Make a Time to be Outdoors in Missouri and Experience Fish, Forests, and Wildlife

With the cool weather of the Missouri fall season, it's a great time to be outside. There are so many things you can do outside in the fall. Even just sitting outside can be fun. The temperature is cool in the morning and gently warm through the day, there are virtually no biting insects, the colorful leaves rustle in the breeze, and there are a variety of fishing and hunting seasons open.

Yet in surveys since the mid 1990s in Missouri, people report that lack of time is their biggest obstacle to enjoying outdoor recreation.

I certainly don't know how add more time to each day.

I do know that I can make a little time to be outdoors each day to take a walk, exercise, or walk the dog. Or to schedule longer outings on the weekend to go walking, camping, fishing, hunting, or a wide variety of outdoor activities. You can do this with your family or friends and make a lifetime of memories with every trip.

If you can't get outside of your yard, try one of those free-standing firepit bowls from the local hardware or department store and sit around a small fire, roasting marshmallows in the cool fall evenings. One of the coolest marshmallow roasters I've seen is the "rolla-roaster" and you can buy it for a great price from REI Equipment. You can put one or two marshmallows on the end, use the thumbwheel to rotate the marshmallow until it is golden brown, and eat it between two graham crackers. They certainly taste better than the blackened marshmallows I produced as a child after the marshmallow turned into a fiery torch; except I seem to recall I really enjoyed watching the marshmallow flame up dramatically and turn black.

You can also use the firepit to try outdoor cooking. I've used our firepit near the house with charcoal for dutch oven cooking. You can feel like you are camping in fall weather and never leave home. This makes it easy to squeeze in some outdoor time, even if finding time is an obstacle.

If you want to try out dutch oven cooking, I've purchased some dutch oven supplies from Chuckwagon Supply and learned about new recipes from the blog 'Round the Chuckbox. I prefer the pre-seasoned "Lodge-Logic" dutch ovens from Lodge Manufacturing. You can get a cool Lewis and Clark dutch oven on sale from Lodge with a specially cast lid or look at the wide variety of ovens available from Chuckwagon Supply.

Go outside. I think you'll really enjoy it.

You can learn more about going outdoors from the Missouri Outdoor Families Web pages and events from the Missouri Department of Conservation. You can learn more about places to go near you from the Missouri Department of Conservation or find a state park or historic site managed by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.