Hello, my fellow adventurers! We finally have our prototypes for our new RUDGER flashlight out, and I am so excited to share it with you! Head over to rudger.com to check out the pictures! We will be launching it on Indiegogo and then on our website this summer! But what I want to tell you about today is our adventure making our video and taking photographs for our brand new product.

Brett and I traveled up to Idaho, which is where we are originally from and grew up and where our amazing photographer Katelyn Barthlome is located. Katelyn and I have been friends since we were in Kindergarten! Not to age myself but that is a twenty-eight-year friendship. She is still one of my favorite people in the world, and I find myself so incredibly lucky that I get to work alongside her doing what I love! Being outside!

Brett and I, my sister Mia, Katelyn, and her husband Parker packed up their truck with our gear and some food and headed out to Wilson Creek Trails.  It’s a hiking area near Boise that has some amazing scenery.  People will bring their horses or their mountain bikes or just get out on foot to enjoy the Owyhee Desert!  It is a non-motorized area, which was great for what we were trying to accomplish, which was to make a video!  If you are ever in that area of Idaho, I would highly recommend checking out these trails and going on a hike. It is beautiful!

Once we got to the location, we only had to head out a few hundred yards away from the vehicle to get to the scenery we wanted. 

Of course, everything didn’t go our way as most things don’t. I kept stumbling over my lines because I’m not an actor and am very self-conscious about being in front of a camera. It was incredibly windy. My hair kept blowing in my face.  We had to have my sister lay in the tent that was behind us so that it wouldn’t blow away. I had to keep hand warmers in all of my pockets, and shoes. Between takes, Katelyn would wrap me up in my coat and sit on my lap to keep me from freezing.  At one point, I went to sit in the truck and turned the heater on full blast because my fingers and toes went numb. February in Idaho is pretty cold! However, despite the several setbacks we experienced, we had twice as many laughs and so much fun! It felt so good to get outside with friends.  The work didn’t feel like work.  We got to climb over giant boulders, find cool sticks, and feel like kids again!  I went out that day not knowing how long I would last because I felt sick.  About thirty minutes after being out in nature I felt better despite being cold. The nausea, aches, and pains I had been feeling that morning were gone. I keep saying it over and over, and I will never stop.  Nature has the power to heal. 

Once we finished up for the day, we all piled back in the car and got some hot food to warm us up!  The day ended in warmth from the food, smiles, increased friendships and memories created.  I can’t describe the feeling of going to bed after a day full of outside fun, but it is one of those satisfying feelings you can only get when a day is truly wonderful.  Not to mention a great night’s sleep!