​It was a year ago today that we were in London near the beginning of our 20-day adventure that would take us by train to some of Europe’s most iconic sites. About the time of this post we were finishing up our walking tour with our guide and finding our way to the West End to see a production of “School of Rock, The Musical.” Kids loved it and the show made for a nice end to the London portion of our trip. By mid-morning the next day we were traveling by Eurostar to Paris. 
 
Our new season of adventures gets underway ten days from today with a five-day trip to the North Carolina High Country. We will pack in an amazing number and variety of activities in this short experience. In July we’ll be in New England for 12 days. And for sure, just like last year’s Europe and Virginia Highlands trips, no day is ever the same.
 
We hope you’ll follow our travels here on Facebook as we get underway.
 
And if you’re curious about 2020, we’re heading out to Wyoming & Montana for ten days in July. Sign-ups have started and you can read more here: http://www.mindstretchadventures.com/2020-wyoming--montana.html
 

​There were two predecessors to MindStretch Travel Adventures. The first was called Open Road Experiences and compared to today’s adventures; we were roughing it. We were gone weeks at a time and spent almost every single night in tents and prepared virtually all our own meals. Today’s MTA programs still enjoy all the great activities during the day, but we’ve learned how nice it is to come back to “base camp” in a real bed in a hotel and eat dinner out in a restaurant. 
 
So the other day I received an email from a camper from the very second year of the Open Road program (1979) saying he had discovered the MTA website and it looked like we had gotten spoiled. He could be right but I’m older and wiser and it’s nice to have the best of both worlds.
 
But I should mention when my wife and I started our residential program (between ORE & MTA) there was nothing at all easy about that first year. All of the rain we’ve had the past couple of years (at least here in Western North Carolina) reminded me of that very first summer at TrailRidge Mountain Camp in 1982. The boys arrived to find out there were no cabins, there were no flush toilets, there were no real hot showers, and there was no dining hall. We hardly had electricity. The idea was that the boys were coming up that first summer to help us “build” the camp. And they did arrive…by the dozens. 
 
We slept in tents and tarps and endured rain. And we endured more rain. And more rain. In fact, that summer was a record setter back then. I imagine that record has been recently broken. We cooked under a dining fly and used solar showers (if we showered at all) and had one of five porta-potties to choose from. 
Then, as expected, the health department discovered we were running this camp and we had as of that moment not been permitted. That’s another story.
 
Well, we had an ultimatum to get those tents off the ground, get the bathhouse open, get the dining hall opened and inspected, and quit drinking water out of the spring. We had a weekend to get it done, but luckily the Fourth of July was around the weekend so we got an extra day or two. We did get it done. The rain didn’t stop. Most of the kids had fun. Some of them came back. And we continued running the camp for the next 14 years or so. 
 
And then I was back to traveling and the camp morphed into MTA. And I’ll tell, it’s the way to go! And no matter which way we travel or camp…we make new memories (almost like these) every single day.

Picture Notes:
​This first photo was from our 1979 Open Road trip. It was seven weeks long - SEVEN WEEKS! We traveled from New Orleans to New England and into Canada. We called ourselves, "The Dirty Dozen."

The second photo is from the very first couple of week or so at TrailRidge. This was an example of someone's shelter. Nothing else about that summer.

You never know what kind of unique opportunities might happen on a MindStretch Travel Adventures trip. Here are four examples where we’ve made local headlines during some of our past journeys. Click each photo and check out the caption for each photo to get the back story.

Click this link to find out how you can make your own headlines in 2019.
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While most boys at summer camp pretty much stay at camp all day or rarely leave the county, the boys on a MTA experience are constantly experiencing new things in new places. One example this coming summer is our ride up to the top of Mt. Washington, New Hampshire by cog railway. The Mount Washington Cog Railway, a National Historic Engineering Landmark, is one of those memorable experiences most boys never have. A cog railway, in case you haven't a clue, is the only way of getting a “train” up very steep inclines. This train, a marvel of 19thCentury engineering, is powered up and down the steep tracks with either diesel or coal-fired steam but the fun is understanding how the cogs work to keep it from slipping back down. That you’ll have to experience this summer. From the summit of Mt. Washington we’ll have 360-degree views of five states, Canada, and the Atlantic Ocean.
 
