so if you think there are a lot of national parks to visit, just imagine how much bigger that list is when you add all the other protected areas that are part of the NPS!).

Ok, probably more than you may have wanted to know about parks vs monuments, but back to this monument in particular, Bandelier National Monument is actually OVER 33,000 acres of protected land.  This area is protected for a good number of reasons, one of which is the incredible natural beauty. We hiked through huge canyons, past towering flat topped mesas, and amidst towering trees. We are tree huggers at heart and after the desert landscape in southern New Mexico, we were thrilled to be among tall trees again in the mountains of Northern New Mexico.

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The hike to Alcove House was a gorgeous path through towering Ponderosa Pines!

While the natural beauty is reason enough to protect this beautiful area, the other primary reason is the 11,000+ year old history and architecture from the Pueblo people who left behind petroglyphs, cave dwellings and structures built from volcanic tuff blocks.

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That’s Alcove House waaaaay up there. See the all the ladders and little people on the left? That’s how you get up there!
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Start at the bottom and keep climbing! Multiple ladders and narrow pathways get you to the top of Alcove House at Bandelier National Monument.
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Matt peeked into a few cave dwellings that were technically off the trail…get back over here!!
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Cave dwellings and petroglyphs along the sides of the cliffs were fascinating.
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Bandelier Selfie! 😉
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Pueblo block structures and cave dwellings to the left, and more ruins off to the far right…and blue skies and puffy clouds all around.

Perhaps one of the most incredible things about our visit to Bandelier, was that we explored a tiny sliver of the 33,000 acres. This particular canyon was just one area with some short hikes, but there are over 70 miles of trails throughout the entire park with more canyons, rivers, mesas and petroglyphs to be explored.

Jemez National Recreation Area

After spending most of the day in Bandelier, we decided to take a scenic road trip through Jemez National Recreation Area to loop around and back to Santa Fe. It was shockingly varied in its scenery and beauty. Valle Grande, an enormous valley formed by a volcano over a million years ago, was a misty and ethereal landscape.

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Those mountains in the distance aren’t mountains…they’re actually the other side of the rim of the volcano, and everything in between was the center of the volcano.

From there the landscape continued to drastically change. At the Las Conchas trailhead we felt like we had been transported to the Pacific Northwest! This was NOTHING like what we expected to see in New Mexico!

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High above the desert, in the mountains near Santa Fe, we were transported to the Pacific Northwest with these towering pines, magical fog and green edged river!

We continued through the mountains alongside rivers, past hot springs and stopped for a quick hike to explore this waterfall cutting through the rock formations.

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A powerful little river…cutting a hole right through the rocks.

Before visiting New Mexico, I would have thought it was all dry, desert terrain. Obviously, not true. However, the real surprise was the wide variety and contradiction of landscapes. We traversed flat land that stretched as far as the eye could see and crossed tall mountains covered in ponderosa pines. We wandered across white sands, ancient ruins, river carved canyons and beauty beyond measure. New Mexico. Not Really New. Not Really Mexico. But really special.

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We drove a lot of NM miles just like this…beautiful in it’s own right, and a lovely contradiction to the varied landscape across the state.

The beauty and natural wonders continue as we travel north through Colorado.

Cheers!

Kristin

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Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Blogs by Kristin, On the Road Tagged With: adventure, cross country, destination tree, grateful, inspiration, national parks, road trip, travel, wanderlust

The Oregon Coast…Sunsets, Driftwood and Rain

January 18, 2016 by Kristin

A Home Base for the Holidays.

We’ve been traveling the country with our truck and travel trailer, visiting as many national parks as possible on our year-long adventure. BUT, we’ve also been balancing all that adventure with the pursuit of managing and growing our small business, Destination Tree. It hasn’t been without challenges, but we’ve adapted, innovated and managed to create and ship custom artwork from wherever we are to anywhere in the world. Continuing to provide exceptional customer service, and managing a significant increase in order volume for the holiday season would require some serious focus though. So, we decided to stay in one location and spent just over seven weeks in Gold Beach, Oregon. We chose this locale as our “home base” for several reasons.

