Good afternoon Missouri! I am feeling very thankful this day in particular. If you’ve read my welcome letter, you know that I had been involved with an internal struggle as of recent. There are hobbies I would like to pursue, things I would like to do, and I’ve had a feeling that I needed something extra in my life, although I had no idea what that was. I just had my baby girl back in October and wow, being a parent really does take a lot of time (my Mom was right, go figure). So after spending several hours wide awake one night (I blame that on the day job, well night job since I work nights but you get the point), I came up with this wonderful idea of creating a blog. I am SO excited about this pursuit. I have been pouring through pages on the internet to try and figure out what exactly I need to bring to the table to make my blog something successful. Truth is, I’ve actually had this in mind for several years now and just didn’t realize it. About four years ago, shortly after I met Robby, we took up kayaking. The most exciting streams we kayaked were ones we just happened upon. I scoured the internet trying to find a spot where Missourians had a collection of waterways that they recommended. What did I come up with? A big, fat nothing. At that time I thought, “Wow, I should make a website so Missourians who kayak can recommend places to do so.” However, I’m not website-creating savvy so the idea just eventually fell by the wayside. I’ve only recently discovered blogging and what exactly it entails. I spent a bit of time Googling, of course, and now, what you see is what you get. I have managed to create something just for myself, where I can blossom my love of travel, photography, kayaking, and exploration (in the form of gravel-roadin’). I am thankful to have this opportunity and that this form of media has allowed me to do so relatively pain-free with little devotion of time. Now, my hubby is concerned, “Will you have this much to write daily?” Well, no I don’t guess. Not everyday will be filled with all my wit and humor regarding a particular subject. Some days I will probably have nothing to talk about, but I guess I will just talk about nothing. Anyhow, I am glad you’re here to ride this adventure roller coaster with me. Please provide me with your comments, questions, thoughts, ideas, etc. I’m excited to hear what you have to say. I hope to build this site into something awesome and a great way for Missourians to learn about weekend getaways right in our backyard. If you haven’t enjoyed our Missouri weather today, get outside! It’s gorgeous! Until tomorrow, Pan, The Gravel-Roadin’ Guru