June Travels

The month of June was hectic and fun for the Middleton family. We arrived back in the lower 48 during the last few days of May, and tried to get a little bit of r&r at my mom's house in Illinois before we started traveling all over. However, the "rest" part of our trip didn't last long, mostly because my mom and I started getting wild ideas to go places about two days after Cody and I landed in the state. We ended up hiking two different state parks in the first week of being there. We first went to Kankakee River State Park, which is only 30ish minutes from my mom's house, so we packed up the dogs and took them on a nice hike around the river. The second state park was a little further, but also super cool. We spent a day hiking at Starved Rock State Park, which I hadn't been to since I was a kid. It was gorgeous!

The next week I drove Cody down to his hometown in southern Illinois and I stayed there to visit for a few days. I actually went to college close to where Cody grew up, so it was a blast to drive around campus and check out some of my old favorite hangouts. It was also really nice to see Cody's family because I hadn't seen them in a year and a half.

From there, I headed back to my mom's for a few days (and finally got some of that much needed r&r) before jetting off to my dad's house in Michigan. I spent Father's Day in Michigan and my grandfather, who is 84, drove up to MI and spent the weekend with us too. It  was so special to get to spend a long weekend with two of my favorite guys. We spent a wonderful weekend living the lake life - floating, swimming, watching sunset from the boat. It was great.

My dad and I took a road trip to Virginia after Father's Day, where he then left me at my sister's house for 10 days. My sister and her family live near DC, and I really love going to visit them. She has three girls (17, 9, and 5), so we had a BLAST playing and hanging out all week. We did a ton of fun stuff, but my two favorite adventures were hiking in Shenandoah National Park and spending a beach day at Lake Anna State Park. The Blue Ridge Mountains were amazing. I fell instantly in love and stood in awe of them as we hiked.  It was a truly incredible trip!

At the end of my 10 days in Virginia I headed back to Illinois, which is where I am now. It's been a crazy, adventure-filled trip, so far. The adventure is far from over though. I still have a trip to Milwaukee for a concert this week, my oldest sister's wedding this weekend, a weekend trip to Beaver Island (where Cody and I used to live) next week, another trip to SW Michigan, and an end-of-summer cookout with my Illinois family. Somehow, I am going to pack all of that in before August 15th. Wish me luck!

Your turn...How is your summer going?
Currently listening to...Hurray for the Riff Raff - Blue Ridge Mountains