Going camping

Across the country, people hide "letterboxes" in public places, like parks, and leave clues as to where to find them.

If you decipher the clues, you'll find a box with a logbook where you can leave your personal stamp to prove you've been there. You can check to see if there's a letterbox stashed near your campsite, and check out the basics of how to get started.

Like knitting before it, bird-watching is one of those grandma-and-grandpa hobbies that's experiencing a resurgence in coolness.

Grab some binoculars and see how many different species you can spot.

Gather around the blaze and spin out your best yarns.

Stumped? This deck of story starters, with prompts like, "tell a story about a time when you were in danger but didn't know it," will get things rolling. There's also a deck for kids.

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