Tag: Summer

7 of the best national parks to visit this summer

Embark on a sunny summer trip.

Every summer presents adventurers with a difficult question. How do you make the most of this precious vacation time? While there are tons of hiking, camping, and swimming opportunities to pursue, many travelers prefer to spend their summer exploring national parks.

If you’re searching for a beachy national park experience, Outdoors Wire has several top-tier options to peruse. Don’t worry about park crowds, either. This list of the worst national parks to visit in summer will steer you away from chaotic and congested destinations.

Looking for even more travel inspiration? Check out this round-up of the best national parks to visit in the summer. Get ready for weeks of summer fun.

9 full-sun plants that will thrive in your summer garden

Sunny summer beauties.

Plants need sunlight to survive — that’s a gardening basic even kids know. After all, sunlight is an essential part of the whole photosynthesis process plants use to grow.

But just like humans can get burned after too much sun exposure, some plants can suffer when placed in full, direct sunlight. That’s right, even plants can get sunburned. Instead of turning bright red, plants that get too much sunlight can develop crispy brown (aka “scorched”) leaves.

Avoid scorched leaves this summer by filling your garden with sprouts that can tolerate light and heat. Explore the list below for nine full-sun plants that flourish in summer.

Don’t visit these 8 national parks in the summer

Avoid the heat and crowds.

Sometimes, summer weather can get extreme. In the United States, summer is the season when national parks like Death Valley and Joshua Tree chart temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The season also brings massive crowds to national parks as families take advantage of summer breaks.

For many people, this combination of sweltering temperatures and traffic jams is enough to make them rethink their vacation plans. If you want to avoid conditions like these, here are the national parks to avoid this summer.

Wondering where to spend your summer instead? Discover alternative travel destinations with these round-ups of the country’s best state parks, waterfalls, and campgrounds.

How to Pick a Good Watermelon, Health Benefits and New Ways to Serve It

Watermelon is one of the sweetest, most delightful summertime treats–a wonderful choice for your Independence Day cookout. But what’s the secret to picking out a really good ripe one in the store? We’ll clue you in on that and so much more on the subject of watermelon.

Dawn Bryan, author of the best-selling book The Art and Etiquette of Gift Giving, offers the following tips on how to select the ripest watermelon, fun ways to serve it, and how to store it. Plus, some watermelon games and trivia that will help make celebrating America’s independence that much sweeter this year.

FIVE TIPS FOR SELECTING A RIPE, FLAVORFUL WATERMELON

  • Look for a watermelon that has bright skin, is firm, symmetrical, and free of  cuts
  • Find one that feels heavy for its size; “water” melons contain more than 90% water and the ripest ones have the most water
  • Should not be narrower on one end or misshapen; this could mean it grew in fits and starts
  • The underside should have a creamy yellow spot from where it sat on the ground and ripened in the sun – rather than being picked early
  • Position the melon two inches from your ear, thump or tap it with your free hand.  If not ripe enough, it will sound solid; if too ripe, it will sound thick; if perfect, it will resonate as hollow

FUN WAYS TO USE AND SERVE WATERMELON

  • Every part of a watermelon is edible!
  • Fill it with your favorite punch, attach a faucet, and you have a watermelon keg!
  • Freeze watermelon juice in ice cube trays to add to lemonades and fruit punches
  • Stick popsicle stick into a wedge, dip into sugar and freeze for a watermelon popsicle
  • Make chilled watermelon soup
  • Use the cut shell to hold a fruit salad
  • Cut watermelon squares for use in martinis or fruit drinks
  • Many eaters lightly salt their melon to bring out the flavor
  •  It is sometimes paired with honey or lime and served either cold or grilled.
  • Watermelons are often eaten with feta cheese in Israel and Egypt
  • Use slices as coasters

WATERMELON ACTIVITIES

  • Have a watermelon carving party – there are several websites, including the National Watermelon Promotion Board that have designs, pictures and instructions to make airplanes, birthday cakes, rabbits, football helmets, sharks and more
  • Sponsor a watermelon seed spitting contest
  • Make watermelon checkers for outdoor game playing

HOW TO STORE:

  • Keep them a bit cooler than room temperature and refrigerate only for a few hours.  While refrigeration keeps them from rotting, it also degrades both flavor and texture, characteristics that start to deteriorate as soon as watermelons are picked.
  • Cut watermelons should be wrapped in plastic before refrigeration to preserve their taste without absorbing odors from other food.

