32: Robyn Tackitt: Building Community in Texas

Summary

LGBT+ Outdoors Podcast: Episode Summary

Episode Title: Robyn Tackitt: Building Community in Texas
Release Date: January 13, 2025
Host: Justin Yoder
Guest: Robin Thackett, LGBT Outdoors Ambassador for Waco, Texas

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of the LGBT+ Outdoors Podcast, host Justin Yoder welcomes Patrick Thompson and introduces Robin Thackett, the LGBT Outdoors Ambassador for Waco, Texas. The discussion centers around building a supportive and inclusive outdoor community within Texas, Robin's personal journey, and the launch of a new initiative—the 100 Mile Club.

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Building Community in Texas

Robin Thackett shares her experience discovering LGBT Outdoors through Facebook during a pivotal time in her life. She recounts how she initially found chapters in Dallas and other locations, noting significant growth since her involvement:

“[00:00] Robin Thackett: ‘They didn’t have that many chapters as we do now, but we’ve grown exponentially since I joined.’”

Robin emphasizes the importance of creating and fostering a diverse outdoor community, highlighting the challenges and triumphs of expanding LGBT Outdoors in Texas.

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Ambassador Program and Leadership

The conversation delves into the responsibilities and rewards of being an ambassador. Robin explains that ambassadors serve as leaders and role models, providing safe spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals to enjoy outdoor activities without fear of discrimination:

“[34:26] Robin Thackett: ‘Being an ambassador is being a leader and being the first person to step forward when called to do something that, for a lot of people, can be scary.’”

Robin underscores the bravery required to lead by example, especially in areas where being queer in outdoor spaces may still be challenging. She shares heartfelt moments, such as participants returning for multiple events, which signify the impact of their efforts:

“[33:02] Robin Thackett: ‘When someone comes back a second or third time, it makes me feel real special that they are giving up their day, these hours to come, do something that I’m leaning on.’”

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Memorable Outdoor Experiences

Robin recounts several personal outdoor adventures that have shaped her passion. From childhood camping trips to more recent mountain biking and trail running, she illustrates the profound connection between nature and community building:

“[19:56] Robin Thackett: ‘My dad did a lot of hunting and fishing, mostly fishing. And he always dragged me along, and I like fishing for the first 30 minutes to an hour and then I just put my fishing pole down and I’d go explore.’”

One particularly memorable story involves a mountain biking trip with her paramedic partner, Mason, highlighting both the joys and unexpected challenges of outdoor activities:

“[26:17] Robin Thackett: ‘We did a hike through somewhere. I think Collegiate Loop up in Colorado is my go-to when I want to do my first one.’”

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Challenges and Resilience

Robin also shares a challenging experience where she was accidentally shot in the neck with a CO₂ pellet gun during a camping trip. This incident underscores the unpredictable nature of outdoor adventures and the resilience required to overcome such setbacks:

“[24:24] Justin Yoder: ‘Did you just say a shot of the neck, though?’
[24:18] Robin Thackett: ‘Yeah, I was accidentally shot with a pellet from a CO₂ gun while camping.’”

Despite this mishap, Robin remains passionate and committed to leading and inspiring others within the LGBT Outdoors community.

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New Initiative: The 100 Mile Club

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to unveiling the 100 Mile Club, a new challenge designed to encourage community members to engage in outdoor activities while tracking their progress via the Strava app. Robyn and fellow ambassador Brad Bartman oversee this initiative, which aims to foster friendly competition and personal growth:

“[50:06] Justin Yoder: ‘The 100 Mile Club is a new club within LGBT Outdoors. When you sign up, you get a free T-shirt, and for every 100 miles you complete, you receive a coin.’”

Robin elaborates on the flexibility of the program, allowing participants to choose activities like cycling, kayaking, running, or hiking at their own pace without feeling pressured by time constraints:

“[51:16] Robin Thackett: ‘You can set your goal for however long you want to and go for it. It’s not something you have to do immediately.’”

The initiative not only promotes physical activity and mental well-being but also strengthens the sense of community as members track and share their achievements.

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Conclusion and Final Thoughts

As the episode wraps up, Robin expresses her gratitude for being part of the LGBT Outdoors family and the positive impact the organization has had on her life:

“[62:30] Robin Thackett: ‘I don’t know where I would be in the community if I didn’t know about this group. It has helped me a lot through some dark times and it helps others too.’”

Justin and Patrick reciprocate the appreciation, acknowledging Robin’s dedication and the significant role she plays in expanding and nurturing the LGBT Outdoors community in Texas.

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Key Takeaways

• Community Growth: LGBT Outdoors has seen exponential growth in Texas, with Robin playing a pivotal role in this expansion.
• Ambassador Role: Being an ambassador involves leadership, creating safe spaces, and inspiring repeat participation.
• Personal Stories: Robin’s outdoor adventures and challenges highlight the resilience and passion driving the community.
• 100 Mile Club: A new initiative encouraging members to track and achieve outdoor activity milestones, fostering both personal and communal growth.
• Inclusivity and Representation: Emphasizing the importance of making outdoor spaces welcoming for all LGBTQ+ individuals, regardless of how they choose to express their identity.

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Notable Quotes

• Robin Thackett on Community Growth:
  “[00:00] ‘They didn’t have that many chapters as we do now, but we’ve grown exponentially since I joined.’”

• On the Ambassador's Impact:
  “[33:02] ‘When someone comes back a second or third time, it makes me feel real special that they are giving up their day...’”

• Introducing the 100 Mile Club:
  “[50:06] ‘The 100 Mile Club is a new club within LGBT Outdoors. When you sign up, you get a free T-shirt, and for every 100 miles you complete, you receive a coin.’”

• Robin’s Gratitude:
  “[62:30] ‘It has helped me a lot through some dark times and it helps others too.’”

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This episode of the LGBT+ Outdoors Podcast offers inspiring insights into building an inclusive outdoor community, the meaningful role of ambassadors like Robin Thackett, and exciting new opportunities for members to engage and grow together through initiatives like the 100 Mile Club.

Transcript

[Robin Thackett]

But I got on Facebook and was doing a search and found LGBT outdoors. Like, oh, wondering where they're at? It's like, oh, they're in Dallas and other places. And I looked. It's like they have chapters all over the place. Well, they didn't have that many chapters as we do now, but we've grown exponentially since I joined.

[Justin Yoder]

What do you do when you come out as LGBTQ and love the outdoors? What do you do when you see the outdoor space ruled by older white CIS men and desire a diverse community of outdoor lovers? Accept it, change it, Create it. I am Justin Yoder, and this is LGBT Outdoors. Hey, everyone. Welcome to this episode of the LGBT Outdoors Podcast. I am your host, Justin Yoder, here with Patrick Thompson.

[Patrick Thompson]

Hey, everybody.

