As Vacation Ends

Our vacation began ten days ago, on June 13. We spent the first four days with the Arnold family at Big Timber Lodge. Then, after our kids headed back home, we were off to Upper Michigan, where R.J. and I spent four more days. The plan was to take two days to travel home again, and this is the only element that did not go as planned. We are actually taking three days to travel home, and that’s okay. We avoided some bad weather and spent an extra day of doing practically nothing in the city of Oshkosh. 

For me, vacations are always fun in the planning and fun in the doing. Has this vacation lived up to expectations? Well, I will say that I am feeling pretty relaxed right now, and that was a big goal.  Here are some highlights.

1.       I loved spending time with the youngest generation of our family, my great nieces and nephews. They are such delightful young people, and some of them are getting very grown up. That has happened so incredibly quickly, and I cherish each and every moment spent with each and every one of them.

2.       People time is important to me, and the first part of vacation filled me up with family time. It was delightful! Cabin time with my own kids, meals with everybody, and lots of long conversations. Bliss!

3.       Alone time is also important to me, and I was able to go on so many early morning walks, all by myself – or better yet, alone with God.

4.       I can’t even begin to describe the joy I get from spending time drinking in the beauty God has created in the world around us. I witnessed mosquitoes, dragonflies, spiders, ospreys, bald eagles, mosquitoes, herons, deer, cranes, ducks, loons, geese, flowers, mosquitoes, forests, sunsets, fog, raindrops, lakes with whitecaps, glassy calm lakes, rivers, waterfalls, mosquitoes, sand dunes, rocky beaches, butterflies, gulls, fish, water bugs, woodpeckers, bees, chipmunks, squirrels, MOSQUITOES, and so much more. (True story: I got a few mosquito bites, and that wasn’t exactly a highlight. But it was well worth it to spend so much time outside!) It was amazing. I continue to be in awe of the artistry of our Creator God.

5.       I love adventures. Seeing places I for the first time is one of my favorite things. Seeing them with my husband at my side is off the scale in a very good way.

6.       Part of our adventure this time was staying in a remote area of Upper Michigan, in a loft we had only seen on the internet. It was well-reviewed, but there was still some degree of risk. We drove a lot of miles to get there (just under 550), so I hoped it would be worth it. It was; I really enjoyed the accommodations. This place had everything we needed, was incredibly comfortable, and was in a beautiful setting. Ahh!

7.       We also had some time to talk about future adventures while on this adventure. It’s so much fun to plan ahead.

8.       I delight in sharing my trips. I hope to add joy to this connected world we live in, so posting pictures as we went was wonderful for me.

9.       There were no emergencies at home while we were gone. That is huge, on many levels, for many reasons.  Thank you, God.

10.   While on this vacation, R.J. and I celebrated our 32^nd anniversary. We had an amazing time together. I am so thankful for our relationship, for the joy of doing things (or not doing things) with the love of my life, for our shared, strange sense of humor, for so much that I can’t put into words.

So yes, vacation was good. That’s pretty powerful praise for a Minnesotan. Am I ready to go back home? To get back to laundry, deep cleaning, and other “normal” life stuff? I suppose, if I must be. Goodbye, Vacation. Real Life, here I come.