HEALTH BENEFITS:

  • Although a watermelon contains about 6% sugar and 92% water by weight, it has the most nutrition per calorie of common foods
  • A one-cup serving of watermelon will provide around 48 calories
  • An excellent source of vitamins A and C, it also provides significant amounts of vitamin B6 and B1 as well as the minerals potassium and magnesium.
  • Watermelon is mildly diuretic

WACKY FACTS:

  • The first recorded watermelon harvest was depicted on the walls of ancient buildings in Egyptian hieroglyphics over 5,000 years ago.
  • Watermelons were often placed in the burial tombs of kings to nourish them in the afterlife; numerous watermelon seeds were found in the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamen (King Tut).
  • According to the Guinness Book of Records, the largest watermelon, weighing 262 pounds, was grown in 1990 in Tennessee.
  • A tradition of hollowing out a watermelon to wear as a makeshift football helmet was started by fans of the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL. During the 2009 Grey Cup in Calgary, thousands of watermelons had to be imported to Calgary supermarkets to satisfy the demands of Roughrider’s fans.
  • The eating of watermelon seeds as a snack is an important part of the Vietnamese New Year’s celebration

 

Pack smart with these 5 summer camping essentials

Stay comfortable on your summer camping trips with these five essentials.

Unless you’re a survivalist camper, you’ll probably need a few supplies before leaving on your next camping trip. While summer is a great time to get outdoors, the season comes with its challenges. Sunburn, heat exhaustion, and dehydration await if you don’t properly prepare. Thankfully, these issues are easy to avoid if you pack smart.

Consider how summer weather in your area will impact your trip. Specific weather conditions can help you decide on any specialty items to bring. If you’re camping in a humid region, a portable mini dehumidifier might be worth packing. In areas known for summer storms, campers can bring waterproof bags and extra tarps to get through rainy weather. 

Still, no matter where you are, summer camping usually means sunshine and hot weather. Keeping cool can be a struggle for some campers, but with these five summer camping essentials, you can beat the heat and have fun.

Chiefs lead Touchdown Wire’s summer NFL power rankings

The Kansas City Chiefs stay on top in Touchdown Wire’s summer power rankings.

The Kansas City Chiefs remain atop Touchdown Wire’s latest NFL power rankings.

Following the 2020 NFL Draft, Touchdown Wire moved teams up and down their power rankings. Kansas City held the top spot after a solid draft class headlined by LSU RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Now, they’ve measured the moves that have been made in the NFL since the draft and adjusted their rankings accordingly. Things are still status quo at the top with no movement from the top 4 teams.

Here’s a look at what Doug Farrar had to say about the Chiefs:

“If you thought the Chiefs were content with their first Super Bowl win in 50 years, think again. An offense that was already near-unstoppable when Patrick Mahomes is healthy has been rendered that much closer to perfect with the addition of first-round running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire out of LSU, who perfectly fits Andy Reid’s positional paradigm and will give Mahomes the outlet target he didn’t always have in 2019. And under Steve Spagnuolo for a second season in 2020, a defense that started to put things together at the right time last season could move from league-average to formidable. As much as any defending champ, this Chiefs team has what it takes to be the first repeat Super Bowl winner since the 2003-2004 Patriots.”

What has Farrar so optimistic about Kansas City in these power rankings? A healthy Patrick Mahomes, a perfect addition of RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the draft, and continuity in coaching and personnel. We might not know what the 2020 NFL season will look like yet due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the Chiefs are as prepared as ever to take a stranglehold over the NFL and become the first back-to-back Super Bowl champion since the Patriots did it in 2003.

It’s still difficult to get a gauge on what any of these teams will truly look like until they’ve had an opportunity to get on the field and practice together. It’ll be much more interesting to see where Kansas City places in these power ranking after training camp and the preseason is underway.

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