{"id":8114,"date":"2015-11-25T10:00:25","date_gmt":"2015-11-25T15:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/?p=8114"},"modified":"2017-01-04T13:13:40","modified_gmt":"2017-01-04T18:13:40","slug":"optoutside-this-friday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/optoutside-this-friday\/","title":{"rendered":"#OptOutside This Friday"},"content":{"rendered":"<a href=\"http:\/\/optoutside.rei.com\/\" class=\"nounderline\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" alt=\"#OptOutside This Friday\" src=\"http:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/optoutside.jpg\" style=\"width: 450px; height: 450px; border: 0px;\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8131\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/optoutside.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/optoutside-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/optoutside-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/optoutside-180x180.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a>\n<p>This Friday <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">REI<\/a>, the outdoor recreation and sporting goods retailer, is doing something rather extraordinary. Instead of participating in Black Friday, they are closing all of their stores and paying their 12,000+ employees to spend time outside, and they are inviting everyone else to join them. While some folks probably can&#8217;t imagine a store <i>not<\/i> being open on the biggest shopping day of the year, this campaign [appropriately called <a href=\"http:\/\/optoutside.rei.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">#OptOutside<\/a>] fits quite well with REI&#8217;s belief that &#8220;a life outside is a life well-lived,&#8221; and I can definitely appreciate them practicing what they preach!<\/p>\n<iframe style=\"width: 450px; height: 253px; float: left; margin: 0px 0px 20px 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/flH5ReMsZ-M?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p>In the midst of holiday busyness, taking some time to go explore the great outdoors sounds like a fantastic idea. All of us could benefit from pausing and enjoying the beauty of nature?whether it&#8217;s a snowy mountain, scenic state park, metropolitan botanical garden, or your favourite campground.<\/p>\n<p>Some parks in the USA are even offering special discounts and events to help encourage people to #OptOutside this Friday. Here are just a few of the participating park systems:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\tArizona &ndash; Pick up a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/optoutsideazstateparks\" target=\"_blank\">one-time use, free day pass<\/a> at Arizona REI locations [while supplies last].\n\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tCalifornia &ndash; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.savetheredwoods.org\/get-involved\/visit\/redwood-parks-pass\/\" target=\"_blank\">Free day-use admission<\/a> to participating Redwood State Parks. Ranger-led hikes in the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SantaMonicaMtns\/status\/669282864802848768\" target=\"_blank\">Santa Monica Mountains<\/a>.\n\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tColorado &ndash; <a href=\"http:\/\/cpw.state.co.us\/FreshAirFriday\" target=\"_blank\">Free admission<\/a> to all state parks.\n\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tDelaware &ndash; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.destateparks.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Free admission<\/a> to all state parks.\n\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tMinnesota &ndash; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dnr.state.mn.us\/freeparkfriday\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">Free admission<\/a> to all state parks.\n\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tMissouri &ndash; <a href=\"https:\/\/mostateparks.com\/blackfriday\" target=\"_blank\">Free camping<\/a> on Friday evening. Black Friday <a href=\"https:\/\/mostateparks.com\/events\" target=\"_blank\">hikes &#038; bike rides<\/a> at select parks.\n\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tOregon &ndash; <a href=\"http:\/\/oregonstateparks.org\/index.cfm?do=v.dsp_featureArticle&#038;articleId=148\" target=\"_blank\">Day parking fees<\/a> are suspended.\n\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tWashington &ndash; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.backpacker.com\/trips\/washington\/mount-rainier-national-park\/olympic-rainier-national-parks-to-offer-free-admission-on-black-friday\/\" target=\"_blank\">Free admission<\/a> to Olympic and Rainier National Parks.\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For a list of additional park systems, organizations, and companies that have partnered with REI on this campaign, please visit <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.rei.com\/hike\/thanks-for-choosing-to-optoutside-with-us\/\" target=\"_blank\">REI&#8217;s website<\/a>. Or, <a href=\"http:\/\/optoutside.rei.com\/trails\" target=\"_blank\">go here<\/a> to find places to have fun skiing, hiking, cycling, or paddling. You can also check out the hashtag #OptOutside on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram to see how others are spending their Friday out in the fresh air!<\/p>\n<p>Personally, I plan to #OptOutside on Black Friday by exploring a marsh and a beach with my fianc? and my dog. How will you be spending the day? Will you be fighting the crowds at the mall? Hiking with your children at a state park? Sleeping in late and then putting up your Christmas tree? Going for a run around a lake? Let us know in the comments!<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 450px; margin: 0px 0px 20px 0px;\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-video\" lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">You may want to turn your volume up for this one. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/OptOutside?src=hash\">#OptOutside<\/a>&#10;<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hNHCAvkGVi\">https:\/\/t.co\/hNHCAvkGVi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; REI (@REI) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/REI\/status\/659052070985555972\">October 27, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This Friday REI, the outdoor recreation and sporting goods retailer, is doing something rather extraordinary. Instead of participating in Black Friday, they are closing all of their stores and paying their 12,000+ employees to spend time outside, and they are inviting everyone else to join them. While some folks probably can&#8217;t imagine a store not&hellip;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/optoutside-this-friday\/\">Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,52],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-8114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events-and-activities","category-merry-misc","tag-fun-for-kids"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8114"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8144,"href":"https:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8114\/revisions\/8144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northpole.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}