[Justin Yoder]

Hi.

[Patrick Thompson]

What's going on?

[Justin Yoder]

A lot.

[Patrick Thompson]

Yes.

[Justin Yoder]

As we said last week, though, there's.

[Patrick Thompson]

A lot going on, so I'm gonna go and kind of break some news. My husband here is this, like, avid animal lover, and whatever you're picturing right now, that is not even close to being accurate. Like, we've been together 14 years, and, you know, once upon a time came home and he walks in with this little kitten that he found in the alleyway because it was cute and it needed a home. And so we kind of, you know, got it healthy and we gave it a home. Found it at home.

[Justin Yoder]

Found it a home.

[Patrick Thompson]

Fast forward several years later, our neighbors had some stray cats. We caught them. Our kittens, baby kittens, you know, did the same thing. Nursed him, got him healthy, found him a home. Last week, he gives me a call. He's like, so there's these three puppies that are wandering around in the grass, digging around, looking for food, like, by a very busy street. And so I go over there and help him wrangle them up. And so we brought three puppies home. And it's been. It's been wild because. Because, like, one puppy is fun and cute. Two puppies is even more fun and cute. Three puppies is, like freaking puppy heaven. Like, they're. They're adorable. If you're watching on YouTube, we're gonna throw some pictures up so you can see, and, like, collectively, we all go, oh. As of recording this, we have found one home for one of the girls, and we have a meeting after this recording to hopefully find homes for the other two. But it's been. It's been a lot of fun. Our dogs have. Have been really awesome. It took a while for all of the animals to kind of, like, sniff each other out and figure out what's going on. But they all learned to play together, and it was really, really cute and fun experience. And I see a lot of that hopefully in my future. Maybe one day. Starting a rescue of our own.

[Justin Yoder]

And this has become the Patrick's Rescue Podcast.

[Patrick Thompson]

Well, I mean, it's a big deal. Like, we put out a call and, like, a lot of our friends and family pitched in to help with, like, food and toys and blankets, and we even got their first round of shots. And so I know this is, like, way off topic, but if you're an animal lover, I just want to share that because that was such a cool experience. Now back to LGBT outdoors.

[Justin Yoder]

It was. I'm ready for them to have their forever homes, that's for sure. But they've been cute and fun, and at least they are off the street and have food and shelter and a warm place. So that's. That's what's important.

[Patrick Thompson]

If you've ever fostered a little fur kid, bless your heart. Like, it is so challenging because, you know, you're helping them, you're nursing them to health, and you. If you have a soul at all, like, you bond with them, but you bond with them with the intention of kind of letting them leave the nest and go on to, like, a happy, forever home. So, like, I've known that, but it doesn't quite make it easy to deal with. But we're filming videos, so I'll keep myself from crying.

[Justin Yoder]

So one thing that you did mention that's new, that if people are listening for the first time, we do have video for our podcast now. So if you happen to be listening or watching on YouTube, you can see us now. So that's great.

[Patrick Thompson]

This is what we look like.

[Justin Yoder]

This is. This is what we look like.

[Patrick Thompson]

Surprise.

[Justin Yoder]

But, yeah, moving on. Fun news registration for Our Adventure Trips 2025 Adventure Trips is up and open. We have five great trips that are lined up for 2025. We're doing Broken Bow 5 fishing in May. We are doing the Grand Canyon national park in April. Yep. Alaska in July.

[Patrick Thompson]

Can't wait.

[Justin Yoder]

It's gonna be incredible. We did Alaska this year as well. And just amazing, incredible trip. We're doing Glacier national park in August, and then we have Smoky Mountain national park in October. So if you want to sign up for all of those or one of them, I guess you could just sign up for one, but.

[Patrick Thompson]

Or all of them.

[Justin Yoder]

Or all of them. You could go to our website and sign up. You can get all the details. You can see an example of what the itinerary is going to look like. But these are just amazing ways that our community can get together, feel safe, inclusive, and explore the outdoors, especially some of these national parks and rugged environments, with guides that know what they're doing and will keep you safe. So we'd love to have a bunch of you join us on those. It's easy, too. Like, we only require a deposit to sign up, and then you can make payments on the trip until your trip is. Is comes around, depending on when you sign up and everything. So there's like two or three different payments, so you don't even have to have all the money exactly when you sign up. So.

[Patrick Thompson]

And I feel like the barrier of entry is pretty low. Like, if you're nervous or you don't have experience, say, you know, rafting or. Or even camping. LGBT outdoors adventure trips takes care of a lot of the. The work. You know, correct me if I'm wrong, but, like, the meals are taken care of. Like, you don't have to, you know, bring your food and cook your food. Like, that's all part of what we do. So it makes it a heck of a lot easier. You can hop in a car with your sleeping bag in your tent and a few other essentials, and you're good to go.

[Justin Yoder]

Yeah. We did Big Ben national park this year as well, and one of my favorite parts of that was it's one of the darkest places in the US So the best star gazing area. And it's just incredible. And we finished dinner and we made this peach cobbler in a cast iron skillet over a campfire. And then we turned off all the lights and just watched the stars while we ate this cobbler made over campfire around with amazing people. And I just love those kind of experiences.

[Patrick Thompson]

So that sounds awesome. Also, I'm drooling just a little bit.

[Justin Yoder]

And clean that up. All right, well, we're on to our guest for today.

[Patrick Thompson]

We're excited.

[Justin Yoder]

How long have we known our guest?

[Patrick Thompson]

At least four years, four and a half, maybe even five. I know she came to our very first LGBT outdoor fest.

[Justin Yoder]

Yeah. So that's a while back.

[Patrick Thompson]

Yeah.

[Justin Yoder]

So our guest today is also one of our LGBT outdoors ambassadors for Waco, Texas. Her name is Robin Thackett. She. Her. And she also has taught at LGBT Outdoor Fest, and she's just been part of the LGBT outdoors family for quite a while now. And we were like, it is time to get you on here and chat with you and learn more about you. We also dropped this. We have a new program that is now up that I'm really excited about.

[Patrick Thompson]

Super cool.

[Justin Yoder]

The 100 mile club that her and another ambassador, Brad Bartman, are running. And we're going to talk more about that at the end, so stay tuned to that. But it's something that you might want to join in.

[Patrick Thompson]

You just set up a little teaser. I'm proud of you.

[Justin Yoder]

Thanks. I'm starting to pick up after you. Hi, Robin. How's it going?

[Robin Thackett]

Hi. So everyone can just fast forward to the end of it when we talked about the 100 Mile Club then if everyone wants to.

[Justin Yoder]

Oh, no, everybody wants to learn about you as well, so.

[Patrick Thompson]

So one of the cool thing Robin's been on our podcast a handful of times with. She plays trivia very well and has also submitted a few of our campfire conversations in season one talking about her adventures at Mineral Wells State Park. So feel free to go back and check out those older episodes to hear more of her stories. But she's here now and she is. We're excited. Actually, you were just up in our neck of the woods today, is that right?

