Back from the Vacation

So, my vacation started off on the wrong foot. I came down with a "non-life threatening" virus (the quote was from my Doctor diagnosing what was wrong with me). It may have been non-life threatening but it sure managed to annoy me. I didn't start feeling better than 70% until mid way through my trip.

Saturday the Duncan's (Sara and Chris) and I packed up their Mazda and headed for Appleton Wisconsin. We stayed with Carolyn and Justin at their new loft penthouse palace which happens to be within walking distance of all kinds of awesome Appleton excitement. First night there we ate at a nice little brew pub down the street. I didn't get to partake in any beer drinking but, from the reviews everyone gave I was missing out.

One of the things I miss most about my friends moving off to other more prosperous towns and jobs is that we don't get to play board games ala Thursday night dinner group. Needless to say I got a full share of board game madness. We played Scattergories and Catch Phrase. I suck at Scattergories. Up at the cabin the main game played was Cranium. Chris was always on the winning team. I think he cheats (actually hes just that good).

Back to trip fun... the cabin we stayed in up at Eagle Lodge was cozy but the beach views were worth it. We went to a couple of brew pubs later on in the week. I have to say I didn't taste a single beer up there that wasn't delicious. Maybe next trip will only be about visiting as many tiny breweries as possible. Besides the beer the best part by far were all of the amazing views. We went for a couple of hikes (One I think both Sara and I almost died on. Nothing makes a trip seem cooler than a near death experience). Other notables; we saw a black bear (I think it looked more like a gorilla... but we were pretty far away from it) , some deer, and a bald eagle.

In conclusion, the trip was awesome. Who can complain about 70 degree weather? It was great to meet all of Carolyn and Justin's new crew of friends they were barrels of fun. The only part about the trip that I didn't like (besides the whole sickness factor) was that Nick couldn't come. You never realize exactly how much you will miss someone until you are unable to talk to them for about a week due to no cell phone signal.

Ok now go here to look at pictures.

Sleep Deprivation and Vacations

For the past few nights I have found myself awake at either 3:30am, 4:30am, or 5:30am. It's usually Tobie or one of the neighbor dogs whining to be let out. This morning I got up at 4:30 and couldn't get back to sleep.

I've managed through the last couple of days at work but today I'm not faring so well. I'm having one of those fun "I'm tired" headaches that can only be cured by a nice midday nap. Add on a dash of allergy related sinus pain and today is shaping up to be a real winner. The only problem I see with leaving work after lunch today is that just feeling tired and mildly crummy isn't usually enough reason for me to leave and not feel guilty. That and maybe I find it hard to leave when I know I will be off all next week and will have plenty of time to catch up on my lost sleep.

Saturday cannot come soon enough. I always count the days until the weekend or my next trip. When I was growing up I would get so excited that I couldn't fall asleep just thinking about all of the adventures that awaited me. I'm pretty sure that I will be able to sleep on Friday night but I am still anticipating all of the fun that an 8 day vacation in Wisconsin and Michigan has to offer.

I cannot wait to watch the sunset on Lake Superior. It's going to be beautiful.