The Great Outdoors

After a cold winter and amidst the 14-hour workdays, there was nothing this girl needed more than a quick get-away to somewhere quiet. And a great friend.

I took a mid-week vacation with my best high school buddy, and we spent a couple days away from everything. We camped at a lake we'd never been to -- tent and all. We rented a canoe and explored the waters. Then we had a picnic and soaked up some sun on the beach. Perfect.

We were only gone two days, but it was such a refreshing two days.
Here's a little taste of the fun.

I know it's not the Caribbean, but for a mid-week $100 vacation, it might as well have been.

This is Rachael.
She gets me.
Besties since 1992.

This is Jayne. From Summer Camp, 8 years running. I haven't seen her in at least a year, but we picked up right where we left off. So fun. And she brought along her fiance Dio. Great guy--I wish you two all the best. They came out to our campsite and joined us for campfire'd hot dogs followed by s'mores. Apparently this is a new thing for the kid from the Bronx. Glad we could introduce you, Dio.

Rachael and I made a fire.
No lighter fluid or anything.
Just matches and wood.

Want to know something more impressive?
Rach chopped the wood down from her grandpa's timber. (And Randy helped.)

What a B.A.

And Lingonberry Mojitos.

Yummy!

My dad let us borrow his tent, and also sent along a lantern. And it's a good thing, because we got there and both Rachael and I had dead flashlight batteries. Best.Dad.Ever.



The next day we rented a canoe from the marina. The super-intense fishermen thought we were idiots (especially when we tried to move his 'marker' because we didn't know what it was). But we didn't care. Best $11 we spent all day.

And the paddling counts as an upper-body workout, right? Right?

Rachael really wanted to get close to the geese.

If you know me, you know I wasn't a big fan of this part.

Great "weekend". Great fun. Great friend.

Where, you ask?

It wasn't heaven.

It was Iowa.