[Robin Thackett]

Yes, I was at another ambassador, actually, two Ambassadors event up in Fort Worth. It was a wetland hike, and it was very, very good. We got to see birds, some buffaloes, prairie dogs, which were really, really cool, and got to meet a lot of people. It was wonderful.

[Justin Yoder]

Love that.

[Patrick Thompson]

That's like an hour and a half drive or so from Fort Worth to Waco Giverton.

[Robin Thackett]

Yeah, it was about an hour and a half to get up there to it.

[Patrick Thompson]

Yeah. So definitely not too far.

[Robin Thackett]

No.

[Patrick Thompson]

Glad you got to come up here.

[Robin Thackett]

Yeah. I wasn't even the one that drove the furthest we had. One of the guys drove down from Oklahoma, so no way. Me. By a good amount of distance, he actually crossed the state line.

[Justin Yoder]

So was that Mike?

[Robin Thackett]

Yes.

[Justin Yoder]

That was surely Mike.

[Patrick Thompson]

Yeah.

[Justin Yoder]

So Mike's been a part of the LGBT outdoors family for a while, too, and recently became an ambassador. So if you listen in Oklahoma, get a hold of Mike Allen, join the Facebook group up there for the state of Oklahoma, and start checking out his events.

[Patrick Thompson]

So he's fantastic.

[Justin Yoder]

Also, love him. All right, well, first of all, let's jump into knowing more about you, Robin. Like, start at the ground level. Who are you and how do you identify as?

[Robin Thackett]

Well, so I'm Robin. I identify as a left handed asexual trans woman in a lesbian relationship.

[Justin Yoder]

There you go.

[Patrick Thompson]

I'm left handed. I love lefties.

[Robin Thackett]

So I'm married to my wife Clara, which you all know, she's been at several of the outdoor fests. We've been married for almost 27 years. She's at work right now. She's a zookeeper at the zoo here. She's probably being bit by a penguin or two right now as we speak.

[Patrick Thompson]

Penguins bite.

[Robin Thackett]

Oh, yeah, they do. Her. Her first week there, when they got. When they got the penguins, she came home with, like, bite marks all over her body.

[Patrick Thompson]

Oh, my goodness.

[Robin Thackett]

Yeah.

[Patrick Thompson]

Some of them had no idea.

[Robin Thackett]

Some of them can be very temperamental on how you feed them. Some of them be real, real dainty with their beaks. When you. When you hand out a piece of smelt to them, some of them will just open up wide and just go for everything, including your fingers.

[Patrick Thompson]

Chomp.

[Robin Thackett]

Yes. It doesn't matter what she comes home looking like, what's in her hair or anything like that. She comes up with a smile every single time, so.

[Patrick Thompson]

Oh, so that's sweet.

[Robin Thackett]

She loves her job. But back to me, because this is all about me, obviously. Yes. I enjoy a lot of outdoor things. Hiking. Used to do some mountain biking, do a lot of trail running, kayaking, occasionally some rock climbing. But mainly my main focus is hiking and trail running. So I like to stay busy outside. Actually, in the process of. For next year, I am really. I'm going to be writing a book on the. It's gonna be the Trail Guide to the Trail or Troll Rewind, that guidebook to the trails of Cameron park here in Waco. For those that don't know, AM park is very prominent, kind of famous along certain groups. We are, we have the second largest inner city park in the United States. And we have. Yes, second only to Central park in New York City, if I remember right.

[Justin Yoder]

Wow.

[Robin Thackett]

But it's over 400. 400 acres. We have, last time I checked, like, 36 miles of trails. They do mountain bike competitions out there, trail running competitions. Just a whole host of things out there. There's always something going on out there. So it's a wonderful park. I love it. It's free admission. That's why I like doing so many events out there. Just because I don't have to worry about having to charge anyone admittance fee or parking fees or anything like that.

[Patrick Thompson]

Sure.

[Justin Yoder]

Yeah. Is that where you've also done some of your night hikes at?

[Robin Thackett]

Yes, we done night hikes out there. We did a spooky one back in October and then we've done one other. Couple other night hikes that we've had a pretty good turnout for. And it gets spooky out there. All the trees and Stuff like that. And they do night rides out there on bikes. They do night runs out there also. It's from sun up to almost midnight that that park has people in it.

[Justin Yoder]

That's cool. I. I always find it interesting how a lot of people, you know, will say whenever they're in an urban environment, there's nothing to do outdoorsy, you know, and like there is when you look at it. Yeah, we might not, especially here in Texas where all of us are. Might not be necessarily mountains right here in our area, but there's great things to do outside. Great kayaking, rivers to hit, trails to hit cool parks like that 400 acre park. Like, it's amazing. Everybody should be able to be getting outside if they want to.

[Robin Thackett]

Oh, yeah. And it's also home to Cameron Park Zoo, which is where my wife works. It's one of the nation renowned parks for being as small as it is. A lot of people go there. I don't know what their population visitor count is, but it gets up there pretty high. More so since the penguin exhibit opened up last August. So that's very cool. Big supporters of the zoo.

[Justin Yoder]

How did, how did you find out about LGBT outdoors and start getting involved?

[Robin Thackett]

That's a long time ago. I, I think I got on.

[Justin Yoder]

That's a long time ago.

[Robin Thackett]

It was not long after I, I came out right around Covid, or before COVID I think. But I got on Facebook and was doing a search and found LGBT outdoors. Like, oh, wondering where they're at. It's like, oh, they're in Dallas and other places. And I looked at like, they have chapters all over the place. Well, they had that many chapters as we do now, but we've grown exponentially since I've joined and. But we didn't have anybody in Waco and was like, oh, they're looking for ambassadors. Like, I don't know what I'm doing, but I can do that. And I put an application in, talk to two very well known friends of mine now on a Zoom Chat. And here I am years later and actually have an event coming up on New Year's Day here in Waco. So lots.

[Justin Yoder]

That's right. And you've, you've kicked off at least the last two years of being an ambassador the New Year with doing a hike on New Year's Day.

[Patrick Thompson]

First time.

[Justin Yoder]

And I thought the first time you did that, I was like, robin's lost her mind. Who's going to be after being out, probably late, who knows, partying, hungover, all the things. Who's going to be getting up to go on hikes on New Year's Day. And I think every time you've made a very successful event out of it.

[Patrick Thompson]

I'm sorry, there's another ambassador who's doing a first hike as well. I forget where. And I was like, he's copying Robin. No, I'm kidding.