  • We love the Pacific Northwest! The mossy forests, sea stack lined coast, and driftwood beaches speak to us. There is something magical about a west coast sunset. A foggy beach walk. Misty sea stacks. It really is a special place.
  • Driftwood! We’ve been creating driftwood artwork while we travel the country, but we knew access to LOTS of driftwood would be imperative as we anticipated an increase in order volume for holiday gift givers.
  • Mild temps! We’re living in a travel trailer which comes with some unavoidable practicalities. We can’t let our pipes freeze, so above freezing temperatures are critical to our adventure, and it doesn’t freeze on the coast of Oregon.
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Matt photographs the sunset, driftwood, and sea stacks on Gold Beach.

Before the Storm

We relished the beauty of the Pacific Northwest our first few weeks. Our eyes couldn’t get enough west coast sunsets.

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A purple-y, pink-y, blue-ish sunset makes my heart happy. Those two dogs running down the beach make me pretty darn happy too.

We walked the beach every day, collecting sun bleached driftwood for the upcoming holiday season. It takes a keen eye to spot a piece of driftwood that is the right size, shape, weight, sturdiness, quality and beauty. It can be time consuming, but to get the right pieces it’s worth it. And it turns out we have two crazy beach dogs who love chasing each other and the surf.

We also took some time to get our bearings and do some coastal exploring. We hiked portions of the Oregon Coastal Trail and drove up and down the coast checking out beaches, sea stacks and driftwood canvases.

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Matt and Dobie, along with driftwood and sea stacks as far as the eye can see.
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The coast constantly changed with the tides, covering and uncovering sea stacks. Makes for good scenery…probably not good swimming.
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Arch Rock, visible at low tide is just one of the unique sea stack shapes along the Oregon coast.
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This hidden little beach had no trails to access it, and I’m pretty sure I talked Matt out of rappelling down the side of the cliff to get to it.

Most of our hiking was on the beach and along the Oregon Coastal Trail, but we did take a day to hike up Humbug Mountain.

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Humbug Mountain…a towering coastal beauty that felt like a personal rain forest. For some perspective, look at the tiny car on the road leading to the base!

We felt like we were back in the rain forests of Washington with moss covered trees and rushing waterfalls. In total, it was a 6 mile round trip hike, and a summit of over 1,700 feet. It felt like a real accomplishment to make it to the top, but the real beauty was in the scenery all along the trail, and a few spots that peaked through to the coastline.

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A mix of moss covered trees, lush ferns and fall leaves…plus a few tarzan vines for fun. I promise, I did NOT swing from those.

In between our coastal adventures, we created and shipped orders and continued preparations for the holiday rush.

The Unexpected

Rain. Rain? Yes, rain. And of course we know the Pacific Northwest is rainy. Especially in the winter. And we had some rainy days mixed in our first few weeks, but then we hit a turning point. Torrential rains. Monsoon rains!!! I suppose the best way to describe it is to quote Forrest Gump, “One day it started raining, and it didn’t quit for four months. We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin’ rain… and big ol’ fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night…”

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Gettin’ silly on one of my post office trips…I swear people laughed and pointed when they saw me running through rain with armloads of boxes, the nice ones held open the door.

We experienced an unrelenting Pineapple Express for weeks. We watched the beach change drastically from one high tide to the next. While it might be normal to locals, we were surprised when we saw sections of the highway, erode down the mountainside – fortunately their road crews were on the spot every time it occurred to shore it up.

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Normal high tide (above) and Storm high tide (beneath). We watched the beach disappear and the waves pound the coast a few feet from the highway!

