The Traveling Wilbury

As of late evening, I'm back from the Northern woods of Michigan. I have been traveling all day and my eyes are not used to staring at the computer screen. My brain is not used to processing all this information. For five days I've been doing a lot of nothing and it's been grand.

No computer. No cell phone. No work.

The life.

This is not my typical vacation, but due to circumstances that will soon be revealed, the time was now. Totally brought me back to when I was a kid. Made me realize that, though my days of baiting my own hook are over, I can still rough it like a good girl should. Between hiking deep into bear country, horseback-riding through the Mackinac State Forest, and 4-wheeling down backroads that are so far in the wildnerness that we weren't sure we'd make it back, it was a total blast.

(This is where taking me back to the kid years comes in. Although all these good times and memories were oddly familiar, it was my first time to go back in my real adult years, and that made it even cooler.)

Spending time with my grandparents has always been one of my favorite past times, as I spent most of my toddler years with them while Elvis and Priscilla were TCB (in a flash). And staying at their little cottage on Rainy Lake has always been magical. The smell of pine. Gram's delicious cooking. Homemade tapioca pudding! The sound of loons in the early morning. Chilly nights that are perfect for bundling up with my favorite quilt. The echo of voices from across the lake. The wild animals everywhere.

Though this isn't the lifestyle I'd like to live or raise a family in, I hope that one day I can bring my kid(s) up to a similar place so they can at least experience a glimpse of what I view as some of the happiest memories a kid can have. It would be a shame for them to miss out.

This trip was doubly special, since my Dad and I made it a father/daughter thing that happens about once every ten years. Much overdue and quite necessary, as we have both grown so much in the past years and it's been hard to see him go ever since he was transferred back up North for work early this summer. It's funny how we can take such short distances for granted, isn't it?

Today was one of those days that reminded me of how much I hate to say goodbyes. And I hate them more than words could explain.

Now, I'm ready for some more palm trees.