[Robin Thackett]

There's two others. New Hampshire's doing one, I believe, and then our DFW ambassadors are doing one. They're doing theirs later on in the day, which I've. I'm perfectly fine with. Because, yes, it is New Year's Day. Potential for some bad weather. It's a holiday. I mean, ours is 11 o'clock in the morning, so everyone should be a little bit awake after drinking the night before. And they're doing theirs at like 5:00. And the great thing about Waco being in the center of Texas is I get people that drive up from Houston, I got people drive down from Dallas, DFW area. And if there's another event that they're gonna be closer to, by all means, sign up for the one you're closer to. Just. I really would hate for something to happen. Just if the roads are bad, I really don't want people having to drive that far. So if there's something there 20 miles from. Instead of 100 miles, go the one that's 20 miles away. It just makes a lot more sense.

[Patrick Thompson]

Oh, yeah, absolutely. And just for people listening, you know, if you don't live in Waco, you can still go to the events in Waco. If you don't live in Dallas, Fort Worth, you can still go there to any of the events. You know, it's all open.

[Justin Yoder]

We just had people travel from Texas to Northern California for events. Like, we had a. We have an ambassador out there, Megan. And I forget there was. I feel like there was a few people from Texas that went out there for one of her events. So you can find events all over the place and go make a little vacation out of it and hit up an event all across the country, even Alaska. So. Yep, that's cool. Let's rewind a little bit. Because I. I love that we're talking about the ambassador program and we can dive into that a bit more. But what sparked your interest in the outdoors? And has that been something that's been a part of you since you were a child or what? What did that look like growing up?

[Robin Thackett]

My dad did a lot of hunting and fishing, mostly fishing. And he always dragged me along, and I like fishing for, like, the first 30 minutes to an hour and then I just put my fishing pole down and I'd go explore. And so just outdoors was always something for me. My great grandparents had 100 acres over in East Texas that we used to go to all the time for family holidays or just a weekend. And I come in, say hi to the relatives, give them hugs, get kissed on the cheek by some aunt and then I would just disappear in the woods for four hours. And I loved it. It was just a chance for me to be alone and go exploring and get into something that I didn't know anything about. Like out there on that property there was a couple acres of my great grandfather said was haunted. And he said he would. He refused to go down there. The dogs hey. He went hunting with. Refused to go down there down there and like. Oh, you mean that spot down there. I was just. I spent 30 minutes and had a great time. So.

[Justin Yoder]

And where was this? Was this in Texas?

[Robin Thackett]

Yes, East Texas. Out towards a little town called Richland. I don't know if you know where it is. It's like in between like Corsicana and Mejia to a degree.

[Patrick Thompson]

Okay.

[Robin Thackett]

It's a TBL town is one of those you blink you miss if passing through. But that's actually the first time I went camping was with my dad. We didn't have a tent so we just cowboy camped in the back of his pickup truck while we were doing a. A trot line going for catfish at this little stock tank. And then my had a brother in law who loved the outdoors also he was into the backpacking and camping and stuff like that. And he would drag me along. Not really drag me along but I would like yes, let's go. Tay's one actually got me hooked on Mineral Wells so State park which is. I rave about that place so much that I don't talk about. So I don't want other people to go there. I don't want too busy and popular and stuff like that. But he took me hiking all the time camping. That's when I got hooked into rock climbing one year. And from there I had a friend in high school we. We went camping all the time. After high school I'd still come down to the Waco area and we go camping all the time. Just is more really relieve stress, get shot in the neck. Just have a good time away from other people. Just be a chance to unwind out in the country. So it was great. And then just I picked up back into it after getting settled back in down in the Waco Area mountain biking and everything like that. I have goals that I want to do. I still want to do a hike through somewhere. I'm thinking collegiate loop up in Colorado is my go to when I want to do my first one. And just. I just like the outdoors. I much rather be outside than cooped up inside, so.

[Justin Yoder]

Did you just say a shot of the neck, though?

[Patrick Thompson]

Yeah.

[Justin Yoder]

Did you catch that, too?

[Patrick Thompson]

I'm glad you didn't let that slide, because I. I had questions.

[Justin Yoder]

I have questions.

[Robin Thackett]

Yes. So, yeah, it was probably like a year or so after high school. I came down. We were out camping out in the little area on some. My friend's family's property. And I think it was springtime, and our campsite was being overrun by day long legs. Oh, and my friend had it. Picture a dirty, hairy pistol, but this one shot CO2 pellets.

[Justin Yoder]

Okay.

[Robin Thackett]

Okay. And he was just shooting CO2 just to shoot the spiders off. We weren't doing pellets or anything like that, just CO2. So came time to turn in and got in our tent. I had a flashlight. I kept shining him in the face, and it was kind of irritating him after a little bit, so he just reached over the CO2 pellet gun and went boom. And it's like, ow. Like, I felt something hit my neck, but I thought it was just CO2. Well, later on, I felt like something itching me in the back, and I reached down there and thinking it was a rock. No, it was a pellet. And my neck and came away just covered in blood, so.

[Justin Yoder]

Oh, geez.

[Robin Thackett]

Yeah, my family threatened to disown him, but it's. It's fine. I mean, it was more of a glancing wound, but I had a lot of explaining to do. Why I showed up back at work and at my house with a big, huge bandage over my neck, so.

[Justin Yoder]

Okay. So that did not go where I thought it was going. I thought this was some kind of Texas, like, saying something like. Yeah. Some kind of weird saying.

[Patrick Thompson]

Literally shot in the neck.

[Robin Thackett]

Yeah.

[Justin Yoder]

In the neck. All right.

[Robin Thackett]

Yeah.

[Justin Yoder]

Well, I'm. I'm glad you're still alive and with us.

[Robin Thackett]

Yeah. Hold on.

[Patrick Thompson]

There's some. Some lessons learned.

[Robin Thackett]

Yeah. And no alcohol was involved, so that was okay.

[Patrick Thompson]

I don't know if that's better or makes it worse.

[Robin Thackett]

Well, I mean, statute of limitations has passed, so it's fine now.

[Patrick Thompson]

We can't do anything about it anyway.

[Justin Yoder]

Yeah, fair enough. Fair enough. Well, I was going to ask you about some of your favorite memories. And, Mahal, that's probably not a Favorite. That's just a memory that makes a good story.

[Patrick Thompson]

That's an intriguing story.

[Justin Yoder]

Right? Right. I'd love to know about one of your favorite memories from an outdoor experience. Like, we all have those kind of mountain high, mountaintop experiences. Like, I'd love to hear about one of yours.