The beautiful river alongside our campsite surged with water, even setting off loud, flashing, red-light alarms when the levels were close to overflowing. Were we worried? No, of course not. Well, that’s a lie. We had an overnight bag and an emergency evacuation route planned out if the river level and tides truly threatened to sweep us away! On one occasion, Matt walked down to the bridge at night and watched bales of hay and branches build up on the side of the bridge because the water was no longer just going UNDER the bridge, but actually all around it. Fortunately, we never used the emergency bags or the evacuation route. Whew.

Anyhow, to put it mildly, all this rain was not what we expected! We have all our driftwood, packaging materials, tools and supplies in a very tiny space. Prior to Oregon, we were used to expanding our space by setting up shop outside. While Matt engraved, drilled and assembled orders, I simultaneously photographed, packaged and shipped.

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With sunshine, our space expands to the outdoors, with the rain we relocated to the 8×8 “garage” in the back of our RV.

But with the rain, we now had to store everything and do everything in a 8′ x 8′ space. Challenging is an understatement. But we adapted once again. We utilized every square inch of space we had and worked in “shifts” using our back space to do each of our tasks in batches.

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Matt was in driftwood heaven the day he engraved a sign on a piece of lemon tree driftwood. It smelled like a fresh grove of ripe lemons!

Gratitude

Oh, but we have so much to be grateful for. The rain made our lives more difficult, but the coast was still breathtakingly beautiful. Also, we knew the rain benefited the area, the mountains, rivers and land needed the winter rain.

Also, when it rains every day, you gain a new appreciation for a break in the rain. If the skies cleared for five minutes or an hour, we were outside immediately. We caught some of the most beautiful sunsets after the rain, and captured some of our best product photography between the storms.

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Post-storm sunset. Yep, this was worth the rain. And yes, that sea stack is in almost every picture I took at Gold Beach. It’s such a lovely little sea stack.
I take a photograph of every single piece of driftwood artwork we make. Not all of them are GOOD photographs, however, this one taken on the beach, between the storms (with my favorite little sea stack) is my absolute favorite. And the custom coordinate sign was our most popular order this holiday season!
I take a photograph of every single piece of driftwood artwork we make. Not all of them are GOOD photographs, however, this one taken on the beach, between the storms is my absolute favorite. And the custom coordinate sign was our most popular order this holiday season!
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I almost never had a good weather day for photographing Destination Tree’s, but this day was an exception. And yes, yes, that is my favorite little sea stack, AGAIN. It adds DEPTH! But seriously, this is an excellent list of destinations on this custom Destination Tree!

And truthfully, when it comes down to it, you just adapt. Whether it’s raining or not, we had two dogs that needed to be walked. And, we had two humans (me and Matt!) who would get cabin fever in our tiny abode without some leg stretching. So, this is what rain jackets are for! And towels. Lots of towels.

More Gratitude

Our coastal day trips were over, but we were too busy to care. While the rain poured down, our orders poured in. Every time our phone chimed with another order we high fived. After days and days of chiming, we started to worry more about filling all our orders and less about when the rain would stop. We were giddy with excitement, all our hard work and prep for the holiday season was paying off! This is what we love to do! We created custom, driftwood artwork non-stop, every day and enjoyed every freaking second of it. The Gold Beach post office got to know us VERY well, as we dropped off stacks of boxes several times a day, every day. The holiday season more than exceeded our expectations.

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Just a typical morning, with boxes packed to the ceiling and printing off shipping labels. Merrrrrry Christmas!!! Driftwood signs and Destination Tree’s shipping ’round the world!
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Good thing the post office was just a few miles away…I’m pretty sure I broke a few laws stacking boxes to the roof and creating new blind spots…

There’s a giddy excitement that goes with creating and sending special gifts all over the country and the world, but it’s a bit open ended, because we don’t get to see the recipient open their package. We don’t get to see their face when they unwrap their hand-crafted, personalized gift. But we DO get the next best thing. FEEDBACK. We’ve had emails and shop feedback that left us smiling for DAYS. To know that we’ve created something that will be cherished for years, something that made someone cry it was so meaningful, or something that “made the best Christmas gift ever” is indescribable. And it reaffirms why we left our “perfect” life for an “imperfect” future.

