REI to Close on Black Friday

I read a really interesting article on USA Today - "Outdoor gear and sporting goods retailer REI is canceling Black Friday this year. No promotions, no hourly sales, no doorbusters, no waiting in line. In an unprecedented move for the modern-day holiday shopping season, REI's 143 stores will be closed the day after Thanksgiving. The co-op business plans to launch a campaign Tuesday encouraging people to forgo shopping to spend time outside instead. With the hashtag #OptOutside, REI will ask people to share what they're doing on Black Friday on social media."

I love this!  I have never done the Black Friday thing.  I think I got up once, before I was married, and was at a store at 6:00 a.m., which was really early back then!  I was looking for one item.  I bought it and went back home.

We've spent several black Fridays traveling, but we have also opted outside quite a bit.  We were at Yosemite in 2009:

We did some cycling on the Pacific Coast Highway in 2010:

We rented bikes in Mexico Beach, Florida in 2011:

We were back at Yosemite in 2012:

We were back in Mexico Beach in 2013 and I did some running while Les went cycling:

Last year we stayed home and I don't have a single picture, but my training log shows that I ran 4 miles then rode 8.6 miles!

Will you #OptOutside, go shopping on Black Friday, or a little of both?