We had a ton of fun at Primland, participating in their various activities & pretending we were kids at summer camp. My favorite was stargazing, while B loved shooting sporting clays. Here’s a summary of just a few of the fun things you can do during your stay:
Stargazing
Primland has an amazing stargazing program, with a planetarium built right into the top of the silo that anchors the corner of the lodge. We attended the Tour of the Universe the first evening we were at the resort, which happened to coincide with the Blue Moon! The super bright moon meant that there were less stars visible to the naked eye, but also meant that our view of it through a basic telescope was spectacular. Primland’s location at the top of a mountain & away from light pollution makes it the ideal place to stargaze. Their Celestron CGE Pro 1400 telescope, located in the Observatory Dome, allowed us to look at stars tens of thousands of lightyears away. The photos I took on my phone didn’t turn out so well, but if you’d like photos of what you saw, just ask – they’re happy to email them to you.
(C) Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
(C) Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
(C) Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
(C) Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
(C) Christina Saull – All Rights Reserved
Offroad Adventures (aka ATV-ing)
Of all the activities we were scheduled to do at Primland, I was most nervous about this one. I’d heard horror stories of ATV accidents & I generally don’t like going fast – but this is my year of trying new things, so off we went into Primland’s 12,000 acres. They’ve actually made their ATV program safer in recent years by replacing sit-on-top ATVs with vehicles that almost look like souped up golf carts.
We headed out with Alex on an express-ATV tour (most last for about 2.5 hours). I let B take the lead in driving, since I’m a wuss, & soon enough we were flying through fields & forest. It got a little boring in the passenger seat after a while, so during one of the stops we switched & I got my turn behind the wheel. Queue nervous giggling pretty much the entire time. The ATV tour was a great way to see some of the property’s most beautiful vistas & even visit their huge lake.
ATV-ing from Christina Tuff Saull on Vimeo.
Bow & Air Rifle Range
This was the surprise activity for the morning – it was so much fun! Archery was something I’ve always wanted to do since my parents never sent me to summer camp as a kid & I was thrilled to finally try it. It was easier than I thought it would be & just as fun. I managed to hit a few targets, but will have to keep practicing to hit the still illusive bullseye.
Archery from Christina Tuff Saull on Vimeo.
The air rifle (think: you’ll-shoot-your-eye-out-kid-BB-gun) was also fun, especially the one with the scope. I was able to break balloons about 20 yards away & hit a few metal targets.
Sporting Clays
Shooting at sporting clays with a real rifle with real ammo was by far the hardest thing we did the entire morning. It was so intimidating to shoot a gun for the first time! I was very nervous & it showed: I only hit one target the entire time. Of course, B did awesome & was shooting clays out of the sky like an old pro (even though it was his first time as well). Moral of the story? Should have played more Duck Hunt as a kid!
If none of these activities strike your fancy, you can also fly fish, kayak, hike one of their great trails (B did the Pinnacle Loop to Lost Chestnut trails & enjoyed seeing the creeks & streams along the way), take a hike while geocaching, go for a trot horseback riding or do some real avian or deer hunting (in season).
Note: All our activities were provided courtesy of Primland. All opinions are, as always, my own.
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