We’re following our dreams. We’re traveling the country. We’re growing a business that we love. We’re making artwork that is meaningful to people all over the world. And we’re doing it together. It’s not perfect, sometimes it’s really freakin’ hard, but there’s no doubt about it…life is good. We’ll take the storms along with the sunshine, and use them to help us learn, grow and be better, each and every day.

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My partner in crime, in adventure, in storms and smooth sailing.

Good-bye for now, Coastal Oregon. It was an unforgettable, extended stop on our adventure and a momentous step in the journey of Destination Tree.

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Family selfie, Christmas morning on the Oregon Coast. Sunshine! And two dogs who refuse to look at the camera. It was our first Christmas away from our families back home, but we felt their love and support across the miles.

Next up…a little inspiration…you know those things you’ve always wanted to do? You should go do them. That was our mantra as we continued our adventure in January throughout California in Napa Valley, Yosemite, King’s Canyon, Sequoia and Joshua Tree National Park!

Cheers!

Kristin

Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Blogs by Kristin, On the Road Tagged With: destination tree, driftwood signs, grateful

Unexpected Inspiration – A Vision for the Year Ahead

January 13, 2016 by Matt

Welcome to 2016. The best year of your life!

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The beginning of a new year…with new choices on which direction we want to take our life.

It’s a clean slate. A fresh start. A blank canvas. A time for planning out the year ahead. Well, with 2015 now having come to its close, there is much for me to ponder over. In particular, the things I want to accomplish this year, but more importantly the man I want to become. That is to say, the version of me I will grow into in the year ahead, Matt Rogers Version 37.0. The biggest question I get to answer is: How? How after 3+ decades of living do I evolve into a better version of myself? After all, if I’m not GROWING and CHANGING for the better, then I’m DYING and STAGNATING for the worse.

You see, somewhere around the age of 19, I began physically writing down goals for who and what I wanted to become in the year ahead. I hesitate to use the word ‘resolution’ instead of ‘goals’, as it seems that New Year’s Resolutions have taken on the reputation of being shallow promises made by not-so-serious people attempting to hop on the good-intention-bandwagon. Despite the bad rap, New Year’s Resolutions are certainly better than nothing at all. And ultimately, identifying goals and writing them down is the best way to make them a reality.

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Rain out the window of the Destination Tree Headquarters…it followed us from Oregon to California.

So, as I sit here and ponder, looking through the window of the mobile Destination Tree Headquarters, currently here in Fresno, CA I can’t help but find myself distracted by a small boy, around the age of four or five running around to and fro in the distance. He’s splashing through puddles wearing a light blue jacket, striped pants, yellow rain boots, and topped off with a red cap as well as yellow and green mismatched mittens. A mismatched outfit not unlike one I would have worn as a kid. The more I watch him living out the exploration of his surroundings, in the fine mid-morning rain, the more I grow inspired thinking about my future self and the year ahead. Inspired to be alive, and excited just like him. Or rather I should say, a 37-year-young version of him.

That’s it! My goal for the year ahead is to LIVE! Not just exist, but to live with the all-encompassing senses of an adventuresome kid again. Eager to explore the world around us. To see past the “grown-up” blinders, and into the truly amazing world that exists beyond them. Who would have thought this pint sized fellow was a little walking (and splashing) epiphany?

He doesn’t care about the name of the brand embossed on his clothes. Or that he’s wearing a full spectrum of mismatched colors. He’s not attempting to impress others with the way he looks or fancy material possessions. His focus is on happily living in the moment. Making the most of what he has, while he has it, and sharing the concept with those he cares about.

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One of our favorite custom driftwood sign collages…perspective, attitude and gratitude are everything.

