Mid-week update...

Beautiful... beautiful...

It's taken a few days for me to just... relax. But finally, I'm starting to breathe.... I need weeks and weeks more, it seems.

The colors are out of this world. Really, photos are not doing it justice. And up until today, the weather has been perfect. We're trying to get some photos uploaded on a very patchy internet connection. I just want you to see these gorgeous hills exploding in color at every turn, the beautiful Apple Fest in Charlevoix, and oh my gosh... the legendary Grand Hotel on Mackinac. Until the photos come, you'll have to imagine...

Day 1: The Drive up... quicker than we expected. We left at 6am and got up here just around 1pm. Our cabin-- right along the lakefront, apparently owned by an artist/teacher. I was interesting poking around someone else's summer home-- discovering their books, paintings, movie collection, etc. Inside, it was interesting... it smelled of burnt wood from the wood stove and was decorated with handthrown pottery dishes, little bits of nature outside-- feathers, driftwood bits, etc. The floor was rough-hewn wood... it certainly wasn't new, and I can assure you my mother would have thought it was filthy, but we thought it was cozy...

Day 2. A Hike on the National Trail through Cross Village, followed by a drive down the "Tunnel of Trees" and a dinner at the Historic Legs Inn.

Day 3. Nothing. Absolutely Nothing. It was perfect.

Day 4: Mackinac Island! So great...

Photos to come!