Vacay

Maya's new kitten hat

Oval Beach

My Dying camera

Me off in the distance

It had been a while since Steve and I went away alone somewhere. One of us has been always needed to be here but there was finally a break in the responsibilities so yesterday we left. One advantage of Steve's new job is that he can come and go as he pleases. When I made reservations Sunday, I had made sure that there was no rain in the forecast and it was clear then but somehow the forecast had changed to certain rain each day. But as it turned out, the forecast was wrong (again!). It did drizzle late yesterday afternoon when we had planned to take a long walk on the beach but instead, we sat on the porch in a swing together. It was warm enough outside that we were comfortable plus I was sipping on some warm coffee.
On the way there, we had stopped up an outlet mall. Now I am not much of a shopper but I did find some interesting things to buy. Today though when I had planned to do some shopping in the resort town we go to, almost everything was closed including my favorite clothing store. I guess we never came there at this time of year.
A strange billboard I saw on the way there:

He once was just a tool 
But now he is the whole shed


I didn't have time to read what this was an advertisement for or whether tool was a pejorative or not.

Don't be such a tool....


We had a nice dinner and later I had a nice soak in the outdoor hot tub. I couldn't persuade Steve to join me. Maybe walking through the snow on the deck to get to the tub wasn't inviting to him. He did hang around to fill my wine glass. I drink alone these days as Steve hasn't touched the stuff since June. But it was nice having the warm water percolate over me soothing all my aches.

We were staying about a mile from Lake Michigan, an easy run except the temperature had dropped and the coastal fog had converted the ground to black ice. Fortunately it was melting fast. I ran by a herd of deer. The leader stood motionless at the edge of the road while I passed within 10 feet of it. It was quite pretty running on the edge of the cliff looking down upon the water with fancy houses on the other side. After our gourmet breakfast, we walked along the beach, then to the town with the mainly vacant stores and then to another town that isn't so resort-like for lunch.

So it wasn't an exciting trip but it was nice to connect in a non-stressful environment sitting next to a fireplace.