This little guy isn’t thinking up convincing stories to justify or lie or deflect responsibility for why he’s covered in puddle water. The thought doesn’t even enter his head as he proudly takes ownership over his actions. He’s not sitting on the curb dwelling over all that did or didn’t go as planned for him this past year, instead he’s focused on seizing the day and that of the world around him. There’s no negativity or ungratefulness in the way he carries himself. On the contrary, he’s actually filling me with a positive outlook. I’m gaining a feeling of grateful inspiration, with ideas of hope for an even brighter year ahead!

To my knowledge, watching him swat a branch through the air in front of him isn’t out of hate, spite, nor to get even with another kid. He’s doing what he’s doing out of curiosity for the unknown and to test the boundaries of what he knows or thinks he knows. Every rock he overturns is a different treasure hunt. Each tree he stands under looking up into is a new challenge. Around the fence behind him he knows a new journey awaits. Where many adults struggle and see only fear or obstacles, he helps remind me to see opportunities for the year ahead. He reminds me that I don’t have all the answers, and that I have to keep questioning what I think I know. If I am to keep learning and growing myself, then I have to keep questioning. Who, what, when, where, why and how are the six most important questions ever invented in my opinion.

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We all have a goofy, fun-loving kid inside of us. Let yours run free now and then.

And then it happens. Just like that, he’s gone. The pint sized version of me has vanished. And I realize I have no way to thank him. Perhaps he’s off to a new adventure, or simply off to lunch. I’ll never know. But he helped remind me to be a boy at heart, so that I too can live by example. It was an unexpected reminder from an unexpected person. A reminder that to really be a grownup is to know that we never truly “grow up”. That we all have a curious kid inside who waits for the chance to guide us along the path of positivity, wonder and exploration.

So, cheers to you little man, wherever you are, and thank you for helping guide me with my new goals for the year ahead. To exist is not to live, to live is to live. So here’s to making 2016 a better version of ourselves, a year of living, of enjoying every moment. May this be the best year of your life.

Cheers!

Matt

Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Blogs by Matt, Inspiration Tagged With: adventure, choices, destination tree, grateful, inspiration, positivity

Consciously Being Grateful

November 25, 2015 by Matt

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Grateful Driftwood at Gold Beach, OR

As Thanksgiving Day nears I find myself thinking about life… it’s taken me many years to understand how my everyday choices have molded me into who I am. And the more thought I give to it, the more appreciation I feel for the things that make it so.

I once had someone tell me that, “The things we take for granted, will one day be taken from us.” I’ve digested that statement over and over again for years now and it’s led me this holiday season to ask myself the question of ‘Does one really have to lose something before they can have a true appreciation for it?’ In short… my answer today would be NO. One doesn’t have to lose something to fully appreciate it, if they do it right along their way. That being said, I am incredibly appreciative for the life I get to live right now. At the same time however I can’t help but feel the desire to be even more self-aware and grateful on a daily basis. Being thankful for what we have should never be condensed down into just one calendar day of the year.

So, as I sit here and write out my strategy to find a better way to treat every day like it was Thanksgiving (no, not eating until I pass out, but rather committing to spending time daily to be grateful), something begins to dawn on me. The more we experience the things that we have, from the miraculous to the simplest, the more they become invisible to us. We become so familiar with having these things in our daily lives that we lose sight of our appreciation for them and inevitably take them for granted.

So back to that statement I once heard of the things we take for granted, will one day be taken from us. Whether or not we make it true, imagine if everything you took for granted was gone tomorrow. This inspired me to write out a list of what I am most grateful for, yet I tend to often overlook and under-appreciate. I plan to review this list once a day while adding to it over time.

It is certainly an incomplete list, as I have more to be thankful for than I could ever list off, but here are the things that at the time of writing this, mean the most to me. The things I am choosing to be consciously grateful for every single day moving forward.