[Robin Thackett]

Oh, there's so many. So those that don't know. I'm a paramedic and I work on an ambulance. And when you're in the ambulance for 12 hours with your partner, y'all become real good friends and everything like that. They become like work husbands or work wives. And I have one partner, his name was Mason, and he liked mountain biking. And this I was trying to get in mountain biking also, because it's something I wanted to do and like that. And I talked them into going up to Mineral Wells. There's some trails up there, mountain biking. And we drove all the way from Waco to Mineral Wells. It's over a two hour drive just to get up there. And it just rained quite a bit up there. I was surprised the trails were actually open. They're muddy. And for those that never been to Mineral Wells is sand. And you just sink into it. So you're, you're paddling along, pedaling along on your bike, just in through thick mud, like quicksand and everything. And I'm huffing and puffing because I had not been cycling that long. Now my partner was way ahead of me. And you're wondering where the best part of this is, why it's a favorite memory. Every hundred yards, he looked back at me. I got this evil stare of, what did you get us into? And so we, I had a fun time just like watching him, like go because he's like huffing and puffing and we're going on these trails just having a good time. I'm. I'm having a blast. Just because I, I see his, his glare at me every now and then. And we hit a little section where there's some pavement, and it was like someone gave him caffeines. Like, he was like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Up and down the pavement area. And we rode like four miles that day. We got back to my truck and I was like, I'm sitting here kissing inside my truck. I. I am so sorry I left you here. I will never, never quit on you again. I will never leave you behind. And Mason goes, I'm gonna ride up to the ranger station. I'm going, that's like three miles down the road on pavement, up hills, across a dam. I Was like, okay, I'm gonna stay here for a while, catch my breath, get my heart rate down below 300 and laughs. So I. I probably gave him like a 10 minute head start and I loaded my bike up in my truck, got secure and like that, and I left parking lot and I'm going. I get just past or actually almost up to the dam. About halfway there and he's huffing and puffing up a hill. He topped the hill and he's like, he's off again. And I just passed him and it was a good trip. He likes to remind me about, has he put a lying to him about the trail conditions. I will say there's a really good place in Weatherford, Texas, for barbecue called Hard 8. Real good place.

[Patrick Thompson]

So I think we have a couple of those in dfw maybe.

[Robin Thackett]

Do you?

[Justin Yoder]

I don't know. But I'm always down for some good barbecue.

[Robin Thackett]

I know that, Weatherford, but all right.

[Justin Yoder]

I have to check it out.

[Robin Thackett]

Yeah. My other memorable times outdoors have been turned into campfire conversations about the naked guy. So can't forget that one.

[Patrick Thompson]

Yes. Find that episode and go back and listen.

[Robin Thackett]

Yes. It's. Yeah, it's. It was a lot of fun.

[Justin Yoder]

That's a story, that's for sure.

[Patrick Thompson]

You kept talking about, like, huffing and puffing. It made me think about a scenario where I felt I had sort of accidentally been misled. This is on our road trip with Kenneth in. I think it was Rocky Mountain National Park.

[Justin Yoder]

I think Grantee Time story that you're going to tell.

[Patrick Thompson]

Yeah. And so being from Texas, like, not used to elevation at all. And, you know, we're going and the scenery is gorgeous, like, second to none, like, vastly different alien planet than what we get in Texas. But, like, we're up there, like, we got those little portable oxygen masks and we're like, like Darth Vader style and we're just going. And, you know, like, I'm relatively like, you know, fit and athletic, but holy cow, like, so I kept giving Kenneth, like, daggers stares, like, what did you do to us? We survived, you know, I mean, obviously.

[Justin Yoder]

I also don't think that any of us knew really what we were getting into on that one, because we were just kind of doing this fly by the seat of our pants type of a chip, jumping from national park to national park, so. But on the flip side of that, if that's the same hike that I'm thinking about, that's the one that we saw the moose at as well.

[Patrick Thompson]

It was. Yeah.

[Justin Yoder]

Yeah. So we had this cow, moose, and baby pass. Man, it was so close. I would say maybe 20 yards in front of us at the most. Really cool.

[Patrick Thompson]

Very surreal.

[Justin Yoder]

All right, let's. Let's talk about favorite moments with being an ambassador, then. I know that you've done a lot of events. Kayaking events, hiking, night hikes. I think you might have done climbing event, maybe. But I'd love to know, like, I'd love to know, like, what your. One of your favorite experiences from being an ambassador would be.

[Robin Thackett]

My favorite one is usually when I have an event and someone comes back for a second one, because to me, that makes me feel like I've reached out to a person and got them into something, and it also lets me know that they like me and came back for a second time, because so usually, yeah, when I do an event and it doesn't matter what it is, when someone comes back a second or third time, it makes me feel real special that they are giving up their day, these hours to come, do something that I'm leaning on. They're trusting me to take them out in the middle of nowhere and not leave them stranded and get them back to point A. And they have a time that they remember it about it, and so that'd be the best time. Just nice.

[Patrick Thompson]

I mean, that. That's huge because. And like, I say this all the time on this podcast, like, going up to meet up with a bunch of random strangers to go on a hike together, even though everybody's queer, like, it's still. That is an act of bravery, like, for a lot of people, like, it's not easy to go out and put yourself out there and just meet new people and celebrating the fact that you get into that when somebody comes back, because that means that you have created a welcoming, safe space where they felt comfortable and they got something out of it, and they're coming back because they want more. So that means that whatever you're doing, you're crushing it. So keep it up.

[Justin Yoder]

Yeah. And that's such a huge part of what we do anyways. It's all about the community and building that community. I love that. And I'm hoping that the Waco chapter just continues to grow. And I know it's a smaller, smaller, ish kind of town, but I think that there's such great opportunities there and obviously some great, great parks and rivers to hit while you're out there. Share with everybody listening. Let's talk about the ambassador program. What does it mean to be an ambassador, and what does that look like, being ambassador?

[Robin Thackett]

Is being a leader and being the first person to step forward when called to do something that, for a lot of people, can be scary. There's still a lot of places where being queer is hard, difficult, borderline illegal. And so to actually go out in public and risk exposure is a huge deal. So, as ambassador, we're the ones that go first and not really put our necks on the line, but just say, here I am. Come join me.

[Patrick Thompson]

I just got goosebumps.

[Robin Thackett]

Okay.

[Patrick Thompson]

No, no, like, for real, like that. That's a bold statement, and that is a bold action. Especially, like, kind of in our current world. Like, it's, you know, it's not a simplistic kind of thing. Like, it's a very bold, deliberate choice that you and all of our ambassadors make to go out and, you know, be that leader and be that, you know, frontline human for. For others. Like, you know, literally lighting the way.

[Justin Yoder]

It's the representation that we talk about so much.

[Patrick Thompson]

Yeah.

