Get outdoors with REI classes and clinics

I have not had a chance to try it myself, but have been intrigued by some of the travel-related offerings from the sporting goods/outdoor company REI (which just opened a LEED-certified green store located in my current hometown of Round Rock, Texas.)

The Austin American-Statesman had a blurb yesterday about a free REI clinic for parents who want to take an outdoor adventure trip with their kids. The speaker is Mark Altman, who bicycled across the US with his wife and 4 kids (wow!) before his deployment with the Army to Iraq.

I have another commitment and can’t attend, but do wish that my family and I did more outdoorsy sorts of travel. It’s hard to get psyched to do it in the Texas heat – we keep hitting triple digits and it’s only June – but I keep vowing to get out there when conditions aren’t miserable.

A clinic like this would seem like just the ticket, and with an REI right up the road from my house, I’m kind of out of excuses for motivation.