The Mt. Washington Cog Railway is just one of dozens of new experiences our boys will have on our two trips this summer. Check the link for info about our 2019 trips.

We’ve always boasted that no day is ever the same on a MTA experience and that is so true! But even when we have a day planned…the unexpected comes up to just make the day even more extraordinary. Case in point: North Carolina Mountains adventure in 2017. We were spending a few hours one day in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and just so happened to arrive at the ranger station at the right time. They were having an all-day round-robin kind of activity program that day and if we participated in enough of the activities we could all (yes, ALL) become Junior National Park Rangers. 
 
And so this photo is of the swearing-in ceremony after our day. All the boys (and adults) 13 years or older earned the title of Not-So-Junior Ranger and I have the patch and certificate to prove it. Being a national park ranger was one of my dream jobs back when I was just starting these travel programs and thanks to being with MTA at the right time…I can check that off!
 
No telling what extraordinary things will pop up this summer, but we hope you’ll check the website and get started wondering.
 
Click to check out our 2019 summer programs and remember...there's always the unexpected...

Excuse me, but I don’t get the resemblance!
 
Ever since the movie, Up, hit the big screen…kids have said I look like that old man in the movie. I don’t get it! There’s no resemblance at all! But the boys in the Colorado Rockies got a big chuckle in July 2017 when we were at Snow Mountain Ranch. A family was walking up the steps to our lodge and some little boy (probably about 4) pointed at me and said something to the effect of, “Look mom, he’s the man in the movie!” Well, our MTA boys just about fell over with laughter—embarrassing that boy’s mom. I’m sure both the little guy and our slightly bigger guys understood exactly.
 
Just the same, Mr. Fredricksen (Ed Asner) was an admirable character that loved adventure. And he was a kind (slightly elderly) gentleman. I’m honored to have that comparison.
 
There are plenty of adventures ahead for your own “Russell.” Check out what we have lined up for 2019 by clicking here.
 
(Just so you know, I added twenty pounds and twenty years to the right-side photo on Photoshop.)

Usually my posts have been from our most recent trips, but it is fun looking back at the MTA archives and glancing at photos from some of our past trips. This first photo was from our Alaska-Canada trip in 2010. Some of the boys actually needed to use this porta-potty we found on some road outside of Juneau and the beginning of a new “group photo” tradition was started. We continued this from time to time and most of the boys thought it was a good gag. The second photo is a bit more recent – Virginia Mountains in 2014. 
 
So that you know, most of our boys are more resourceful than waiting in line for a smelly old porta-potty. You can probably imagine some other options.
 
Who knows if we’ll post such a picture in 2019, but it might be time? Check out what we have lined up for this coming summer by clicking this link.

There’s a secret reason we have “MindStretch” in our name. Of course we hope the boys will be drawn to the “travel” and “adventure” part of our moniker. However we throw in a little brainwork just because we can. Of course, traveling itself is enlightening and educational but MTA can toss in some real-world educational experiences that are even fun. These two photos represent one of those examples. So that the boys don’t have to raid the hotel vending machines for snack food, we’ll often take them to a supermarket near the beginning of each trip and instruct them that they can only spend “X” amount per person per room. You’d be amazed at how quickly their math skills are put to work when the kids try to figure out how much loot they can get for a set amount of money! They check the prices, they compare name brand to store brand, big size vs. small size, price per ounce, and work together to accomplish their mission. They’re proud of their math (and buying) achievements!
 
Click to read about our 2019 adventures and just picture your son making these great choices!

This photo is of the MTA staff we had for this past summer’s Virginia trip. I’m no math teacher, but some of these guys are and they would probably tell me that I was using the correct formula for figuring out the average age of a MTA staff member. Including me in my math (I was behind the camera) shows an average age of 54 years old. Actually, we have leader Andy Clack (second from right) for helping get that age down. 
 
And we’re proud of this. Very proud. Because all of those years equal a lot of life experiences and a lot of knowing when to say “no” when a boy asks, “What could go wrong?” Or, instead of “no” we might suggest that we think this through first.
 
Yet, the boys still have fun – but safety always comes first. 
 
Andy, by the way, was trying to convince us that these things were first generation smart phones. (If you haven’t guessed, they’re speakers at a drive-in movie we went to our first night in Virginia.)
 
Click to check out just some of the fun we have planned for 2019.