[Justin Yoder]

Especially, like, right now with everything that's going on with trans rights. And that's something that I'm really passionate about, too, is just really letting everybody know that when it comes to the LGBTQ community, LGBT Outdoors is here for everyone. And that's why we put the plus in our logo, LGBT Outdoors plus or LGBT plus Outdoors in our logo. Because we want everybody to know that it doesn't matter how you identify. You've got a safe spot here with us. And we hear stories all the time. We know we just had Bailey Buckles on not too long ago, like, two episodes ago, I believe, and she talked about the challenges that she faced as a trans person. And I just want everybody to feel welcome and feel that community that we're building here. And I think, Robin, what you're talking about is exactly what we need and that representation and being brave to be able to be authentically who yourself, out on the trails or out in a kayak or out fishing and not hiding back, letting people know we aren't going to be pushed into the shadows. We are who we are. We're going to stand up for our rights and.

[Patrick Thompson]

And for the rights of others and.

[Justin Yoder]

For the rights of others and push forward with making an inclusive outdoor space for people.

[Robin Thackett]

Yeah. And if you want to know how scary it is for some people, look at this. The people who sign up, there's still people who do not want their photograph taken just because they don't want anyone to know that they are. They're queer. And I would love to have the day where we don't have to worry about that anymore. But right now, there's still people that are scared to come out and they are safe in our area. We're not going to out them or anything like that. We can be very low key on our hikes or our events. And we have the LGBT outdoors flag that we. We take pictures with. But if I have a lot of people that are saying they don't want their pictures taken, I'm not going to put that flag out just because I don't want to help them. Because we are in public place out in the woods, and you never know who is out. Yes. Particularly in Texas. Yes. So you never know who is watching. So we can be as stealth as we need to for them as long as they show up. And we can be as open as they want to be. But we want to get people to show up. We want them to enjoy being outdoors. We want to share what I want to share what I go through when I go hiking in the woods with others. I want them to see what I see, what I feel when I'm out there and just enjoying connecting with nature. So it's important me to be able to, as an ambassador, provide a safe spot for those people so they can enjoy it. And I say my favorite time as an ambassador is when a person shows up for my second event is also special for me when I get a word from them a couple days after an event, and it's like, hey, I bought myself a kayak because of you. That's some serious money. And because there's a kayak, there's a paddle, there's life preserver, There's a whole bunch of stuff that you get into just for kayaking. So that happened after the last Texas Outdoor Fest. I had a couple people contact me later on, like, yeah, I'll buy a kayak. Kayak. And like, cool. I'm glad that you have a place to go and something to do outdoors. And it's bigger than where we are at there at Outdoor Fest. And so.

[Justin Yoder]

Inside joke there.

[Robin Thackett]

Yes. So for those that were not not there Outdoor Fest, the lake level was very, very low, so we could not use the lake. So we had this little pond, and it's so small, I'm staying in the middle on my kayak and everyone are doing laps around me in circles. And so it's. It was. It was a good beginner course. Just so for those that are afraid of water, they may not want to get that far from shore. So it worked out perfect. I got people addicted to kayaking. And.

[Patrick Thompson]

And that's the whole point of LGBT Outdoor Fest, is to allow people to, you know, try new activities without, you know, having to make any real big investments in gear or whatever, just to see if it piques your interest. But the fact that somebody took your workshop, then they're like, oh, hell yes, this is for me. I'm going to go buy a kayak. Like, that's proof positive that your work, and collectively our work as an organization is doing something. And I think that's amazing. That's really exciting.

[Justin Yoder]

Yeah. And of course, I've got to say it now because you both mentioned it, that LGBT Outdoor Fest 2025 is going to be in the Catskill Mountains in New York September 11th through the 14th.

[Patrick Thompson]

Correct.

[Justin Yoder]

So registration is open for that as well, too. Early bird right now, so it's the best time to get signed up for that as well. But, yeah, Robin's been an instructor at Outdoor Fest. How many Outdoor Fests have you been to? You went to Colorado the first time. We had it in Colorado as well, I think. Right.

[Robin Thackett]

And I think I've been to like three Texas ones or four that I can't think.

[Justin Yoder]

There's been a total of five altogether.

[Robin Thackett]

Okay. Right. I think I missed the very first one. I'm pretty sure I missed the very first one, but I've been regular after that.

[Patrick Thompson]

And I could have sworn y'all came up for like the, like Saturday afternoon on the first one.

[Robin Thackett]

No, I think the first one I missed just got anxiety, got the best of me, and I was still new with everybody and everything's that, so. But yeah, after that, I've been a regular Adam, except for this last Colorado one. And yeah, my wife Claire's been out there also. She's one that benefits, I think them a lot from Outdoor Fest because to see her come out of her shell at Outdoor Fest and be so out outgoing. I still remember her first one during your icebreaker when we were doing the pinata with the unicorn and she volunteered to go first and she launched the unicorn head halfway across the yard and almost made it into the cornhole thing.

[Patrick Thompson]

So three points.

[Justin Yoder]

Yes, I remember that. Good times.

[Robin Thackett]

Yeah. It. She loves and she was very heartbroken we didn't get to go the one in Colorado this year. So.

[Justin Yoder]

Yeah. Yeah, I am, too. I wish that you guys could have been there for sure, because it was. Each year we do it, it just goes to another level. But this was the first year, too, that we bumped it up from three days to four days, which is going to be Four days going forward now. And also the first time that we actually had a high ropes course to participate in too, which is just took everything to another level.

[Robin Thackett]

Yeah, she would not have done that. She's scared of heights. But I would have been up there in like two seconds flat.

[Patrick Thompson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Justin Yoder]

Very cool. If somebody is interested in being an ambassador but maybe doesn't know where to begin or kind of nervous and wishing that there was a chapter in their area, what advice would you give them?

[Robin Thackett]

I say reach out to any of the other ambassadors, and any of us would be more than happy to be mentors towards the newer generation of ambassadors. We can let them know what's worked for us, what has not worked for us. And if possible, we will come out to your first event and help you with anything you need. How to be planning to just doing whatever is needed. And great thing about being ambassadors, you're not alone. There's now over 50ambassadors now, so we are all over the place. And we now have a Facebook page for the ambassador. So you get on there and say, hey, I'm nervous about my first event. What can I do about it? Or what were some suggestions or whatever. We've. Every single ambassador that has done events, we've gone through trial and error. When. When I did my first event, I was like, I don't know what I'm doing. I just hope everyone has a good time. And I. I found things that work in a lot of things that don't work. And I'm more than happy to pass it on to anybody who asks. But ambassador is a chance to, like I said, be a leader and walk across that line saying, here I am. Let's go and just go out there and have a good time. Even if it rains, even if it's too cold, if it's. Whatever, we're gonna have a good time and we'll. We'll think of something. I mean, be afraid to think out the outside the box. I did an event earlier this year when it was so hot, we just. The event was at a. Here in Waco. We have this large building that has a whole bunch of little restaurant food truck things inside of it. And it's in the ac. It's in air conditioning. Texas summer.

[Justin Yoder]

Yes.

[Robin Thackett]

Let's go sit in the AC.

[Patrick Thompson]

Cool.