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Pacific Coast Gratefulness on the Beach

I’m grateful for:

  • The love and respect that my wife and I share for each other
  • My two wonderful parents who brought me up in a loving home
  • The bond that I share with my two brothers
  • A brain and body that allows me to see, hear, taste, smell and feel the world around me
  • My two ever faithful dogs

I’m grateful everyday for the choice I have:

  • To be optimistic
  • To maintain my dignity and respect for myself
  • To learn from my mistakes and try again when I fail
  • To choose the attitude I take with me everywhere, everyday
  • To have trust and hope
  • To see the good in others
  • To ask for help myself and not let my ego get in the way
  • To be a good listener
  • To be an original version of me, and not a replica of someone else
  • To be a gentleman
  • To teach and develop myself
  • To have a sense of humor
  • To see problems as possibilities
  • To not let vanity overtake me
  • To not let money or greed or power be the driver of me
  • To not let possessions define me
  • To appreciate differences in opinions
  • To realize that I’m not always right
  • To appreciate nature and its role in our world
  • To communicate effectively
  • To be open and willing to change
  • And lastly, I’m grateful for the choice I have to show my appreciation for how very fortunate I am to be alive and healthy to write this today.

For all these things, and many more, I am truly grateful. Each of these things are priceless to me. I couldn’t buy any of them with all the money in the world, and I wouldn’t trade any of them for it either. The more I look at this list, the more I realize how much gratitude is a choice and how much of a difference it makes in our lives.

So, thank you Thanksgiving, for reminding me yet again, why one day of self-awareness is simply not enough to show the appreciation for everything we ought to be grateful for. And thank you in advance to anyone willing to remind me to live by my list.

Cheers & Happy Thanksgiving!

Matt

Happy-Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving from Destination Tree!

Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Blogs by Matt, Inspiration Tagged With: choices, decisions, grateful, happiness, inspiration, positivity, thankful, thanksgiving

The Forgotten Holiday

November 12, 2014 by Matt

Thanksgiving needs more marketing.
Thanksgiving needs more marketing.

The Forgotten Holiday

It wasn’t too long ago we had a holiday between Halloween and Christmas. What was it called again? Oh yeah, Thanksgiving. In a world dominated by consumer marketing, we watch shelves of candy corn and costumes swiftly get replaced with Christmas trees and giant inflatable candy canes. What the heck happened to Thanksgiving?! Where did it go?

Thanksgiving needs more marketing.

I’m not talking about giant inflatable cornucopias. I’m talking about all of us being Thanksgiving “marketers” and encouraging ourselves and each other to put more focus and attention on thankfulness.  There is always, always, always, something to be thankful for. Hell, there’s even reason to be thankful for the bad things in life, because they open up our eyes to be even more appreciative of the good things we weren’t paying enough attention to before.

In honor of this one-day-holiday (that we should really celebrate every day of the year), I wanted to share the six things I’m most grateful for:

  1. I’m thankful for everybody in my life. Good and bad. Past and present. Because they have helped make me who I am today.
  2. I’m thankful for my struggles in life as they have helped forged me become a stronger man.
  3. I’m thankful for my health, for without it, I’m nothing but fertilizer.
  4. I’m thankful to live in a country where I have freedom to choose, think and speak for myself.
  5. I’m thankful for all that I have as well as all that I don’t have.
  6. I’m thankful for my best friend and wife, Kristin.

Although we may not see Thanksgiving plastered across the shelves of retail stores, let’s not overlook it’s importance. Let’s remember this day of thanks, today and every single day of the year. And let’s spread the attitude of gratitude to everyone around us.

Give Thanks & Live Inspired,

Matt

Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Blogs by Matt, Inspiration Tagged With: forgotten holiday, grateful, inspiration, thankful, thanksgiving

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At Destination Tree we create handcrafted driftwood signs, collages and centerpieces. Each piece of artwork is completely unique and inspired by your story.

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