Everyone has had to make adjustments lately.
Work? Furloughed.
Schooling? Virtual.
Vacation? Cancelled.
*Record Scratch*
Excuse me, what? That’s right. My husband was granted a sabbatical through work and we had to take advantage of it or he would lose his vacation. For his last sabbatical, we went to Ireland. Originally we planned to travel abroad once more. We were thinking of Denmark. Obviously, that wasn’t an option by the time we were ready to go anywhere.
But give up vacation? Just cancel it altogether and keep working?
I don’t think so. Time to make some lemonade out of these lemons. On the bright side, we didn’t have to spend several hours on a plane to arrive tired and discombobulated in a foreign country we’ve never been to with kids in tow. Good times.
As you can imagine, we kept it pretty low key. We did visit my parents for the first weekend and check in with them, while also doing a little work around the place and a little shopping. Then we stuck close to home, working (or in my case, writing) around the house, playing games, and checking out mini-golf with the kids. Then, for our big adventure, we went camping in Door County for three nights.
We found the beginning of the Ice Age Trail, a 1200 mile National Scenic Trail that winds its way through the state of Wisconsin.
The kids got to bring their bikes, which turned out to be a good move on our part. When they got tired of looking for firewood, they’d take off on their bikes around the campground. This was great because we couldn’t spend all our time hiking, though we did do a lot with the usual amount of grumbling. Still, we had a good time. Here’s proof:
When it was time to go, this little guy showed up to wish us well. Or maybe he just wanted to see what we left behind, which was nothing because we clean up after ourselves. I’m assured this is a red squirrel. Tiny little thing. Not to be confused with a chipmunk.
I spent three days unplugged.
It only rained once.
Still, it was nice to get away once I got used to the idea, but it did take time to pull myself away from my phone and try to get on without it. Don’t worry. I had something to read, so we were good.
It was important to take advantage of the downtime even if it wasn’t initially what we had in mind. The pumpkin-spice season is almost upon us and things are about to get busy, or busier, depending on who you talk to.
The Dragoneer comes out in less than a month, which is super exciting. I can’t wait to have the chance to share Moira and Zephyr’s story with readers. But there’s the little matter if the book launch to get through, which will be virtual, and any number of other promotional items to take care of. Exciting and daunting, but I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.
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