[Robin Thackett]

And yeah, there's about like 20 different restaurants inside this place, so there's an option for everybody. And the event was just so we can just socialize and talk about anything outdoors in a nice environment over food. It is like talking over food.

[Justin Yoder]

Yeah.

[Robin Thackett]

And, yeah, so it's. It's coming up with stuff that you think will get people to come out. And sometimes you'd be surprised where the event that you think is not going to be very popular is the most popular. And it's just interesting. Yeah, it's. It's strange. There's no rhyme or reason to it usually, so. And that's something. Going to the event this morning up there in the wetlands was we. They had over 30 people sign up. We probably had about 20 people, I think, show up. I don't know that. That count, because I was having fun just not being an ambassador for once. So it was neat perspective, being on the attendee side for once. So it. It was great. Just. And it was a good way for the ambassadors to get together. There's four of us there, and it was. It was good to just talk shop for a little bit and hopefully in the future we can actually do ambassador meetups. Like that was just the ambassadors doing a little workshop.

[Justin Yoder]

Yeah.

[Robin Thackett]

Some sort.

[Justin Yoder]

So I'd love to see that happen. Yeah, I'd love to see an. An ambassador trip.

[Patrick Thompson]

Yeah.

[Justin Yoder]

At some point, too. But we'll. We'll chat about that. What's that?

[Robin Thackett]

Courtesy of Justin.

[Justin Yoder]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Patrick Thompson]

Dear sponsors. Yeah, speaking of. Hang on, are we moving ahead?

[Justin Yoder]

No, go ahead. Okay.

[Patrick Thompson]

I said, speaking of sponsors, we do need to take a quick little break to show some love to the people who are loving on us with their sponsorships. So we'll be back here in a minute.

[Justin Yoder]

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[Patrick Thompson]

And we're back with the LGBT Outdoors podcast. Thanks for sticking Around. Now we're getting to the part that Justin so eloquently teased earlier. At the top of the show, we've got a new project. It is called the 100 Mile Club, and we're really, really excited about this at LGBT Outdoors. We just launched at the start of the new year, and we're gonna tell you all about it.

[Justin Yoder]

And so he looks at me.

[Patrick Thompson]

Yes.

[Justin Yoder]

All right, well, I'm going to get. I will just do the same thing, and then I'm gonna look at Robin. But no, basically, the 100 Mile Club is a new club within LGBT outdoors. When you. There's a small fee that you play to sign up for it. That helps also fund LGBT outdoors. So that's an added bonus. But it's a great way for our community to connect through challenges and getting outside. And so when you sign up, you get a free T shirt, and then for every 100 miles that you complete, you basically get a coin. And it's a great way to be able to track what we're doing. But Robin and one of our other ambassadors, Brad Bartman, up in Michigan, are going to be running this club. So, Robin, I'd love to hear from you about kind of the Hundred Mile Club and. Yeah. How you see it going and kind of maybe your hopes with it.

[Robin Thackett]

The 100 Mile Club is going to be an opportunity to see. See what other people are doing through the app called Strava. We have a club that's already on Strava. We already have 40 members on there. And this gets you a chance to put a little bit of competition into your activities, and so you can see what the other person that you're competing against is doing and try to do a little bit better than them. And we're going to have open ground to on how you want to do your activities, on which ones. If you want to do cycling, kayaking, running, hiking, it's going to be open to a lot of those. And it's a competition, but not a competition. It's going to be competition with others if you want to beat them. If not, it's fine. You can go at your own pace, and you can just set your goal for however long you want to and go for it. And that way you don't have to worry. You don't feel rushed, because, yeah, I mean, there's going to be people all across the United States and Canada. And if you're under the weather for, like, if you're up north and you got feet of snow and you can't go out and do any hiking or anything like that that's going to give unfair advantage to people down south that are in 80 degree winters like Texas. And so there's gonna be open for the time span. And so you get. You got time to do the first 100 miles. And it's not something that's been done in the first week. And we also want to put where if you do get something out of this, even if you don't complete, say you get injured at. Later on and you can't complete it, you still have time to do as much as you can. It's not.

[Justin Yoder]

Is there a time. Is there a time limit that they have to complete the first hundred miles before they go on? Or it's just open time span.

[Robin Thackett]

We like it for like a year, but I mean, we don't understand people can't get it done in a year. I know during COVID there was a lot of virtual races that people were doing and it was just basically get. I think Claire and I were on one. It was 500 miles and you could adjust the time on it. And we got her medals for it. She got hers a lot faster because she. She walks all the time at the zoo. She put in. She put in four or five miles a day at the zoo. So she got there within like no time. And it took me quite a bit longer. And we got a nice mill out of it. And she loves it. And then. But we want to do is. We don't want to make it where someone feels like they have to go out and do this immediately. And last thing we want to do is someone to get injured or lost in the woods or something like that trying to get their miles in. And we also don't want people to resort to cheating like driving around in a car. So I mean, there's gonna be a lot of opening.

[Patrick Thompson]

Kind of defeats the purpose.

[Robin Thackett]

Yeah, I mean, we wanted to open up and make people get outdoors and give them a reason to without putting too much stress on them. And that's just what we're going with this. And a lot of it's still gonna be fluid on everything. So it's. I think it's gonna be a good program once we get up and going and get it settled down and get the kinks worked out of it. So I'm looking forward to it.

[Patrick Thompson]

I feel like if you're tracking your adventures, say from January to December, I bet you'd be really surprised how much ground you would cover. I think even without thinking about it, you'd easily cover 100 miles. Speaking of 100 miles. A little detour. Sorry. This is how my brain works. Back during the pandemic, we did LGBT outdoors live, and he's been on our podcast. Jeffrey Benny is an ultra marathon runner. Ultra marathons, in his scenario are literally 100 mile, like, foot race over the course. I forget how long it is, but he's got some stories. He's actually got, like, a documentary about his experience. Here's. You don't have to do that. What was my point? And that's awesome for him and for. For a lot of people, but if you're doing, you know, like five miles over the course of a week, that's. I can't math right now. That's a lot of miles.

[Robin Thackett]

There's 52 weeks in a year. If you do two miles a week, that'll get you 104 miles easily. So, yeah, there's a lot of people that. That walk two miles a day at.

[Patrick Thompson]

Work, and you don't even realize it. So you start tracking it, and suddenly, you know, you put a lot of miles behind you. Yeah. And I think that that's pretty darn cool. Not only for health purposes, mental health purposes, but just being outside and unplugging and, you know, whether it's kayaking. Like, kayaking sounds like a really great way to get some miles. Like, very low impact.

[Justin Yoder]

Yeah.

[Patrick Thompson]

But, yeah, and just seeing what other people are doing, too, and friendly competition, you know, but realistically, like, it's you versus you, you know, Like, I think you get to challenge yourself and go after whatever goals that you want to set. Yeah.

[Justin Yoder]

So basically the way that it works then would be anybody that's interested, go to the website, go to the 100 Mile Club. You can sign up there, and then Robin or Brad would be in touch with you to be able to help you and encourage you, make sure you have everything you need. Once you register, you would get a T shirt, which is cool. And then when you complete your first hundred miles, you would get your first 100 mile coin. But you also need to sign up for Strava. And whether you decide to join the club or not, you can still sign up for Strava. And which Strava. If you are listening, you, we need a chat. But you can. You can join the LGBT outdoors group on Strava either way and be able to connect with people on there. And it's fun, too, because, like, they do their tracking for, I think, LGBT Outdoors and Pride Month. Robin, you can tell me more about the progressive flag colors and stuff. So I, I like that. That's fun too. So either way, you could join this, join Strava, be a part of it. But we will use Strava to track for the 100 mile club. And then once you complete it, however long it takes, if it takes you three weeks and you're done with a hundred miles, cool, you can go on to 200, 300, 400. If it takes you a year or longer, that's fine as well. And then you can move on to your next one. But yeah, we're excited about it. I think this is going to be a fun way to have a little bit of friendly competition. And we're also going to be listing people on the different 100 miles that they complete on the website too, on the club page. So. So it's going to be a lot of fun.

[Robin Thackett]

Yeah.

[Justin Yoder]

Sign up.

[Robin Thackett]

And for those that don't know about Strava is a free app. There is a pay subscription also, but we're going to be working everything off the free version. And you don't need any special equipment. You can run Strava off your phone, which is great, and you do it off of there. If you want to do it off of Garmin watches, a lot of those you can do and Strava on those, but all you need is your phone. You don't need any special equipment other than what you'd be doing anyway if you're out doing these miles. So nothing really needed that's out of the ordinary, that's stopping someone from doing it. And yeah, I think it'd be cool. And it's going to be great for Strava to help us track everything and everything. So it's going to come down to what a person wants to do and they can do it, make it easy. They can, like I said, they can go do 100 mile run one weekend. Yay. You that far. This is however you want to do it. Just get your miles in. I mean, if you're already out there doing it, might as well get something out of it other than high pulse rate.

[Patrick Thompson]

And we're still early January. It's not too late to, you know, add on a New Year's resolution.

[Justin Yoder]

Yeah.

[Patrick Thompson]

You know, 100 miles over the course of a year or two. I mean, that sounds like a pretty sweet goal. A challenging goal for sure. But yeah, something to think about.

[Justin Yoder]

Definitely. I love that.

[Robin Thackett]

I think my stats for this year, I'm already at over 300 miles, so it's easy to get to 1,000 miles. So I'm I know my friend Kimber is probably up like 500 miles, but she's up in Denver now, so she left me. And so we miss Kimber. Yeah, so do I. She keeps messaging me all the time, and so I thought I'd give her a shout out during this, this podcast to embarrass yourself. So.

[Justin Yoder]

Well, Kimber, you need to get involved with our Colorado chapter because that's one. One of our stronger chapters. That's, that's cool.

[Patrick Thompson]

Lot of people up there.

[Justin Yoder]

Yeah.

[Robin Thackett]

She's. Yeah.

[Justin Yoder]

Do you have any final thoughts, Questions, Patrick, for Robin.

[Patrick Thompson]

I don't. I. The, the disadvantage of this particular episode is that, like, I, I had the luxury of knowing Robin for a few years and so it's not like we're meeting for the first time and I'm like grilling her for information. So I may be doing our listeners a disservice, but it's always a delight to chat with you. We are super grateful for all the kick ass things that you're doing down in Waco and for helping expand the community and introducing more people to the outdoors. It's just incredible. So thank you, thank you for, thank.

[Robin Thackett]

You for putting this organization together. I mean, it's. I don't know where I would be in the community if I didn't know about this group. And it's been something that's helped me a lot through some dark times and it is help other people that I know of. So I'm grateful to you two for starting it up. And yeah, it's, it's hard putting words on what y'all. Y'all two mean to me for doing this and trusting me to lead people into the wilderness and bring back the same number of people I took out. And so thank you. And I'm a Sagittarius and. But yeah, I'm, I'm glad to be on here. And you'd be surprised how many podcasts, like I'll be listening to. Y'all ask questions like, okay, now if I was on the podcast, how would I answer that question?

[Justin Yoder]

So now you got to find out.

[Robin Thackett]

Yes. I mean, I, I listen to these podcasts all the time because my work commute is an hour and 15 minutes one way. So I get a lot of these podcasts listen to on the way into work and or way home, depending on when it drops. So yay.

[Justin Yoder]

Yeah.

[Patrick Thompson]

Awesome.

[Justin Yoder]

Love that. Where can people learn more about you and follow you?

[Robin Thackett]

So my main one is Facebook through the LGBT Outdoors Texas chapter page. I'm also on Instagram as Robin Roams Outdoors. That's my main Instagram. I do have a couple other ones that. But the Robin Roams Outdoors is my main active one, so. Okay, that's it. I try to stay off social media as much as I can.

[Justin Yoder]

Smart.

[Robin Thackett]

Smart.

[Justin Yoder]

And if you're in Texas and you want to join the Texas Facebook group, you can just search LGBT Outdoors Texas, or you can go fb.com backslash groups, backslash LGBT outdoors tx. And that will get you into the group as well and can connect with Robin and a lot of other cool people there. So, Robin, I would just want to thank you for taking time out of your day and joining us and sharing your passion for the outdoors, for being an ambassador and for heading helping head up this new 100 mile club. And you're. You're a rock star, and we're glad you're part of the LGBT outdoors family.

[Robin Thackett]

Well, thank you very much. I've had a lot of time. I've had a lot of fun being on here, so about to do it again. I'll see if I can come up with some more campfire conversations.

[Justin Yoder]

Yeah, that would be awesome. All right, everyone, thank you for tuning in this week for our LGBT Outdoors Podcast. We hope that you enjoyed it. Remember to go check out the 100 Mile Club on our website, as well as the Trailblazer Society. We've got so much cool stuff going on. And as always, too, you can join up for our newsletter on our website. All that can be found [e-mail] and until next time, get out there. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the LGBT Outdoors Podcast. You can catch up on past episodes on your favorite podcast streaming platforms. Stay connected with us on Instagram @LGBToutdoors and join our vibrant [e-mail] groups. LGBToutdoors. Support our mission to promote LGBTQ inclusion in the outdoors by becoming a member of the Trailblazer Society at LGBToutdoors.com trailblazers. For more information about LGBT outdoors, LGBT Outdoor Fest, local chapters, adventure trips, or to sign up for our newsletter, head to lgbtoutdoors. Com. If you're enjoying the episode, don't forget to rate, review, and follow us. Your support makes a difference.